Just how deep can you drive your BA XR6T through flood water? Pics......

[TURBOTAXI]

Should I or shouldnt I?

Going for it.

So far OK

Oh dear, its getting quite deep

Oh crap! its over the bonnet!

After all that the car survived, I think it did drink a little water through a split in the turbo hose that runs from the airbox... cough fart etc... Let it clear before driving off, and even then, very gentle (thank god it has lowered compression!) Front footwells stayed dry, rear footwells got wet....

[cjf]

not a good idea.

[Grippy]

That was brave of you, glad she got through it ok

[Bad Bird]

Originally Posted by Grippy

That was brave of you, glad she got through it ok

Personally, I think it was the 'other' thing that often gets confused with bravery.

[04redxr8]

Originally Posted by cjf

not a good idea.

+1

[xr6turbo2005]

Originally Posted by 04redxr8

+1

+2

not so much for the sake of the car, they can be fixed or replaced, but never never ever never , under estimate the power of water.

too deep for a car i think.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by 04redxr8

+1

+2, i wouldnt have went near it

[The Yeti]

they write about this in emergency services text books, nothing very nice I'm afraid

[XR6Runner]

Wow you have some courage! I was driving on the parkway which is 100km/h, 2 lanes. Rain blasting down like I haven't seen for a very long time, road covered with a thick sheet of water. Its about a 30km stretch of road that I usually do in about 15 mins (all rough guesses). But I was driving so slow, it took me about 45 mins this time, In my bf xr6turbo. I was so worried, I didn't want to break anything. A subaru liberty actually FLEW past me on the overtaking lane.

I was just kicking up so much water, and I could hear the water splashing from the tyres to the underside of the car and it sounded very bad... So I actually have a question. I did hear a lot of water blasting on the underside of my wheel arches, and to me, it just sounded bad, so that's why I backed off and went very slow... Can these cars take a little water punishment. I mean, I wouldn't go 100km/h in my situation, but I was going about 35 - 45km/h and it still sounded bad. Should I have gone harder?

hehe, and like I said, you must have balls of steel to attempt a road with that much water on it!

[galaxy xr8]

Don't think I would have done it, actually I know for sure I wouldn't have.

[TheInterceptor]

The air intake sits about grill level right? So if you get water over the bonnet and keep it there then yes, chances your car will most likely have a drink.
I would recommend putting tarpulin over the front of the car if you wish to do more water driving that includes over-onto bonnet water levels.

Well done though.

[Professor Farnsworth]

that's a very odd thing to do

[nstg8a]

good way to wreck a perfectly good car.

you may have got away with no engine damage, but giving fords aversion to painting anything that cant be seen properly be interesting too see what the water is gonna do under the carpet... not to mention the loom.

[Molloy]

Fail! dont treat ur ford like that mate!

[Fordman]

Gutsy effort, id feel so proud of the car once i did it, although i probably wouldnt, else id have to suck water out of the intake lol

[MotherNatureVer2]

Looks like I wont be going to work on Monday!!!!!!!!!! Stephen only jut got out this morning .... he wont be at work tomorrow either!!!!

[mrfordfairmont]

you were lucky you made it through but pop the airbox open and have a look how much water is in there
but next time throw a tarp over the front just to keen the water at bay keep the engine running

[SSD-85]

I would never subject my Ford to that. That, on top of putting my life in unecessary danger.

Silly, to say the least.

[NudgE^SIKBRO]

Ive done it, never in my BA though, had the old NA Lane up to the centres of the wheels once, that was fun, carpet got a tiny bit damp here and there but all aside she was fine, I took it and shampood the carpet etc... My mate though was behind me in a late Magna, it didnt take it so well :(

[TURBOTAXI]

Ok haters and others.

Let me clarify. Turning back was hard because I didnt know where the sides of the road were. So I ran the risk of running into a deep deep ditch.
Also - Once out of the water, I immediately checked and the airbox was dry. (It was) any water would have made it in through the split in the hose on the turbo snout.

I have experience in drowned cars and bikes, this is fresh water, and the depth and water access was probably no different to where rainwater would reach. This car and other cars has crossed similar things before I just didnt take pics.

Police were waving people through at this stage, car is insured etc... I dont think still water up to my thigh is life threatening... lol

Car cleared and ran perfectly on the way home, great cars. Keep in mind I dont live in the city and not everything is nice and cushy on rural roads.

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by TURBOTAXI

Ok haters and others.

Let me clarify. Turning back was hard because I didnt know where the sides of the road were. So I ran the risk of running into a deep deep ditch.
Also - Once out of the water, I immediately checked and the airbox was dry. (It was) any water would have made it in through the split in the hose on the turbo snout.

I have experience in drowned cars and bikes, this is fresh water, and the depth and water access was probably no different to where rainwater would reach. This car and other cars has crossed similar things before I just didnt take pics.

Police were waving people through at this stage, car is insured etc... I dont think still water up to my thigh is life threatening... lol

Car cleared and ran perfectly on the way home, great cars. Keep in mind I dont live in the city and not everything is nice and cushy on rural roads.

Bloody city slickers.. Mike and Mal Leyland would be proud of you.....

[fmc351]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

Bloody city slickers.. Mike and Mal Leyland would be proud of you.....

Travel all over the country side
Stuffed it up in a 2 wheel drive
Were not the Leyland brothers.

[SpoolMan]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

Mike and Mal Leyland would be proud of you.....

Gold

[TURBOTAXI]

Oh - and the water here had no noticeable current. It was pooling quite still.

[macman]

Wow I would never have done that.

If you get any water in the intake and into any of the combustion chambers your engine is in serious trouble - probably before you'd even know about it and I doubt you'd get much warning before something was damaged either.

By the time water got in it'd be too late to just "switch off when it makes a noise" for instance. No second chances in that situation.

I've seen what damage water can do when it gets inside an engine and it is horrific to say the least. That's without even considering the damage moisture (let alone filthy water) would to to the electronics and bare metal components, not only in the engine bay but all over the car.

Expect lots of sand and dirt to come off and out of your car the next 50 times you wash it too, door ways, sills, bumpers, panel gaps etc.

All you needed to accidentally find when turning around was a nice big rock to gouge through your sump and that would have proved what a bad idea that was.

Not trying to be smart or have a go at you but I would highly recommend against trying that in the future. Don't take offence, just consider it I guess.

[geckoGT]

Lucky, certainly not advisable. You would have been the brunt of some jokes had you not gotten through.

I would say that when risking $10,000 in engine repairs, you might be better off checking the road edges on foot and turning around. Personally I would get my feet wet rather than risk the repairs.

Have you checked to see if there is any water that got into the engine, trans and diff oils?

We often see people try the same thing and end up with a swamped engine and interior, some even fall into a washed out section of road and end up standing on their roof. Normally the owners of soft roaders (Rav 4 and Forrester etc) that think AWD means invincible and amphibious.

Not worth the risk, don't try this at home kids.

[Jim Goose]

"Get home itus" is a term frequently used when describing foolish attempts at crossing deep water... in a car never designed to do so.

... or the term "watch this!"

Tell me what happens when an idiot in a FWD comes towards you and swamps your car because of the massive waves he is creating... just like in your first picture?

[TURBOTAXI]

Given the experience I certainly would not repeat that crossing today, but I think people need to appreciate this is not uncommon on rural roads where we have causeways and not bridges? As I said I have done these type of things before, just not quite this deep!
I stopped and talked to the police officer and he said it would be fine. He had been watching cars go through for a while. I had no reason to suspect it would get that deep.

[irlewy86]

Don't forget to WD40 the starter

[TURBOTAXI]

Originally Posted by irlewy86

Don't forget to WD40 the starter

Part of my maintenance regime is to put heavy grease on electrical plugs, and WD solenoids etc....