General Floodwater..Does a 500 FLOAT ?

[varesecrazy]

Hi all,

Im relatively new to 500 membership and had an unnerving experience yesterday.

I drive under the old GWR London to Swansea rail line regularly

One bridge 'underpass' seems to get wet lately.. presumably failing pumps

Normally.. early mornings.. I can pause ..and we go through in single file

No chance at 17:30 on a Friday ..!!!


Appreciating nobody was going to stop and let me through I set off,

Of course that meant I couldnt use the 'Crown' of the road.. 6" higher than my new route


So I set off: 2500rpm in 1st.. no sooner had the wheels entered the water than I had a bus 4feet from my tail ..

The water was really turbulent with Suv's passing within 2 feet. EDDYS and all !!. and my little 1242 seemed to loose all drive and then scrabble as it then floated towards the 'opposite bank'. Odd...

Engine sounded fine..didnt appear to misfire or anything... but I went back out 4 hours later ..The BRAKES were appalling.. full of sludge possibly

Could be worse though.. that bridge was Gridlocked...later closed.. something had abviously expired under that bridge.


I think Ive got to pull those Brakes apart.. my 1st marea had a couple of trips like that... then the entire Handbrake in drum mechanism needed replacement through advanced corrosion

Oh the joys

 

[chris3234]

Hopefully a good blast with the hosepipe should clean the sludge off the brakes for you then a little clean and lube

 

[jrkitching]

The sensible thing to do now would be to strip down, clean and lubricate both front and rear brakes.

Given that most cars (and certainly most 500's) would benefit from this being done every couple of years or so, think of this unfortunate incident as a gentle nudge to tackle it sooner rather than later.

And once you've done it, the brakes will be in better condition than they were before this happened.

 

[varesecrazy]

The car has covered 50k..
so it may well be time for some new parts

I am about to find out about the 'myriad of parts options..'

 

[jrkitching]

I am about to find out about the 'myriad of parts options..'

Pagid discs, pads & shoes are decent quality and reasonably priced.

I've used them before with good results in several different cars.

 

[John202020]

Pull the drain plugs from the floor beams?

 

[varesecrazy]

Pull the drain plugs from the floor beams?

Maybe.. I will have a good look around when things dry up

It was 'swimming' for less than a minute,

But that doesnt mean it hasnt swallowed some ...

 

[Ralf S.]

I think it'll be okay. The car probably probably became bouyant when the water reached the height of the floorpan, since a car is essentially similar to a boat, so it would float given enough water beneath it (at least until she takes on too much through her bilge, door seals and other grommets etc. and goes down, hopefully without any hands being lost.

I don't know why the brakes would be affected. The front discs are waterproof (sliding pins and the main caliper piston have rubber seals on them). Although the discs are exposed, those should still work again once the pads are able to shift the water off their surface.

The rear drums could have taken on water but if the drum lets water in, then the drum will let water out. Dirt and mud should find it pretty difficult to get in but obviously if it's all wet with muddy water in there, the drum faces would develop a coating of rust and the shoes may be less fierce at shifting it than the front calipers clean up the front discs. If they feel "gritty" it's probably rust and/or a bit of grit.

I would just give the brakes a bit if a work-out, to remove any surface contamination, glazing, gritting etc. The rears are more difficult but reversing down a long slope with the brakes dragging will put more pressure through the rears. Once they're hot and dried out, they should return to normal.


Ralf S.

 

[vexorg]

I would severely doubt they float.
Brakes will just be wet, probably ok when they dry out.

 

[portland_bill]

Most vehicles will 'float' initially, as Ralf says. With enough water, it sits on top like a boat, then sinks. This is why you should never try to drive through moving water, as it will take the car away.
(I have a pic, used when training, so cannot share, of a supermarket delivery van, in a river, having been taken in when trying to go trhough a ford that was much deeper than usual. The water was about a foot deep, but flowing well, and happily took about 3 tons of van away.)

 

[lunchbeers]

I’ve seen a video of a 500 at Rufford Ford doing similar, the rear bobbed up and it pulled itself along until the driver bottled it and reversed it out, at least it didn’t crap out like a lot of smaller cars.

 

[TrevC]

I’ve seen a video of a 500 at Rufford Ford doing similar, the rear bobbed up and it pulled itself along until the driver bottled it and reversed it out, at least it didn’t crap out like a lot of smaller cars.

I am well impressed! A few years ago a friend drove his Focus, carefully, through a few inches of floodwater. All was going well until an aggressively driven SUV came the other way and the bow wave made the Focus engine stop. Whichever garage the insurance company used wrote the car off as the engine had been ruined by the water being sucked in and causing hydraulic lock. It was only a couple of years old, fortunately he had gap insurance. Comforting to see that the little 500 is very resistant to this happening.

 

[vexorg]

The air intake is just below the bonnet line, no idea how that 500 didn't die. Hybrid maybe?

 

[TrevC]

The air intake is just below the bonnet line, no idea how that 500 didn't die. Hybrid maybe?

Too old to be a hybrid, and the mild hybrid 500 can't drive on electric power alone anyway!

 

[varesecrazy]

500 brakes were 'better.' After running with handbrake applied to wear through the paste

Its parked.up now waiting for brake friction parts..

There was a 2019 Quashcow being recovered there the following day..in dry weather

Technique is as important as equipment obviously.


I recall in the Early 90's Diesel was now back in vogue.. Fleets were giving their agents Derv now instead of Petrol

I know of a ten car fleet that lost the lot by October 91

It was a few wet weeks.. and damp lanes that your old Astra Merit could navigate were too deep for an Escort TD

Diesels cannot compress water

 

[Ralf S.]

I’ve seen a video of a 500 at Rufford Ford doing similar, the rear bobbed up and it pulled itself along until the driver bottled it and reversed it out, at least it didn’t crap out like a lot of smaller cars.

I shall now go and watch videos of cars at Rufford Ford on the Tube..


Ralf S.

 

[portland_bill]

500 brakes were 'better.' After running with handbrake applied to wear through the paste

Its parked.up now waiting for brake friction parts..

There was a 2019 Quashcow being recovered there the following day..in dry weather

Technique is as important as equipment obviously.


I recall in the Early 90's Diesel was now back in vogue.. Fleets were giving their agents Derv now instead of Petrol

I know of a ten car fleet that lost the lot by October 91

It was a few wet weeks.. and damp lanes that your old Astra Merit could navigate were too deep for an Escort TD

Diesels cannot compress water

During the nineties, as more diesel cars grew turbos, many manufacturers (especially Peugeot) put the air intakes quite low under the front bumper. Owners thinking their mechanical injection diesels were waterproof, thundered into floods, and stopped.

 

[TrevC]

During the nineties, as more diesel cars grew turbos, many manufacturers (especially Peugeot) put the air intakes quite low under the front bumper. Owners thinking their mechanical injection diesels were waterproof, thundered into floods, and stopped.

The Focus I mentioned above was petrol, but no doubt had a low air intake which hoovered up the water. Since then I always check the intake position on my cars to give me some idea of the wading depth I can get away with!
Incidentally, there was a happy ending to my mate's Focus story - he had gap insurance, so took advantage of the 18 months of effectively depreciation free motoring and bought a brand new car.