Battery light and loss of power while crossing a ford.

Thought today would be an excellent day for testing the truck (1989 110, 200TDi bought a month ago) in a little water. I found a flooded ford - total length about 40 metres, maximum depth about 40cm - reasonably safe, I thought.

I entered the water in third and almost immediately started losing power. Fine, thought I, that's just the drag of the water. Gave it a little more welly, but continued to lose power. Dropped it to second and the battery light came on. Started to lose power again. By this time I'm not even half way across and starting to panic. Dropped it to first and put my foot down. Chugged slowly across, battery light beaming brightly.

Got power back pretty much as soon as I came out of the water and the battery light started dimming and then went out about a quarter mile further on. Drove back on the unflooded roads.

Thought the alternator may be dodgy, but the usual test (start the engine, disconnect earth, turn the lights on) worked fine - you could hear a high pitched whispering when the lights went on, but no dimming and no battery light. Voltages (running and stopped) seem to be OKish at the battery, but I haven't measured voltage at the alternator yet - a job for the weekend.

Anyway, the questions are...

1) Given this is my first experience of water, is this normal? (I suspect not, but thought I'd better ask the question anyway!)

2) If it isn't normal, can somebody describe what crossing that ford should feel like - both the subjective opinion and also revs, gear and how far down the go pedal is pushed?

3) Again, if it's not normal, does anybody want to hazard a guess at why the battery light came on and why I lost power?

Cheers...

Nick.

yer alt belt slipped - stop worrying

OK, that would explain the battery light - I did check belts etc. when I bought it, but I'll replace and tighten that one anyway.

Would it explain the loss of power (engine, not electrical) though?

Cheers for the fast response.

Nick.

I reckon you underestimated how much power water has, hence wrong initial gear - and the steering going stiff made you think the engine was dying

ffs

water is like a brick when you hit it , think about how much tug/loss off speed you get when splashing school kids by driving through big puddles , but im no expert on fording But i understand basic physics lol , so from what you say and my understanding would say just water resistance

Yes, third was optimistic, I'll grant you that!

Thing is, though, that it started out and finished quite shallow - by the time I got to the deep bit (not that 40cm is deep, but you know what I mean) I was already in first with my foot well down on the pedal and was doing no more than 5mph.

I guess what I'm saying is that I was expecting to lose power, but not almost all of it!

Nick.

PS - @storm99, sorry if I've offended you - I didn't mean to. I'm learning and I'll freely admit that I know almost nothing and will make stupid mistakes. Thank you, Sean and bencorkill for bearing with me.

3rd low? or did you try 3rd high?

3rd high i presume, 3rd low should have been like high 1/2 ?

if it was 3rd high he's lucky it didnt just stall!

Next time chap try 2nd lowrange and see how it goes

Yes, 3rd high. I think we all agree that that was completely the wrong gear to approach in. Mea culpa. Next time I'll engage the brain as well as a lower gear.

OK. So I feel more than a little foolish... Sitting here red faced and grateful that not only am I being tolerated, I'm rather undeservedly being helped too.

I'll try again tomorrow. Low ratio.

Thanks all.

NAB said:

OK. So I feel more than a little foolish... Sitting here red faced and grateful that not only am I being tolerated, I'm rather undeservedly being helped too.

I'll try again tomorrow. Low ratio.

Thanks all.

Click to expand...

That's why we're all here

Went out again this morning. Sadly the ford had gone and I was left with a puddle :-( I extended the drive and found a muddy ford that was in flood, but with only about 10cm water. I spent some time going backwards and forwards through it in various gears to see what the effect was....

1L - Would have taken too long to cross - didn't try it!
2L - What water?
3L - What water?
4L - Felt the pull on entry
5L - Didn't try.
1H - What water?
2H - Felt more pull than 4L
3H - Fast deceleration.
4H - Didn't try.
5H - Didn't try.

So, it's apparent that the power loss problem is[*] that I was in completely the wrong gear and ratio, that I have been severely over-estimating the amount of power available at low revs and that I had underestimated the stopping power of shallow water.

Lesson learned.

Now can we delete this thread and pretend it never happened?

Nick.


[*] Me, the problem is me!

i like your learning curve tecnique and diagnostic route!
keep reading and googling the consequenses of water damage and mud damage
to vehicles before you get a bump in the learning curve.....
welcome to the forum and well done for a noob for not getting flamed!

I took a ford in 3rd the other day... just because i was being immature and wanted a massive splash - the missus was behind me in the focus and had to wait for the water to settle again before she tried it

Only wish she had a camera running the splash was AWESOME*!

(*Yes i am the kind of adult who still goes and jumps in puddles when i walk down the street)

nrgserv said:

i like your learning curve tecnique and diagnostic route!
keep reading and googling the consequenses of water damage and mud damage
to vehicles before you get a bump in the learning curve.....
welcome to the forum and well done for a noob for not getting flamed!

Click to expand...

Makes a nice change, doesn't it.

:welcome2: NAB.

Bump said:

(*Yes i am the kind of adult who still goes and jumps in puddles when i walk down the street)

Click to expand...

erm...
me too...

wheres the bloomin water?
round here weve got none, now i appreciate that there are times when we in Wales have to much but you lot are having to much fun, so, can we have our (flood) water back (please).

I am a prat.

The ford's back. Just taken the truck through it.

Low ratio second (just to be safe) and it just went through. No problem.

Battery light came on, but only dimly, so I guess I need to tighten it a little more.

Now I just need to work out where the leak is that means my feet get wet...

Thanks to everybody who's put up with me!