water damage

[lovejoy]

had my car recovered earlier, 2 miles after tiny amount of water across road, went through very carefully and slowly, engine sounded awful and then stalled, game over, insurance have recovered, anyone have an idea on timescale on repair/ will it be written off?

 

[Luke.]

Will need an engine by the sounds of it mate.. 2nd hand lumps are about £500ish plus fitting..

 

[scotty2hotty81]

Plus cam belt and fluids probably looking at £1000 or run the risk.

 

[clio182nurburg]

tiny water across the road? really. did you have an an aftermarket filter down near the acoustic valve which sucked all the water in? or what. surely you didnt hydrolock the engine with water, that would be unlikely, but unfortunate. let us know the diagnosis when you find out. If it needs an engine they will write it off i would have thought

 

[Budgie]

How deep was the water?

 

[clio182nurburg]

must have been over a foot deep to kill a clio dont you think? electrics more likely than engine failure

 

[Gavin.]

Must have been fairly deep, I often drive through a fjord near my house to avoid traffic and thats over a foot deep when it rains heavily.

 

[Jack Gilbert]

Must have been fairly deep, I often drive through a fjord near my house to avoid traffic and thats over a foot deep when it rains heavily.

i also drive through a lot of water on the way down from my house to some sort of road and had no troubles so as suggested probably electrics fault.

 

[Dan@SJM]

The fact it ran for 2 miles afterwards says its electrical to me

 

[lovejoy]

hi guys, thanks for all the replies, the water i would have said was about 6 inches at most! the guy from the AA came out and upon me turning the key at his request, he said the cam-belt had snapped. my insurance has informed me that the car is being taken to a repair shop tomorrow where they will assess the damage to find out if the car will be written off. i do have some belongings in the car too, assuming if they write the car off i will be able to attend the garage and get my belongings, will i be able to get any bits off it too? interior parts like my new carbon grip covers i mean. also anyone think it would be worth buying the car back if its written off?

 

[scotty10]

thats a shame another bites the dust

 

[clio182nurburg]

Shouldn't have thought you'll be able to take any bits off the car unless you buy it back. It'll be their car if they pay you for it. Easy to see if its cam belt, just whip the top engine mount off with a jack under the sump and you can see the belt going over the dephaser pulley. Find out the buy back price and post it here and we can help you decide. If the price is right buy it back and sell or repair, that way at least you are saving it from the scrappy and may even make yourself an extra hundred pounds or 2 to put towards a new car. Good luck. AA man could be wrong.

 

[Adam.]

Ask the garage how much they will charge to fit a new engine and cancel the insurance claim.

Surely your excess + future increase will be more than getting another engine fitted.

 

[sam JFM]

Defo

Ask the garage how much they will charge to fit a new engine and cancel the insurance claim.

Surely your excess + future increase will be more than getting another engine fitted.

 

[lovejoy]

insurance told me today after i chased them that the car was inspected today and is a borderline total loss so im not expecting a repair. the inspector is checking for prices on the car to check if a repair is on the cards. i fu**ing hate insurers.

 

[Martin.]

If it's written off you will be able to get your belongings out of it, buy this I mean coat, gloves, glasses etc.

But you will not be able to take any parts off of it. Once they have paid out and you have accepted the payment the car and all it's parts now belong to them.

You could buy it back off of them, if its a CAT C or D. This would be for a small percentage of the agreed value. But that's only worth while if you feel you could sell off the parts for more than this.

Sorry to hear about your bad news though!

 

[lovejoy]

hi guys, got the news today, its been declared a complete loss, nearly fell off my chair though when given a valuation! when they called back though i was much happier. incase anyone is interested, i asked they guy who looked over my car and he said that the intake was dry and no sign of water being ingested and also he double checked and the cam belt was intact, no idea why the car has given up the ghost. All very odd. anyone have any ideas? the car was written off due to a new engine needed, however they will not entertain the idea of a re-con engine. as such of the Cat C write off, i do not think buying it back and doing it myself will be a good idea as re-sell will be tricky and insurance premium will be high. no now I am back looking for a new motor. A clio sport of course!

 

[JackJack]

The cambelts don't actually snap they normally slip iirc which is what causes the damage.