OK, before I began let me apologize for the long thread. This is my first of probably many posts on this forum but i've been lurking it for some time now.

Anyway, I live in a pretty hot region where temperatures get above the 120's during the day (it's 11PM right now and it's 95F outside). About three weeks ago we had a storm pass by and given that it rarely rains around here, we were surprised by the amount of water that poured down, nothing major really for those of you up north, but we hadn't seen rain like this in a couple of years. When the rain really hit hard I was on the road heading back home and I hit this spot on the road where it was flooded. I slowly inched my HCH into the puddle of water and as soon as my tires touched the water I knew it had been a bad idea. The puddle became more of a lagoon but I decided to just keep going and see what happened. As I kept going I could feel the front grill of the car pushing the water forward creating resistance. Then I got really scared when my lights became lost in the water, they just sunk in... It was **** scary, but not as scary as what happened next. I was thinking to myself, F'it, if my car dies here I'll just climb out.... but as I was thinking that the car sank even further, I was so deep that the water reached the bottom of my front windshield, it completely covered my hood for a few seconds. To my surprise, however, the car never stopped nor gave any indication that it would. I made it out safely to the other side and all I could think was how kickass this car is. They had told me that the Civics were built like little tanks but this was just unexpected. It's been three weeks now and nothing seems to have affected it, but I'm not sure if this will have any future effects on my HCH. Has anyone had any similar experiences of this kind and if so did something happen to the car in the longrun? What kind of protection does the HCH have on the bottom. BTW, I own an '05 CVT model.

 

You got lucky, that's for sure. The airbox is positioned to draw air from as high up in the engine bay as possible, but when you're talking about water up to the windshield, that means the engine bay was probably extremely close to water logged. Obviously, it didn't reach high enough to submerge the airbox, otherwise your engine would have shut down quite abruptly.

Typically when you dunk a car, the electronics that are not weatherproof are only a problem if the interior of the car was soaked. Most everything under the hood is waterproof thanks to the fact that pressure-washing engine bays is so popular and manufacturers don't want a reputation for cars breaking down after getting washed.

You could take the car in for service and have them look it over to make sure the CV boots aren't torn and full of rusty, nasty water now, but generally that's not going to happen to a very new car anyway. It sounds like you pretty much lucked out.

 

I would have the oil and fluids in transmission and crankcase checked or changed. Your electrical connections will probably corrode in future. I think you are in for trouble later on. You might want to think of quickly trading on a 06!

Why do people think they can drive through water in a car? I did it in when a teenager. I knew the water was not deep where I went. It was only 10-12 inches, but on my 49 Plymouth the distributer was on lower side on motor, so you guessed it, it quit in the middle of this water. Had to puch it out and dry out the distributer to get it going. Just saw someone drive a car right in water on the hurricane news. Guy had to be rescued. It was not a puddle, but DEEP!

 

umm, glad you made it through, but its a really really really REALLY bad idea to ever try to drive into a puddle you can't see the road surface through. Consider yourself **** lucky the car didn't get stuck, or worse, swept away. If that had been even slowly flowing water, you'd be beyond screwed.

I wouldn't brag about the feat too much. But yes, that is impressive from a purely technical standpoint.

 

I've been through the same type of ordeal. Brandon couldn't be more correct about the air intake.

A long story short, it was raining hard all day and lots of streets flooded. A friend driving his 1988 Oldsmobile Ciera came across a long puddle which actually turned out to be a mini lake a half a block long. The water was knee deep and without thinking, he plowed through. Water was splashing out from underneath the hood. We made it half way across and the car stalled (a kid standing on higher ground was laughing his head off at our predicament). Water was now seeping in through the door jams. After three minutes the car started and we made it out without it stalling again but the car died heading back to my house. We had it towed to my place and I had a look under the hood to give it a quick check. I found the air filter under water (the canister was completely filled). The following morning he try starting the car till the battery died. He had the car towed to his mechanic and got the car back 3 days later with a $1,000 in parts and labor. The engine blew the following year.
I also think you should have your car checked out.

 

That's an incredible story. Scary, but incredible. I'm wondering if that aerodynamic shield underneath the engine compartment slowed down the flow of water long enough for you to make it. I'm no mechanic, but if that were my car I'd be tempted to get it in for whatever major service was next (15K, 30K...) just as a precaution.

 

I'm glad you made it and I'm impressed the HCH held up so well, but I'll never come close to testing mine.

 

You are really lucky. If you had gotten stuck in Phoenix and had to be pulled out, you would have been responsible for the bill to get your car out. It's literally called the "Stupid Driver Law" here in Arizona and they can charge the driver for pulling the car out. I heard recently one guy had to have a helicopter pull out his Hummer and the bill was over $10K. I guess he could afford it though.

 

LOL you just made my night, that's classic.

 

Yes, then there is the 18-wheeler which got washed down a shallow wash last year. And the 65 year old rancher last month who died in his truck with his seatbelt on when he tried to take his dually with an attached horse trailer across a wash....After 65 years of being a human, he was still ignorant enough to do that....Makes you wonder sometimes !!

P.S. It's *unsmart* to take your car through any water that is 6+ inches deep or more.