What are all the possible things that can occur when driving through a puddle of water with a slightly lowered car. I haven't done it but a friend drove through a puddle and says his car is acting kind of sluggish and weird. I haven't driven it but I'm going to at lunchtime. Thanks.

 

Went through a big puddle Sat night, and it ripped off my fender liner. PITA

The big fatal thing is hydro-lock. Water in the intake will cause the engine to decelerate so quickly that things will bend or brake.

Wet ignition bits are not generally fatal, but can be disabling.

I do not think that lowering a car a couple of inches is going to make much difference in a relative sense.

 

You have to remember, although certain parts of your vehicle are well protected against moisture and the occasional blast from a splash of water, driving through puddles, especially at speed can create havoc under your hood and can lead to some serious issues within your electrical system among other things.

There is the whole hydro lock issue which is huge, especially with those of us who choose to install a CAI, however, even if you correctly purchase an intake and its subsequent parts, the risk of that happening goes almost to nil. I think there are so many potential things that can happen, its almost logical to just slow down and avoid making a wave.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Conflicted &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I think there are so many potential things that can happen, its almost logical to just slow down and avoid making a wave. </TD></TR></TABLE>

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once it rained so much so fast that the street at work flooded in a couple places going over the curb. I was in my Civic that is lowered (not sure how much though) and went very slow. It didn't help though

Water must have gotten into the transmission housing where the clutch and flywheel are because the clutch chattered VERY hard after coming through the water. It shook so hard that my ground wire from the transmission to the chassis broke. Under the hood got pretty wet (from driving home) but the engine ran fine, little hesitant but after it dried out it was fine. Just a broken ground wire.

Always be cautious when going through water.

 

My second car was an Acura Vigor and if any of you guys are in the NJ/NY area we had a big *** rain last year that flooded alot of streets. I was on my way to work and ran through a puddle of water probably at 5-10mph. The vigor is low to the ground stock. Anyway I got off my exit off the highway and the car turned off, steering wheel locked, brakes were loose like they had air in them. Luckily I didn't panic and I keep my cool so I turned the wheel as hard as I could and turned on a 1 way street and hit the E-Brake and managed to park it by the curb. I was probably about 5 inches from this BMW in front of me. I was like Holy ****.

Car took about 10 minutes to turn on so I didnt think too much of it. Needless to say I almost killed myself twice more because of the same issue and it only happened when I was exiting a highway. I took it to AAMCO (worst place ever in my experience) My radiator cracks a couple of hoses were burst. The water somehow messed up the pully holding the serpentine belt and snapped it. The idiots didn't replace the serpentine belt when I told them what the problem was.

I will never ever drive through a puddle. I'd hit an old lady just to avoid it. Ever since that time I owned that car I always drive with my hand on E-Brake. Just a habit now. That car had so many issues power steering was leaking so I got used driving with the steering wheel stiff as hell. Explains why I have crazy skills now. Lol.

 

little puddles are no problem but if the water is more than about 5" deep I would be weary of going through it. should slow down for any major water on the road