Ford Aspire stuck in rain: Engine stalls & water enters cabin

The Ford Aspire is a 2018 model with a diesel engine and has run over 58,000 km to date.

BHPian r24x7 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello TBHP,

It has been raining heavily in Chennai over the past few days and my dad had to run for an errand and this is when he took out our Figo Aspire TDCI; unfortunately ended up stalling the car in a road that had water till almost the level where the doors open/shut. The Engine stall happened on its own and was not possible because the car is a manual transmission one where the driver could have disengaged the clutch from a higher gear unintentionally (My dad has driving experience close to 20 years and he is certain that the engine stalled on its own ). It seemed that there was a car going ahead of him and he was convinced he could make it as well at this water level, but unfortunately ended with this uneventful incident.

At this point, the water did not enter the cabin yet. The ingress into the cabin happened when it was realized that the car was in the middle of the road and my dad decided to step out to call someone to push the car aside for now - The car later was pushed and parked aside (but still in the water).

He called me as the car had stalled and he didn't want to crank the vehicle. I reached the spot as soon as possible and saw that the car had stranded at a place where the water level was just below the bumper fog lights when looking from the front and; at enough level for the water to enter the cabin from the side, upon closer inspection. (To give a more concise idea - The lower half of the wheels were submerged in water).

We managed to push the car to the end of the road where the road is high and has no water; we stopped there to clear out the water from the cabin with a mug.

The car is Figo Aspire TDCI 2018 Diesel with 52K Kms on the ODO; In its 4th year of EW (I do understand water wading consequences are not covered under warranty anyway).

Quickly called up Ford RSA - they informed me that they would charge 2900/- for towing. Realized I also have RSA from ACKO and so I called them up and had the car towed to FASS for free of charge (Although the driver from Alliance Assist asked for an extra 250 due to pouring rains).

I do not have Engine Protect Cover and I'm worried if the engine had any possible water ingress. The car did not show any problems when the electrics were switched on as I noticed the radio turned on and I had to immediately shut it; Also automatic cabin lights and the follow me home headlamps)- And. No, the AC was off thankfully).

For now, I will have to wait until Monday to visit the FASS on the next steps and shall report back here for the next inputs.

Meanwhile, I'd like to understand from our dear Team-BHP members, what could be the extremity of the damage here. I understand that not cranking the vehicle at this stage is extremely crucial (which we did not) - But I'm worried about the fact that the car STALLED from running which makes me think if the water did have its ingress into the engine or any other crucial place.

Apologies as for some reason my phone did not save the picture of the car on the flooded road when I clicked, however the only picture I have is the view showing water level with the door open.

Update:

At the time of drafting this post, I hadn't heard from FASS yet. However, As I write this now, I have been to the service centre already and I got to know from the service advisor that there are traces of water found in the engine oil based on his analysis. He pulled out the dipstick and could tell this just by getting the oil onto his fingers based on viscosity. (I couldn't tell the difference as I do not have much understanding of how engine oil is supposed to look otherwise)

Here are the next steps directed to me by the SA to proceed further.

• Raise a claim with Acko - (This is finished already).
• Once a surveyor is assigned, most probably "they will rotate the engine turbine manually to understand if there is any resistance as the first step in the diagnosis." - Exactly as I heard from the SA today.

I had put the same set of questions to the SA as well. However, he was unclear on whether or not Insurance would cover this (based on his experience); also unclear on what might need to be changed to fix the problems in the worst-case scenario.

I would really appreciate it if our fellow Team-BHP members could throw some light here.

Here's what BHPian Indian2003 had to say on the matter:

He could feel the viscosity by feeling with his fingers and found traces of water?

He is scamming you and getting ready to write you a nice bill with a fork. Water and oil do not mix and the oil will float on the water and viscosity will not change. I might believe it if the car has run for some time until the oil turns a milky off-white colour.

He must be very good if he can tell by just feeling the oil with his fingers.

Just removing the spark plugs and cranking the engine will tell if water has caused it to stall.

Here's what BHPian alpha1 had to say on the matter:

1. The water was much much below the air intake (air filter) level. I find it hard to believe that water got into engine.
2. Fresh Engine oil is gold/tan/brown. Used engine oil has shades of grey and black added to the original colour. Water in engine oil causes it to become milky (since water and oil do not mix, it forms a colloidal mix known as emulsion, milk is also an emulsion)
3. Water entering the air intake will cause it to enter the combustion chamber of the cylinder. That usually damages the piston head or the crank pins. Only then it can end up in an engine lubricating oil circuit.

Here's what BHPian dhanushs had to say on the matter:

• I would suggest, start checking the air filter, if it's wet or not.
• Then check the manifold.
• Then remove the injectors or glow plugs and crank the vehicle to remove the water in the combustion chamber.
• Then drain the oil and replace it with fresh oil.
• Change the oil filters.
• Check the fuel filter for water adulteration.
• If yes, clean the tank and lines and change the filter.
• Check the exhaust for water ingress, and clean it.
• You might want to service the starting motor later on.

Here's what BHPian arjunsatheesh had to say on the matter:

A similar incident happened to my friend's Ciaz in Bangalore while he was driving through a flooded area in Koramangala. The car stalled when he fell into a deep pothole that was masked by all the water. Maybe something similar happened to your dad. We never know if there are any crater-like potholes under all the floodwater. A sudden fall into one could take us by surprise and we may stall the car.

Luckily my friend didn't try to start the car after that. He called me up for help since none of the bystanders helped him to push the car from the road. By the time I reached the location, the water had risen like crazy and was up to his gear lever. Due to the water ingress, none of the electronics was working now. We could not turn on any lights or get the power steering working. Somehow we got it into a flatbed and took it to the Maruti ASS.

Initially, they told us engine damage must have happened and that insurance will not cover that so we stayed with them when they opened everything up. Luckily there was no damage to the engine since it was not cranked.

I’m not sure if he had engine protection but had the Maruti insurance which mentioned that if the engine was not cranked then insurance would take care of damages. They changed all the fluids and did a lot of repairs to the electronics. He did not have to shell out much money and insurance coved a lot of the costs.

The most difficult part of the fix was cleaning the interiors. It took multiple visits to 3M to get it cleaned. Its’ been 4 years since that incident and the car runs fine.

Just make sure you stay with them when they do the inspection. It may cost you some time but will save you a lot of money later. Cheers!

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