My car is again in at the dealers. Short conversation about the weather with the service manager leads to "we have had three Vrs Fab's in with bent conrods due to the weather over the last three day's. People drive through the puddles at speed and get water ingress into the cylinder block with compresses against the cylinder and jam's damaging the con rods. This leads to a new engine which costs

Yeah, common sense really. The old pugs used to be bad for it. The intake was really low and it acted like a vax, sucking up all the water.

Whoa! This sounds worrying, i mean you can't really avoid driving through spray and surface water can you? What's the advice? Not drive in the wet or something.

How worried should we be?

Under normal circumstances you should be OK if careful.

Under normal circumstances you should be OK if careful.

I hope so, i've been driving through loads of spray and big puddles over the last few days, it's unavoidable over here at the moment.

Its called hydrolock, and yes it WILL destroy your engine. You'll be lucky to just bend a conrod, worst case you can blow a hole in the side of the block. :(

Some people are lucky in getting insurance companies to pay out, but it definitely won't be a warranty repair.

Cars most likely to be effected are those with low down, open air filters. With the intake quite high up on the PD130 engines you should be ok, unless driving through Fords or very deep puddles very quickly.

hence why ive been out in mine and its staying safely tucked up at home unless something major happens

Dont think i could afford a new engine for the octy at the moment lol

It happens because the engine cannot compress the water like it does the air and fuel mist and so the pressure has to go somewhere....normally bending the con rod or as above, blowing a hole in the engine block/ cylinder head.

Avoid sucking up water with the intake and you'll be fine. Driving in rain is ok, it's normally wading that causes the problems with people hammering through deep puddles or streams.

It's why you sometimes see those Landrovers with the snorkels on the sides.

I went throught a small puddle that became huge. Look at my car and you will probably realise why I am on the verge of tears!

Can I ask as to why people think that the Insurance won't pay out on it?

If it's fully comp and you pay the excess they might.....unless stated otherwise in the documentation. Mind you, it may be like leaving your car keys in the car and trying to claim for theft. Driving through a big puddle is a no no anyway so they may say 'tough ****'.

Hmm, I'm with admiral and the lady was okay with me. It's hardly the same as leaving the keys in the car and claiming theft....we shall see.

Both are self inflicted so who knows.....

If it's fully comp and you pay the excess they might.....unless stated otherwise in the documentation. Mind you, it may be like leaving your car keys in the car and trying to claim for theft. Driving through a big puddle is a no no anyway so they may say 'tough ****'.

I'd say it's more like backing into a wall - if you inflicted the damage yourself, on a fully comp policy you can still make a claim. Claiming for self-inflicted damage isn't quite the same as claiming for theft...

Rob.

True. Unless they state specifically in the docs that they wont cover you for engine damage caused by driving through a huge puddle.

If it's not stated then yes, it should be just covered along with accidental damage.

The thing is, it wasn't a huge puddle when I went into it. I panicked and tried to reverse out and lost all power. Upset more than anything else.

I've not read the documents in their entirity but I would be rather upset if they don't cover me. They specifically stated when I phoned them that they don't cover for drink driving....the lady just said that the assessor will need to see it prior to any work being carried out....

Fingers crossed for you mate. I reckon you'll be fine personally. Pay the excess and make the claim.

Ask if you can have the Ibiza PD160 engine fitted instead.

Daft question - are there any mods that can have an affect on this, whether they either preclude the event happening or increase the probability of it occurring?

Yes, having an induction kit fitted that takes air from further down. HUGELY increases the chances of sucking in water.

Lowering would also affect it for the same reason, as would driving too fast through a puddle so therefore chipping would do it too.

I have a simple rule of thumb with this, If you would't walk through it dont drive through it!

Last person I went out to with this problem took all precautions and started to drive through steadily only for someone to steam through in the other direction, the bow wave from the other vehicle did the damage.

living in the wettest town in the country (england that is) I see loads of broken down cars after going through the puddles.... funnily enough, during the flooding we had just before crimbo, all the stranded cars were Renaults!! I swear to God, three on one day down borrowdale valley..... (come to think of it, they may all have been scenics too...)

Can't see why claiming would be a problem, we have had customers who have claimed for new engines as a result of knocking a hole in the sump, new carpets because a scuttle drain got blocked with leaves and the car flooded. Remember if the water can get into the engine it can also get into the transmission. Fabia gearboxes seem problematic at the best of times, but 12 months further along and it starts to whine it may not be a warranty job when the dealer drains the oil and a rusty water/oil sludge comes out.

Best thing you can do if it stops in a puddle due to hyro locking is leave it there and ensure that it gets written off - it will save you a lot of hassle later on.

Have a looky at this thread.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/fabia/130pd-engine-failure/82891/

My mates 130PD Bora. Went through a puddle. New engine and box...

does anybody actually know of any insurance companys that wont cover water damage to the car if it cant get through. i ask as today i could have swam about 40 miles along the road and the number of cars all stuck and half submerged was amazing, all stuff like corsas and old fiestas. one car i think a rover 75 came by us and its bumper was dragging under the front of the car having smacked into a stream of water around a blind corner at speed.

unless driving through Fords

I hope you're talking about the ones made of water

And the only way to prevent the car sucking in water is to move the air intake higher. Why do you think all the proper offroaders have snorkies?

Chris