Help! Submerged hood of car in deep puddle during downpour. Next steps?

[BlackNTan]

So I was stuck at the gym in a massive downpour (not Isaac) and decided to head home the long way which is usually free of large puddles. Well, I manage to miss one and saw water wash across / cover the hood of my ZHP. I got home (about 300 yards) without any sputtering and came right to the mafia page. Should I run the car for a while to heat up the engine more? Leave it alone and see how it does in the AM?

I did a quick web search and found a lot on how to escape a submerged car, but not what to do in this case. Any sound advice would be much appreciated!

[UdubBadger]

I'm confused.

You're worried about having a large puddle wash over the hood because you're scared of water in the engine bay or what?

[BlackNTan]

Yeah Udub, Am worried about water getting into air intake and other areas of the engine. Does the fact the car continued to run after imply I'm in the clear or do I need to worry about subtler damage I won't see for days / weeks.

[M0nk3y]

I'm confused.

You're worried about having a large puddle wash over the hood because you're scared of water in the engine bay or what?

Probably water soak worries.

You're fine, water takes path of least resistance. You think it wants to travel through the bumper and into a cluster engine bay or simply go over the hood?

Yes, you probably have some water in the bay but it is what it is...you have to put the car through a lake to watersoak an engine, given oem intake

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[UdubBadger]

Yeah, I'm not judging your concerns here but I'd have to think BMW's engineers did everything they could to minimize any kind of soak, even in extreme conditions (unless this is a well known problem I am unaware of).

I've done my fair share of driving in inclement weather, never had an issue and I've had some BIG downpours do the same thing. You should be fine.

Make sure you go wash her, road water is nasty.

[BlackNTan]

Thanks guys, you make me feel a lot better. I live in a part of the country where we hear of a lot of folks destroying their engines trying to drive through water-logged roads. I think my few seconds submerged may have just seemed like a looooong time!

[M3TA5IN]

Yea you are good dude, hydro lock occurs pretty quickly. If anything was going to happen it would of almost instantly. No worries


Sent from my fancy city machine.

[zhpnsnv]

I did this one time except it was a lot worse - to the point where I was in so much water the clutch started slipping. Had the diff fluid changed just in case anything got in there. Everything was/is fine. It was butt clenchingly scary.

[danewilson77]

Drain oil, tranny, and diff fluid. Refresh all. Upgrade suspension to Koni FSD or KW/Bilstein PSS's. By new rims and tires. Done....no more worries.........








































I keed, I keed.....



























Pop hood. Check intake filter. If it's dry...no concerns at all. Also recognize that the intake housing sealed with a clipped rubber gasket (I'm sure you know this). If it got in through the centerline hood scoop....just check the filter. That's what I would do.

[UdubBadger]

:rofl


- Goin' H.A.M. Mobile

[ryankokesh]

I think I found the elusive Dane troll in its natural habitat... Better be quiet so we don't scare it away.


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[telijah]

I liked "refresh all" haha

[echo46]

Yea, no worries, I recently did the same thing. However, mine was a touch different. I got up at 5am to go do a 2 mile swim followed by a 8 mile run. I drove out East to the Hamptons where a bunch of us train together. Swim goes swimmingly and I head out on the run and am about 4 miles out and bam--I get caught up in an incredible thunderstorm. It was absolutely pouring to the point where the rain was actually hurting my thinning haired head. Thunder and lightning all the way back to the car. I have to say I was running 6:30 miles the whole way back.

Anyway, I rush back to the ZHP and start to head home. I notice that I am low on fuel but figure I can make it home no problem. I got out on the LIE and traffic is crawling because it is raining so hard. I need to go about 15-20 miles and it's taking me over an hour. Figure I better pull over to get gas. First gas station is closed because pumps aren't functioning due to lightning strike. Next, low fuel light comes on and I'm still crawling along in an absolute deluge. I finally get to my exit and hit the gas station. Pumps will not take my credit card due to electrical issues. Luckily I had about $3 in quarters and pump a few drops in the tank to get home. Still pouring and the roads are under water, I can't see because of fogged up windows even though I have the defroster blasting.

Well, the genius I am, I open the windows to clear the fog briefly and to see better. Well at that particular second, I got caught up in the perfect storm-- I hit a huge puddle, water comes up over the hood and at the same time some bastard drives past me on the left going about 60 mph and splashes a tidal wave of water right through the driver's side window. There was so much water that I literally could not see for a few seconds. I looked around, there was water everywhere. At least two to three inches on the seats and an inch on the floor. I was screaming and swearing and rueing the day that son of a bitch that splashed me was born. I got home and immediately took everything out and shop vaced everything. Kept everything open for a few days to dry it out good. Did leather conditioner etc and car is purrrrfect again.