Water shoots into engine bay, loud vibrating sound
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Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 56
Likes: 8
From: Pleasant Hill, CA
2013 C63 P31 Eurocharged, 2006 SLK55 R171, 2013 Audi RS5
Water shoots into engine bay, loud vibrating sound
So I was driving through an area where there was an inch of water and there is currently a small baseball sized hole in my lower engine bay shield (whatever that plastic cover is called) on the passenger's side right by the headlight, and some water shot up into that area. I heard a loud vibrating sound and immediately pulled over and turned off the car for about 7 minutes. Examining the engine bay, on the left (passenger) side of the engine there was "smoke" which I think was likely just steam. My guess is that since I had been driving for 20+ minutes the components on that side were hot, and being hit with water created the steam. It didn't smell bad like burnt oil or coolant so it seems like it was steam.
I turned the car back on and it started up normally -- drove home in comfort and kept the RPMs below 1500. When I got home there was basically no steam/smoke on that side compared to when I initially pulled over. I didn't hear anything strange driving home or that vibrating sound anymore, but I also kept the RPMs low and didn't really explore.
Do you think anything could have been damaged, and what might be that vibrating sound? Engine temp normal, no check engine light. Do you think it is safe to turn on give it a test drive at higher RPM? I might sound paranoid but it's a 30K mile engine that was a new crate engine installed in 2018 and I'm hoping for it to last a long time.
I turned the car back on and it started up normally -- drove home in comfort and kept the RPMs below 1500. When I got home there was basically no steam/smoke on that side compared to when I initially pulled over. I didn't hear anything strange driving home or that vibrating sound anymore, but I also kept the RPMs low and didn't really explore.
Do you think anything could have been damaged, and what might be that vibrating sound? Engine temp normal, no check engine light. Do you think it is safe to turn on give it a test drive at higher RPM? I might sound paranoid but it's a 30K mile engine that was a new crate engine installed in 2018 and I'm hoping for it to last a long time.
Last edited by Birdseye; Mar 30, 2023 at 03:55 AM.
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Joined: Apr 2015
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2012 c63 AMG, 2011 GLK 350, 2019 GLS 450
So I was driving through an area where there was an inch of water and there is currently a small baseball sized hole in my lower engine bay shield (whatever that plastic cover is called) on the passenger's side right by the headlight, and some water shot up into that area. I heard a loud vibrating sound and immediately pulled over and turned off the car for about 7 minutes. Examining the engine bay, on the left (passenger) side of the engine there was "smoke" which I think was likely just steam. My guess is that since I had been driving for 20+ minutes the components on that side were hot, and being hit with water created the steam. It didn't smell bad like burnt oil or coolant so it seems like it was steam.
I turned the car back on and it started up normally -- drove home in comfort and kept the RPMs below 1500. When I got home there was basically no steam/smoke on that side compared to when I initially pulled over. I didn't hear anything strange driving home or that vibrating sound anymore, but I also kept the RPMs low and didn't really explore.
Do you think anything could have been damaged, and what might be that vibrating sound? Engine temp normal, no check engine light. Do you think it is safe to turn on give it a test drive at higher RPM? I might sound paranoid but it's a 30K mile engine that was a new crate engine installed in 2018 and I'm hoping for it to last a long time.
I turned the car back on and it started up normally -- drove home in comfort and kept the RPMs below 1500. When I got home there was basically no steam/smoke on that side compared to when I initially pulled over. I didn't hear anything strange driving home or that vibrating sound anymore, but I also kept the RPMs low and didn't really explore.
Do you think anything could have been damaged, and what might be that vibrating sound? Engine temp normal, no check engine light. Do you think it is safe to turn on give it a test drive at higher RPM? I might sound paranoid but it's a 30K mile engine that was a new crate engine installed in 2018 and I'm hoping for it to last a long time.
Member
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 86
Likes: 21
From: Nova Scotia
2013 C63 PP Sedan
Was it a droning noise? Though I don't have a hole in my under-tray, driving in heavy rain and wet roads sometimes causes my car to make a low droning noise from the passenger side. There have been a few threads about it here over the years with no definitive answer as to what causes it. The most common theory is that the water cools part of the exhaust and may cause it flex and make contact with something under the car.
