Seems everytime drive my Crossie thru Nashville I have a catastrophe.
Last year Spring Dragon running late for Sharko and His fiancees wedding we went thru during a tornado. Drove thru foot deep puddles and found a copper pipe in one which I picked up without even stopping. put it right thru my left rear tire. Then, I stopped.
Fixed it with a plug first try.

Got lucky on that one.

This time I went thru a heavy rainstorm in Fort Campbell KY and drove all the way to Nashville with no problems. However, I apparently stored enough water in the CAI to slurp up the following morning and hydro lock the engine.

Bad, very bad.
The roadster with a stick is driving a Ford fusion now.

Yuck!

without a roadster with a stick

BTW, I love Nashville but if I have to go there again, I'm taking the jeep ,,,,,,or Crumpy's SRT.

 

you there for IA?

 

OUCH!
Sorry to hear that Franc. Do you think it will live?

 

Just there for business. Thought I would slip in Tuesday evening. Drink and flirt with the waitresses while my vendor bought the drinks.
Do a hangover press check at 8:00 AM and slip out of town by nine for a fast trip home.

Press check went fine.
Waitress told me I was to old
Car went Chitty chitty bang bang,,,,, pfsst.

As to prognosis, I don't know yet. Insurance has to send an adjuster.

The dealer told me this was the third hydrolocked car they had seen due to all the heavy rains and flooding in Nashville. Insurance totaled both of the other two. I will have it repaired irregardless of that outcome.


Thing is, I have been in worse weather. Last year when I blew the tire I landed in a huge puddle so hard I blew the inspection doors off the front fender wells. Where My CAI is located. I didn't get a drop in the engine.
So why did this happen? Really strange.

Rain was in Kentucky. Later I'm driving fine in Tennessee.

I was playing tag with a Merc SL 600 V12 for about twenty miles down I 24 and then down I 65. We did triple digits, mostly in light traffic, as we leapfrogged through the other cars. Not one symptom of trouble.

Next morning I got a big, bad, surprise.


without his roadster with a stick

 

You came to Nashville, and didn't shoot me a PM?

Shame

Next time you come down, let me know. I'll buy you a beer

 

I was traveling quick and light. Didn't even have my laptop with me.

That said,
I will take you up on the beer. Next time I'm there it will be to settle with the Insurance.

I made need more than one to get thru the night.

Car is in Franklin at Alexander Dodge Jeep Chrysler on Murphysburro road.

doing without my Crossie

 

That's literally 20 minutes away from me.

Hit me up when you come back for it

 

Looks like next Thursday July 22.
I'll PM you when I know.

franc

 

These are the things that happen to me in Texas! It seems everyone has a bad news state where nothing ever goes right. I'm happy to hear you'll be fixing your car and not handing it over for premature burial. I hope Tennessee stops hating on you.

Les

 

Was over on MBWorld a few weeks ago and a member posted a thread about how he had picked up a great deal on a 2nd gen M3 convertible from his father-in-law. It was a couple hundred mile trip to pick it up and on the return journey they got hit in a downpour. His wife, who was driving the newly purchased M3 (the guy was driving his C), went through a deep puddle of standing water - hydrolocked the engine.

Members on the forum were posting in how bad of a repair that is because the engine is basically shot. Most people said every time they had seen a hydrolocked engine they engine had to be replaced.

But on a positive note... the member took the M3 to the right mechanic I suppose because they were able to dry out the engine and now it is running like new.

Given the value of Crossfires right now though I would not at all be surprised if the insurance company simply scraps the car and totals it. They have very little incentive to save it and could care less about how much of your blood, sweat, and tears you have put into the car.

I hope it works out for you either way. Maybe a check for the totalled value of your car could be a downpayment for and SRT! I can't believe how cheap they have become.

 

I do worry about the Insurance Co. But this baby is not going to scrap. It has been three years of total joy for me. Ran like a turpetined cat and besides, I just put $0.38 worth of racing pin stripes on it!
I will have it fixed.

As to the SRT, I already have one. I prefer the stick shift.

That said, the dealer had a nice Metalic Grey Graphite SRT roadster on the lot.

Hmmmm.

franc

 

Franc,

Very sorry to hear this, but I have no doubt that the beautiful albaster roadster will be reborn like a phoenix (hopefully be able to trounce a SRT, and still have a stick.... V8 swap possibly?)

Small detail, but the SL55 is an SCed V8 and the SL65 is a Turboed V12, a little over 100HP difference between the two (or you could be speaking of the SL600 with an NA V12 and the same HP ~500 as the SL55). Sorry, I am ****.

 

Dang Franc, sorry to hear about that. It seems many here are getting some hard luck lately. A couple of years ago I ran though some really heavy rain, heavy enough that I couldn't see. The toughguy side got ahold of me and I refused to pull over. I ended up going though some pretty deep stuff for a car this low. I never thought in a million years about hydrolocking her though. I sure will now though. Though given my luck as of late, I wouldn't be surprised if that weren't next on my list. Someone will probably come along and fill my newports engine with gravy or something. If anything, we can always say that at least you didn't just drive your Buggati Veyron into a lagoon, or spin your 300k polished Cobra and land upside down in a creek.

 

How much lower to the ground are those aftermarket CAIs?

 

Sad too hear of your drowned roadster.

With the way insurance companies are totaling our cars, this is troubling indeed.
Hope this all works out well for you, and you are back rowing through the gears soon.

 

Have a friend in Savannah - the lady who let me drive HER roadster - same thing happened to her.

Insurance bought her an engine - her XF with like 45,000 miles on it has an engine with about 5,000 on it now!

Hope yours goes the same way, Franc.


(Oh, her car is 100% factory.)

 

Damn Franc, sorry to hear about this. Sounds like you were having a good time, and mother nature just had to ruin for you. Let us know what the outcome is, and if we can help in anyway.


P.S. SL55 is a S/C'd V8. Or if it was V12 it was a SL600/SL65 <--which you would have noticed...haha

 

My Needswings (airfilters) are in front of the radiator, behind the grill. I think there is one is it TVT? that dumps into a wheel well. I was a bit concerned driving up to Carlisle in heavy rain last weekend but I had no problem what so ever. When all is said and done its probably a lot like the stock intake. They are just open tubes on either side of the radiator that eventually lead to your filters etc. The Needswings is Filter and then tubes etc. Just a bit bigger and meaner and louder. Franc sorry to hear about your mishap, hope it all works out.
Pat

 

Time for a V8 Drop !!!! you know you want to do it !

 

Sorry I got the badge wrong on the Merc. Spent most of the time along side not behind it. All I saw was SL and likely 600. I did see the V12 on the side badging.

I didn't spend much time behind him. Yeah, I know it sounds like I'm bragging but in reality, we weren't racing, just cruising together thru the traffic. Both of us permagrinning and enjoying our cars together.

Then there is the fact that I can't remember squat anymore. At least short term. Perhaps it is the testostrone.

'Cause women remember EVERYTHING!

roadster with a stick, but no engine.