Flood Damaged Diesel Caddy Going to Auction

[Transporter]

My daughter's version sounds nothing like that.

I haven't looked under the bonnet of her new Caddy, to find out what is mounted so low that driving through a relatively low level of water creates so much grief.
If the ECU is lower than the air intake, then maybe the problem is "only" with the electronics.

I guess it doesn't have to be water getting into the ECU. Probably it just has to be water getting into some part of the electronics that will lead to an electronic failure.

The insurance company organised the tow-in, so I don't know who actually looked at the Caddy and provided the estimate that led the insurance company to write it off. Possibly some mechanic who knew absolutely nothing about electronics, and it scared him into adding $10,000 or so to his repair estimate.

When the ECU is fitted under the bonnet it has to be sealed and water shouldn't get inside.
What probably happened was that the engine sucked in a bit of water and it stopped. The engine could come to the stop when the water went in the air filter and shortened MAF sensor, the rest of the sensors should last longer with water around them. How much water passed the air filter that is for the buyer to find out.
If the water was up to the middle of the door, than I would say that the water went through the engine, transmission, exhaust….

What is the wadding depth of the Caddy anyway?

In flooded areas if you see bigger cars than yours already stuck in the water don’t follow them.

If you drive in the water you keep going or you stop if you are not sure, don’t restart the engine in the water if the engine stalled, the exhaust is most likely flooded and it will not start. Switch everything off remove the car from the water dry and check everything before you start.
That’s what she should do.
Good thing is that it is insured and it is better when the insurance company replace the car anyway. You would get only troubles with it as the result of the water damage.

[Nordo]

When the ECU is fitted under the bonnet it has to be sealed and water shouldn't get inside.
What probably happened was that the engine sucked in a bit of water and it stopped. The engine could come to the stop when the water went in the air filter and shortened MAF sensor, the rest of the sensors should last longer with water around them. How much water passed the air filter that is for the buyer to find out.
If the water was up to the middle of the door, than I would say that the water went through the engine, transmission, exhaust….

What is the wadding depth of the Caddy anyway?

In flooded areas if you see bigger cars than yours already stuck in the water don’t follow them.

If you drive in the water you keep going or you stop if you are not sure, don’t restart the engine in the water if the engine stalled, the exhaust is most likely flooded and it will not start. Switch everything off remove the car from the water dry and check everything before you start.
That’s what she should do.
Good thing is that it is insured and it is better when the insurance company replace the car anyway. You would get only troubles with it as the result of the water damage.

When she first drove into the water and the car stopped, she got out of the car and said the water was about half way up her shin - ie approx 300mm (one foot). At this stage the motor was completely dead (no starter motor, etc).
It was only when she walked back into the water to help get the car towed out (about 30 minutes later) that the water was half way up the doors.

[Transporter]

In 1993 I bought Subaru L-series in auction, which was water damaged. Got the car home, it took me 1 hour to get it started (VW Caddy could be different). The car was for my wife to drive and it had manual gearbox - we needed automatic I was lucky that at another auction a week later was L-series which was rolled over and done only 40,000km, I bought it and used everything from it onto the one which was flooded incl. complete wiring. One week later complete swap was finished - I didn't swap the fuel tank since I stared on the fuel I bought the water damaged car with, six month later car started to stall and fuel filter was filling up with corroded bits. Of course I didn't keep rolled over damaged body, so I had to get the fuel tank from the wrecker. Both cars cost me $4000 to buy, no labour cost (did it myself) and the car was marked valued by insurance company for $10,000. We had it for 6years.

About the caddy if I had one I would go to that auction and if it goes cheep I would consider bidding on it.

[Silver Caravelle]

Odds on the diesel engine has sucked in some water through the intake and seized solid. If it is not turning over that is also sure sign. An easy way to verify is to check the dip stick to see how much water is mixed with the oil.

If it was electrics which I doubt, these would dry out eventually.

Regards,

Scott

[Seano]

My daughter's version sounds nothing like that.

I haven't looked under the bonnet of her new Caddy, to find out what is mounted so low that driving through a relatively low level of water creates so much grief.
If the ECU is lower than the air intake, then maybe the problem is "only" with the electronics.

I guess it doesn't have to be water getting into the ECU. Probably it just has to be water getting into some part of the electronics that will lead to an electronic failure.

The insurance company organised the tow-in, so I don't know who actually looked at the Caddy and provided the estimate that led the insurance company to write it off. Possibly some mechanic who knew absolutely nothing about electronics, and it scared him into adding $10,000 or so to his repair estimate.

Auto electronics these days are a bugger to fix because of system complexity and integration - just tracking a fault can take forever. I am aware of a Subaru Forester that had its entire loom replaced under warranty after the Subaru techs spent three days searching for a short that killed the engine fuse upon ignition - we learnt this after our own Forester suffered the same problem and it took the Subaru bloke a day and a half to find the short - under the drivers seat.

In a flooded setup like this with a demonstrable system failure then the assessor would probably have estimated total loom replacement to start with......add to that the various sensors and ECU that may also have been damaged and all the labour that it'd involved plus the interior plus any driveline damage (at very least all lubes would have to be replaced three times over to ensure no water in oil...). And you have a very easy write off.

[gregozedobe]

I think insurance companies are very cautious with cars that have been flooded because they are concerned that the car may have corrosion in the electrics which doesn't show up until later, which (worst case scenario) may lead to people being killed and the insurance company being held liable for not writing the vehicle off. Can't blame them really.

[Lams]

damn, 300mm, I'm sure mine's been through deeper than that. But I won't do that again now... the intake is quite high on the Caddys, if there's nothing on the dashboard, sounds electrical to me

[Transporter]

damn, 300mm, I'm sure mine's been through deeper than that. But I won't do that again now... the intake is quite high on the Caddys, if there's nothing on the dashboard, sounds electrical to me

How high is the transmission's breather hose?
Worth while to extend and cheep to do it.