Last night I was driving home in a torrential downpour and almost drown my Stook! It's quite hilly here in Missouri, so water on the road can be deceptive, it tends to pool in the lowest of spots only. The roads seemed fine until I got about a block away from my apartment, then things changed...
I did see the "pool" of water in front of me, but it seemed harmless enough, so I gave little regard and proceeded at my normal rain-speed around the corner, about 5-10mph. Well, it wasn't a pool, it was a LAKE! The water must have been 15 inches deep! Half way around the corner the water came OVER the hood and over my winshield! You want to talk freaky?...all light except my tach was gone, the water had completely blacked out my vision and headlights,and the water coming over my winshield was so heavy that my winshield wipers did no good whatsoever. A few seconds into the corner I got the distinct impression I was in a boat. All directional stability was gone, and I was full-on floating momentarrily, the car went sideways several feet and then it was over, and I was on the other side.
I drove a half block to my apartment and the car died before I could get it in the driveway. My first thought was that I'd suffocated my high-strung redhead, so I tried restarting...no way. A few more attempts and the car started. It coughed for about 30 seconds, and then seemed fine.
The passenger headlight went out, like it used to do frequently, and every time I turned it off and then on again (my old fix), it would stay on for a few seconds and then blink out. I was heartbroken.
Today I went out and the headlight bezzels were full of condensation and a few drops of water. The airbox had dirt, and water all in it, but the filter seemed dry and clean. Upon taking the filter out I did notice a few drops of water in the intake tract...my heart sunk again.
I gave the car and the engine a good bath and took a drive to check things out. The engine seems fine, but there is still a lot of condensation in my bezzels. Ruined my whole week.

Andrew

 

Sorry to hear that....but, if the only thing wrong with your car is the headlight, I would say you were pretty lucky...could have been a lot worse if water got past the air intake and actually in a cylinder...just have all your fluids checked/changed and you should be ok.

 

S2Kguy,

I would suggest you bring the Stook to your fave dealer or good mechanic or do the following.

A lot of tranny's and diffs have air breather vents somewhere(I've had them on the top of some I've owned, but I do not know if or where the Stooks are). If the Stook has vents(or even if not) water that deep could have gotten into the fluids.

Ditto for the wheel bearings. If the water got high enough it may have gotten into the clutch and brake fluid.

It could be trapped in any box(electrical or otherwise in the engine compt)ie:computers, horn, wiper motors, connectors etc. It all depends on how high the water was. Try to inspect a few items that are low in the compartment first.

The water hitting the hot manifold or head could have cracked or warped the metal.

A flooded hot engine compartment is nothing to ignore.

The damage doesn't sound too bad if the unit would start and sounded OK but prudence would say check a lot of stuff with a good mechanics advice.

Good luck and let us know if you find anything.

 

Stook drowning is strictly prohibited!!

I hope she's OK! Keep us posted...!

 

I think we need a "Stook is not a Hummer" faq on s2ki!

(P.S. I HATE the Hummer, even if it would have done better than the S2K in 15 inches of water. That is its ONLY saving grace.)

Barry

 

yeah, submerging your stook in water is definitely not a good idea. I'd take a detour next time if I were you.

David

 

Reminds me of the line in "Risky Business" when Joel is at the dealer after accidently puting his dad's 928 into Lake Michigan:
"O.K., which one of you is the U-boat commander?" I certainly hope no permanent harm was done.

 

All those in favour of cold air intakes in the fake ducts please listen.

In 1990 I was the proud owner of my first new car. A Nissan EXA (I think they were called NX's in the USA) with the targa top.

I got caught in a hail storm which did minor panel damage to my car and as I was trying to find shelter I drove into a puddle on a three lane highway. My car abruptly stopped.

I leter had it towed to a service station where they managed to get it to run, but there was a knock from the engine.

The Exa had really low air intakes in the front bar, and had sucked water into the combustion chamber. Water doesn't compress like air and the result was a bent connecting rod (or two).

The car was written off by insurance and as it was leased I had a $2K shortfall to pay the car out.

I also suspect that if you were to run air ducts to your air box then suffer this damage your insurance would just laugh.

 

You drive it in the rain? No wonder her eyes filled with water....

Sorry to hear about your outing. Hope she's OK.

 

Thanks for the info, I'll have the MY dealer check it out tomorrow. The puddle just didn't seem that deep, and I'd never even seen it there before, once bitten...

I hope she's OK, I still feel terrible about it. I keep thinkin' I should have done something different...duh, but I really didn't know it was deep, and it was too late all too quick.

My passenger headlight refuses to come on now, and the condensation is really bad, all streaky and stuff...

Here's for hopin' for the best...

Andrew