koifysh

I stumble upon this video on youtube Basically heavy rain & water got into the intake.
For those of you who own this car for a while. Is this a common problem in the c63 when it rains heavily?

brad65ford

Yeah saw this too, only more reason to do an after market intake setup like shown in the other thread with the open filters under the hood. Emailed JTL intake asking them if they'd be interested in doing a intake kit for our cars... No dice.

GordonGEICO

This guy can't catch a break... first his rear diff, now a whole new engine... jesus.

digitalnav

Pretty sure the value on this re-sale went way down.

jkob5

wonder if his insurance will even cover this or if it's considered a mechanical breakdown?

GordonGEICO

Unless they can prove that he was using the vehicle outside of its intended purpose (eg, off-road), I'm guessing it will be covered, as long as he has comprehensive coverage. It shouldn't be treated differently than other water damage, but my guess is they will investigate to make sure the engine was in-fact hydrolocked.

jkob5

When I was much younger geico totalled a car I drove into a puddle and hydrolocked the engine. They will probably cover this but I'm curious where the line is drawn. If your car is out of warranty and the engine seized, they wouldn't pay for a new engine, so I'm not sure what is different here other than why it seized, but does that matter?

Either way, living in Houston where flooding occurs regularly, I hope they cover it.

dae123

A) "wow it's driving so hard I can't see"
B) "wow it's flooding so bad cops closed the road"

and he he keeps driving his performance luxury car down the road anyways?

If it was me, I'd have stayed clear of any situation that could flood my engine. One of the first things my Dad told me when teaching me to drive on a Honda. Dont do anything that could get excessive water in the engine.

Don't know if plow my AMG down a flooded road. I'd turn around or wait it out.

All that said, I'm sorry for the dude. Hope it gets made whole.

auditoamg

Rain wouldn't normally flood the engine.
There was really no way to predict that this would happen.
I don't blame the guy at all.
The other car driving kicked up enough water to seize the engine...
No way to avoid that.

MikeV63

Reply to: dae123

A) That's NOT what I said
B) That's NOT what I said either

Although I'm used to being judged and misquoted, I never get used to it lol

dae123

Sorry shouldn't have put it in quotes. That's what I interpreted at least watching your video.

Bluetonic

That sucks big time!

It sounds like he has the support of a good dealer and hopefully the insurance will cover the damage. I know that doesn't help how he feels now but fingers crossed they will get him back in a car soon.

The coupe's are that new we are only just starting to hear of issues and this is the first I've seen relating to water through the intake and I've been researching and watching a number of forums.

That being said, if it was a really big wave of water that hit him then he would have experienced the same in most non-pickup/SUV/4X4 sports cars where the priority is getting air into the engine.
When we had bad floods in the UK a few years back I know several people who had hydrolocked engines following waves of water from passing cars ranging from Ford Focuses to 5 series BMWs.

skim7x

I doubt this would be considered a design flaw... Sounds like just extremely bad conditions and a rotten bit of luck, I'm sorry... At least you'll get a new engine out of it -- could be worse. Now you have a memorable experience with the car and hopefully that will strengthen your bond with it and you'll enjoy it even more!

auditoamg

The lesson here: If it's really coming down wherein cars next to you are kicking up large waves of water, pull off and let things subside a bit. I have been in similar situations, but never with an engine this large, sucking so much air.

As for design flaw, when we get back into a winter-like season and start seeing more of this, then we can talk about flaws. As this is the same engine in the sedan and the sedan isn't plagued with this, it's going to be a hard argument.... Unless, the coupe is lower or has some other slight difference in an indirect engine component to account for the body panel differences.....

tekfoc

very sad to see this happened to such a good guy.
been watching his video's since he picked up his AMG.
but can easily happen to any car.
if a wave of water comes high enough this will definitely happen.

Sawadeeka

WOW. Thank you so much for the heads up on this. Here in Germany, it rains quite a bit--especially during the summer months. I really need to be super careful. I imagine this car to be super vulnerable to a hydrolock due to the super air intake to overcome the "hot V" twin turbocharger configuration with the air intake scoop just a few feet off the ground. It would've been nice to see a dashcam video of this happening to see exactly how much water is enough to cause this.

Dd1101

Aren't the intake located at top of the grill on the c63 now? The timing of him accelerating and the puddle was bad luck or bad judgment.

Is there a way water can get in the beside the intakes on top in a normal situation?

E55 KEV

Welcome to the forum Mike!

E55 KEV

Holy Crap! MikeV63's car is declared a insurance total loss. To replace C63S engine will cost $71k!

AMG3.2

Okay, does anyone else think this is pure BS? Does it not seem like manufactures are artificially pricing replacement OE parts just so insurance companies have no choice but to total their cars, and MB can sell more units?

WhiteC63s

For as often as this happens, not likely. But I would have much rather of had the car totaled than deal with replacing the engine and diminished value when it comes time to sell it.

shardul

iTrader: (1)

On the W220 and W221 the end tank of the radiator cracks and all the fluid is sucked up by the intake snorkel which results in engine damage.

Flarearrow

After giving the scenario some thought, I can totally see how the engine got hydro locked. I have a W204 C350 coupe. All of these MB intakes are sealed units, ingesting air from the front grill. Driving for 5 min thru a torrential downpour won't do anything. BUT driving for miles on end in a torrential downpour, I can see the air intake slowly taking in water, filling up the air box, with no way for the water to drain out. Eventually the air box will get filled with water to the point where hydro lock will occur

C63s4Lyfe

If this is true, then I would consider it a design flaw. But, I've driven many cars in torrential downpours with "mini-splash" waves hitting the car (from when drivers near you drive through puddles in the adjacent lanes). I've never had any issues in multiple different cars I've driven in rain over the years. And I'm sure many C63 drivers drive through serious rain for many many miles without issues. So, not sure what to think about this whole situation. Need a thorough investigation with details...and we're not going to get that...so its hard to say.

AlexZTuned

I'm pretty sure that there is a spring-loaded plastic flap on each intake (at the front where the air first enters) that opens and closes based on speed/wind pressure. So if you're stationary, the flaps are closed, but once you get moving they open up. I can't check on my Coupe now, but if anyone wants to take a look to confirm that would be helpful. This seems like it would prevent water getting sucked up into the intake if you're splashed when stationary.

As for a design flaw, I can't say I agree. I've driven plenty in the rain and never had any issues... then again, I'm not driving in torrential downpours or sitting in flooded streets.