Going through a flood yesterday the car stalled out and wouldnt restart. A landrover going the other way splashed right over the front of the car and the car stalled and died. The coil plugs light is flashing and the CEL light is on. the car turned over but refused to fire. called Skoda they said it could be the brake light sensor that was faulty - ok, but why wouldnt the car start. Brake lights were working fine, so not that! they couldnt tell me why it wouldnt restart. they said to get towed there and they would put it on the diagnosic machine to get it looked at. But just as i was about to call the RAC I tried one last time and all the lights went off and the car started.

no idea what it was - anyone else had this?

Get the codes read and it will tell you

Going through a flood yesterday the car stalled out and wouldnt restart. A landrover going the other way splashed right over the front of the car and the car stalled and died. The coil plugs light is flashing and the CEL light is on. the car turned over but refused to fire. called Skoda they said it could be the brake light sensor that was faulty - ok, but why wouldnt the car start. Brake lights were working fine, so not that! they couldnt tell me why it wouldnt restart. they said to get towed there and they would put it on the diagnosic machine to get it looked at. But just as i was about to call the RAC I tried one last time and all the lights went off and the car started.

no idea what it was - anyone else had this?

Hi Polo

I assume you car is as in your profile, so it is a diesel and water won't affect the running of the engine as a Petrol would.

What would have poss happen is you have got water in the air intake, so would check the air filter is not soaked, and also make sure the water has not got into the engine, as this will ruin the engine

Radiotwo

The air intake on the vRS is just below the bonnet, so if the landrover created a wave that swept over your bonnet, and you were moving forward, your car most likely sucked some water in.

Don't panic too much though, just get your air filter replaced and ensure any excess water in the air box has been removed. There is a small hole in the bottom part of the air box, so any water should have run out of it, so at worst you might have a few drops in there.

If the car isn't running properly after a clean filter, you may need to get your MAF checked.

My last PD100 Fabia apparently had a dodgy crank position sensor which meant it had problems starting sometimes. Very wet days (driving through lots of spray) seemed to trigger the problem at first (it got worse after a while though - eventually it caused problems even on dry days).

checked over the airbox and the filter is ended! just bought a paper replacement from Skoda. But i'll be building an induction kit for it soon!

I once remember stalling in a puddle. Seems you had a very lucky escape! I'd definately make sure everything around the intake is fine. Not cheap to fix if it's swallowed too much water.

I still remember the day mine went bye bye. The coil lighting is generally the brake light switch failing, happened to me going through a small puddle. I'd get it checked out if it's under warranty.