Drove through some crazy high water (long story) - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

E150GT · #1 10-10-2011, 12:04 AM

Last night I got a call at 2am from ADT saying the alarm at work went off and to see if I could meet the police there. I was awake as was my room mate waiting for the impending storm to hit San Antonio. I said what the hey I could use a nice cruise through the rain. On my way it started to rain pretty good but not anything I've never seen before. We got to my office and nothing looked out of place from the front. I decided to wait for the police before I went in even though I had my trusty .380 on me. We waited til 3 and the police never came so I decided to get home. Thats when it got crazy. The rain was coming down so hard my windshield wipers couldnt keep up and my headlights are crap. I pretty much was driving blind. I was driving on the frontage road because I was afraid to get on the highway. The water on the access road was getting to where the splashes from driving through it and other cars were making visibility worse so I decided to get on the highway and before I knew it I hit a really deep section of water that I didnt even know was there. An Acura in front of me in the next lane hit it first and then swerved in front of me and stopped. I had to go around him and it got super deep so I just gave it full throttle and made it through. I dont know if the guy in the acura stalled or he stopped on purpose but I kept going. After that I just followed the hazards of other cars until I was almost home. We were driving and we saw a blue light in the distance like an explosion. It was pretty wild but then all of a sudden I ran over something like a power line. I felt the tires hit something and then there was a really loud buzzing sound that could be felt in the car and a flash of blue light that seemed to come from under my car. It was super bright. I can only guess that a power line was down and I ran over it. I dont know what else it coulld have been. As I got to the street my apartment is on I saw that there was another crazy water crossing but I was so close to home. I stopped and waited for another car to attempt and they made it so I just gave full throttle and went through it. After that I pretty much lost braking power. I passed up the apartment complex because I couldnt stop the car in time. It was like trying to stop with just one wheels worth of brakes. After that I made it home safe. I lost a piece of my lower cladding somewhere along the way. Better than not making it home. I think if I had taken the mazda I wouldnt have made it through that first low water crossing. I must say it was a wild trip. I suppose now would be a good time to change the differential fluid in the car as im sure it was submerged. Are there any other things I need to change or inspect? I drove the car today and it was fine except today I changed the valve cover and lost the little clip for the emergency stop lever. Sorry for the long post but it was a long ride.

t walgamuth · #2 10-10-2011, 04:05 AM

It wouldn't hurt to check the diff but it seems unlikely to me to have gotten much if any water in there. The only place possible is through the vent and from your description it sounds like that is not too likely. I would be more worried about damage to the alternator or other low hanging bits.

It sounds like you are indeed lucky to have been in a high riding old mercedes and lucky in general to have made it home at all.

Stopping your car in a safe place and waiting out the storm may have been a good choice.

mike-81-240d · #3 10-10-2011, 05:44 AM

Wow that's crazy!

I wonder how much water your turbocharger inhaled...

JB3 · #4 10-10-2011, 08:04 AM

why floor it through a huge puddle like that? Thats how people always get stuck even with higher cars, a wave of water flows up through the engine compartment.

I always idle through, which lessens the chance that A. Ill create a bow wave that will get into the air intake, and B. Ill create a big enough splash that gets into the air intake.

Sounds like a crazy drive!

Zacharias · #5 10-10-2011, 09:18 AM

I wouldn't be concerned about the diff. If it were me, I would change the oil ASAP and check for any evidence that water got into the air cleaner assembly or around the turbo inlet hose.

I am probably being paranoid but what you are describing you drove through was more like a natural disaster than a storm. With that much water flying around....

kerry · #6 10-10-2011, 09:56 AM

I too doubt that you got any significant intrusion of water into the differential or into the engine. It's generally good practice to check the depth of standing water on foot before attempting to drive thru it.

scottmcphee · #7 10-10-2011, 10:27 AM

One good chug of water up the air intake is all it takes to finish the engine with a thrown rod due to hydro lock. One engine revolution and one ounce of water can mix to make one very bad day. Unless life is on the line, I wouldn't risk driving through a pond at any speed. Sometimes people call these old Mercedes boats, but they're not!

Junkman · #8 10-10-2011, 10:58 AM

Rain-x works wonders for clearing windshields. Good to apply it every couple of weeks or when bugs begin to stick. Most of the time I don't even use wipers.

vstech · #9 10-10-2011, 01:14 PM

any of your carpets wet?
if the motor is idling normally, you likely avoided any water issues.

drive safe!

bobodaclown · #10 10-10-2011, 04:51 PM

Gotta love a diesel, sure beats having a wet distributor cap.

JerryBro · #11 10-10-2011, 06:39 PM

One of the reasons I love these cars is that I know if I can get it started, I can get home.

pwjeep · #12 10-10-2011, 06:48 PM

It's very important to know where your air intake is for your engine. Some new cars are what I call bottom feeders. Their air intake is routed below the bottom of engine compartment.

Diesel W123 (49 state) vehicles have a fairly high air intake at the top of the radiator cross member. The likelihood of water stalling a W123 diesel engine is low as long as the water you ford is below the middle of the radiator and as long as you go slowly so you don't create a huge bow wave that will wash over your hood (and into your air intake). If you do get water into your air intake, water will be sucked into your engine and you will quickly hydro lock and break your engine.

Of course anywhere there is an air vent for a component such as a transmission (yes there is one there) or differential or wheel bearings that get soaked you need to refresh (change) the lubricant / grease as soon as you can as it will probably be contaminated.

E150GT · #13 10-10-2011, 07:54 PM

Car runs fine. I'm still bummed I lost that linkage clip and cant go for a cruise. Oh well it will be in tomorrow and I can go cruising again, on dry land.