108D water in the engine!!!!!

[romadi]

Hi chaps new here but need some help already!!!!!

Today i was driving my Merc Vito 108 diesel & as i came round a corner i was confronted with a flood of water across the road with no where else to go but through it,anyway to cut a long story short half way through the motor cuts out & would not restart.

After getting the van home on tow i managed to restart the motor after removing the air filter (yes there was water in there)but it is now running like a pig.

Starts fine no probs but lots of white smoke & very lumpy when its running.

Could it be the head gasket has gone due to a water lock or something along them lines or do i need to look somewhere else???

Many thanks for any help.
Rob.

 

[fatherted]

water in eng

do compression check first,to see if all close readings or some down,take note on readings,then it might need head off cheers good luck

 

[frank133]

water

Hi I would think you still have some water in the system,I wouldnt have thought driving threw\water would affect the head gasket,but a compression test as advised will do no harm,you might have got some water in the fuel ,or the exhaust could be full of water,as you say a lot of white smoke which is obviously water ,but is it coming from your coolant system,if not the head should be okay.hope you get it sorted

 

[oigle]

Getting water in to a diesel engine is a very BIG no-no!!! Water will not compress and, with the extremely high compression in diesel engines, it often results in a bent rod and/or piston damage. Bit late advice now, but NEVER drive through deep water with a diesel unless you are sure the level is below the air intake.
Best of luck!!

 

[Ian B Walker]

It may just be a case of water in the exhaust.

 

[television]

It may just be a case of water in the exhaust.

This would be an easy check by jacking up the front quite high

 

[IAN MAC]

Bent valves could be the answer.

 

[panason1c]

Water will not compress and, with the extremely high compression in diesel engines, it often results in a bent rod and/or piston damage.

I agree with the above.
Very likely to have bent a rod......it only takes a split second for this kind of damage when water enters the combustion chamber.

Would your comprehensive insurance policy cover it as the damage is due to floods..perhaps?

 

[Ultymate]

If water has indeed been ingested to one or more of the cylinders then it will be bent con-rod(s) that will resullt and not bent valves, you will usually find the engine will run but unevenly due to reduced compression on the cylinder(s) with the bent rod(s), can equally happen on petrol or diesel motors. A good compression test is the diffinitive investigative tool in this case.

 

[romadi]

Thanks for all the answers guys

The motor was just on tick over so hopefully fingers crossed & everything else it may be ok.

Looks like a compression check will be first on the list of things to do.

Ref: panason1c
"Would your comprehensive insurance policy cover it as the damage is due to floods..perhaps?"

That's something i will have to look in to but you know what insurance companys are like

 

[romadi]

If the head gasket had gone would i not be losing water????

Also at the time the van was only at a crawl i would say less than 1,000 rpm.

But i did try & restart it a few time there & then!!!!!!

When i got it home i removed the air filter & pipe & tryed to start it again which it did but with all the things listed in my first post!!

 

[jberks]

does sound more like con rod than head gasket to me. Lumpy running and smoke would tend to indicate one or more cylinders with low compression. I'd imagine that the head, bolted down as it is, would be stronger than the con rod.
All that said, you've flooded the engine bay with water, Are you sure you simply haven't got water in an electrical connector somewhere?

 

[Colin211]

Mate of mine did the same thing with a vito van bent the con rods on his any diesel does not like sucking up water !!!!