Toronto is currently under severe thunderstorm condition. The radio said that certain areas received 90mm of rain in the past few hours. There are flood in many low areas as well.

I was driving home earlier through the storm and I had to drive through 7-8 inches of water on the highway. I saw many cars stalled on the highway.

It was a scary experience and I am finally home now. My question is should I have stopped? I am sure driving through high depth of water is not good for the car. How high would the water be to pose a threat to the car?

 

That would depend on the car. If you made it through without stalling you're probably okay, but I wouldn't do it again.

 

Well, the W163 was officially rated with a fording depth of 20 inches, but unofficially, it would do 24 inches easily. I don't think a small 7-8 inch puddle would be a problem for the CLK, but I don't think I'd drive thorugh a "river" of water this deep. I recall a forum member (or maybe over on benzworld) who had major engine problems after driving through what he thought was just a small puddle of water.

 

The city infrastructure just could not handle 125mm of rain in a few hours. They were floods in many low areas of the city including the highways.

I had to drive through many stretches of water on my way home last evening, some of them are 50-80 meters long.

 

IIRC, that was a C230K (I had one at the time) and the supercharger got a big drink!

 

Some people told me these water damages can write-off the car. is this true?

 

My engine hydro locked and I got it swapped from insurance coverage. Water was less than 6 inches as I stood in it, but I feel my lip dipped in the water and popped the water up into the intakes.

Would recommend not to do it again.



Angelo

 

I saw the news reports tonight - Toronto was hammered! There were many shots of cars stalled on flooded roadways.

 

What is "hydro-locked"?

 

Water getting into the cylinders. Water is not compressible & will bend conrods etc.

On no account cause a bow wave that can be ingested by the engine. Open your hood. The two large inlet pipes from the scoops to the airbox are obvious. Don't let water get in there.

 

I've gone through this intersection a few times, was at least 12-18" this time