Floods!

[Helen]

I was driving around on Saturday evening, feeling proud of my mini's ability to drive through large puddles (obviously I was trying to avoid flooded roads etc, but the car was going very well despite the lashing rain, surface water etc). But I'd patted myself on the back too soon -- I was nearly at my destination (the Italian take away) when I drove into a flood that was too deep for my poor little car. Halfway through it just gave up the ghost and cut out -- even the wipers, lights etc went off! I had to WADE over to the path and start waving following traffic around me, and eventually a good samaritan (and my dad, who I had phoned in a panic) helped me push it up onto the path. About forty minutes later, it STILL wouldn't start, but after we took off the distributor cap and dried inside it, it came back to life.

The poor carpets are still a bit damp, but at least the car is driving again and didn't have to be abandoned at the side of the road ... I was so relieved to get home!

I'll be more careful in future!

the good samaritan said he used to own minis, so if he's reading this, thanks very much again!

[Billy]

Helen,

Where did you get stuck? We were all dodging floods to get to the club meeting in Clonsilla Inn yesterday.

Billy

[Helen]

Raheny. just before the junction with the Kilbarrack road -- i was on my way to Il Fornaio on the Kilbarrack Road.

[Billy]

I met a beauty last night on a back road to Sallins (took a wrong turn on the way to Naas from Maynooth). It was about 50 feet long and there was nothing for it but to keep the revs high and keep moving steadily through the water. Always check the brakes after driving through a flood by pumping them a few times.

Billy

[JayJay]

I was out that way too, good job you're a strong swimmer Billy

[keith]

latest go-faster goodie now available at your mini shop....

[Helen]

Since my poor car's immersion on Saturday, the inside still hasn't dried out! The engine appears ok -- it took a while to start in the rain yesterday, but once it started it ran fine - but the carpets on the driver's side are still very wet (from where water came in when I opened the door). The whole acr smells pretty damp.

What I'm really afraid of is that the wet carpets will make the floors rust. I've covered them in newspapers to soak up the water, and parked the car where it should get a bit of sun, but is there anything else I could be doing? Should I take the carpets up? And if I do, will they be easy to lay again?

oh, it's a mini 30, if that adds to anyone's knowledge of the carpets etc!

Thanks!

[BlackSe7en]

Helen,
I would suggest that you lift the carpets.I had mine steam cleaned once and althought the top had dryed after a day, they were still soaking underneath.

[Helen]

Thanks! I've taken them up, and I'm glad I did. There was quite a lot of water beneath them!

[The Marcos Graveyard]

Check that all the floor bungs are still in position, the force of the water while you drive through a flood can dislodge them, leading to more damp problems later on.,

[Helen]

Thanks! I will!

Should I put any kind of rust proofing on the floor to help protect it after its wetting?

Thanks to everyone for the advice!

[ClearOfCloud]

Hi Folks,

My beloved Mini Thirty, still with it's gash from the Hino truck, was floating in the floods.

She still smells of river but slowly we're drying her out - I shudder to see the ESB bill from the specially bought dehumdifier usage !!

So now to the techie questions. I got her started and running for 2 or three minutes a couple of days after the flooding but then she conked out. I suspected water in the tank. I syphoned off a sample and sure enough, cruddy looking petrol with plenty of water contamination came out. I've since removed the tank and rinsed it with meths to remove and remaining water.

I've also done a first oil (mayonnaise) change.
I've pulled the plugs and I can see pools of water (covering say less than 25% of the piston surface)
I've left the plugs out overnight to confirm that the pools are water and not petrol
Any suggestions as to how to remove this water? Could I just use the same meths trick as with the tank?
I haven't removed the fuel line from the pump to make sure there's no water there. Could I do two jobs in on by taking the float out of the bowl to make sure there's no water trapped there? (I've never disassembled a carb fully)

Answers and addtional guidance and advice welcome

Miraculously, all of my electrics, apart from the radio are working....even the little home-made "lights-on" buzzer.

David Kelly

[The Marcos Graveyard]

You could try to syphon it out with a straw or even a bit of rubber tube on a syringe.

My question though would be that, if the engine was running for even a few seconds, Wouldn't it have evaporated all the water in the combustion chamber ?

[Billy]

I'd agree with TMG. I had a problem with an old car a few years ago where there was water in the tank. It would splutter and fart and conk out. Cleaning out the carb bowl and cleaning out the tank as you've done should do the trick. What you should also do is fit a clear plastic fuel filter where it's visible before the petrol reaches the carb. If there's petrol still coming through, it will be visible below the petrol in the filter.

Hope it helps,

Billy

[ClearOfCloud]

Looks like it was a bad day for Mini Thirty owners Helen.... just re-read your post.

I'm working off the theory at the moment that the engine was actually clear and that running it for the two or three minutes actually introduced the water into the engine itelf.

The water might evaporate off but only as long as there was significantly more fuel that water. I suspect there may still be water someplace between the tank and the carb - hence my question about checking the float bowl. I'm thinking if its trapped there, no amount of cranking is going to get it to vapourise into a jet.

So, we seem to be in agreement that I should clean out the carb bowl as well. I've never done that before, but having had a good look, and studied my greasy Haynes manual, I think I should be able to get away with not having to take the carb off to take out the float...... is that a good idea, is there anything I need to be careful of.

David

[Billy]

I don't know what carb is on your carb but the HS4 carb has a float bowl which just uses 3 small bolts to take it off. 5 minute job to take off, clean and put back together.

Billy

[ClearOfCloud]

Yep as far as I know it's a HS4.

I was just going to take the float off the bowl leaving the bowl attached to the carb body and clean it in place. The clamps holding the fuel lines in place are fairly tight and I don't want to snap them taking them off.

By the way, what's the second pipe out of the top of the float chamber (not the one from the pump)- some sort of return pipe?

David

[Helen]

Mine started about 50 mins after being immersed. And then started again two days later but was very rough. Then the next day it wouldn't start. Paul kelly had a look at it for me & it needed a new distributor cap and condenser.

Just in case that's any help!

[ClearOfCloud]

Hi Helen,

The first time I got her restarted it was after drying out the distributor. I put an electronic ignition kit inside the distributor some time back and it seems to have survived its boating outing unscathed.

I've plenty of life in the electrics so I think fuel system is still the big suspect. I normally call Paul for every little thing (I even did this time) but when he reassured me that all was not lost I decided to try and bring her back to engine running on my own for a change.

Have you got a black one or a cherry?

David

[DaveC]

Post up some photos of these two Mini 30's

[ClearOfCloud]

Right. Drained the carb bowl (needs a new gasket but it will do for now.)
Still no joy.
Drained again still water in it.
Got an old jug, left the float valve in the jug and cranked until the samples finally had no water in them.
Float back in the bowl.
Crank, crank, crank....splutter.
Crank, crank, crank,crank, crank ,crank, crank (for what seemed an age) splutter, splutter, splutter.
Crank, splutter, splu-vroom-ter, splutter, vroom, VROOM, VROOOM

V for vroom, v for victory..

Finally earned my mechanic merit bag.
The clutch travel is decidedly short and shifting to reverse is decidedly rough, but SHE LIVES !!!!!

In case you can't tell, I'm just a little bit pleased, both in me and Mini.

David
What she used to look like before the crash (that's not me in the photo.)

[Helen]

Hi David,

I have a black one. It's a 1990. Yours looks gorgeous!

[woody]

To remove water from piston ,remove sparkplug and turn over engine on starting motor for a while.Spray plenty of wd40 into the cylinders and repeat, then replace plugs. Leaving the plugs out will rust the cylinders .Use a straw to empty the floot chamber . Start the engine asap to remove remaining moisture.

[ClearOfCloud]

Hi Helen,

Look after yours, they're much rarer than the Cherry ones. I think there were 3000 of mine and 1000. She's a far cry from that photo at the moment.

Woody, cheers for that but I got her sorted and running last night. I actually used the innards of a gardening spray bottle to empty the bowl.

Some of the issues at the moment are very short clutch travel - making selecting reverse very difficult. Could that be crud in the clutch or just stiff/seized linkages (gears 1-4 are fine)

The other issue is apart from the box section that runs through the interior - which I've yet to drain - where else should I be checking for trapped water?

David

[woody]

May be worth removing the clutch cover and regreasing the shaft and bearing.