Water ingested into Engine - Bent Rods

js73751 · July 15, 2003

SORRY IF THIS IS A DUPE!!!!

A buddy of mine has an EXT. Drove it through a monstrous down pour on the expressway last week. It was so bad he eventually had to pull off with the rest of the traffic because he could no longer see. Continued driving until the engine started making horrible knocking and banging sounds. Called Cadillac emergency services and had it towed to the nearest dealer. They tore it down and found it had sucked in water and lunched the engine. $6,000, and they will not cover it claiming abuse. He is a 50 year old executive for a major US corporation, and he cannot believe that GM is just walking away from him. He asked them how they could build a vehicle that can not be driven through a driving rain. No answer from GM. Unfortunately we will never know if the snorkle broke loose or if the the air box assemblywas cracked or a connection slipped off the throttle body, as the dealer just tore it apart as opposed to looking for a problem.

Has anybody ever heard or experienced this happening on an Escalade? As the owner of an EXT myself, it does not exactly give me a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that this happened. Any help or insight or knowledge of this happening elsewhere would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks>

JS

MarkD · July 15, 2003

Man that sucks! Did he carry it back to the dealer he bought it from???

WEFs99 · July 15, 2003

How deep was the water?? The intake on that should be at least 3' from the ground. Even a Vette with a bottom breather needs a deep puddle to ingest. There has to be more to this. Wouldn't the ignition drown before the water got to the intake box?

ShortCrew · July 15, 2003

I've heard of this happening to several people. They were covered by their auto insurance. It was considered flood damage if I remember correctly.

js73751 · July 15, 2003

To answer your questions, Yes he brought it back to the selling dealer. The water was not deeper than 4-5 inches, but it was raining extremely hard. Yes, he has been notified that it will be covered by his comprehensive coverage, less the deductible. It still does not seem acceptable that an SUV can not be driven through a driving rain storm without drowning. Wondering what part of the air box system failed to allow that much water to enter the intake. Any other Escalades or

GM's with the 6.0 litre have this happen to them?

Thanks,

JS

Greg · July 15, 2003

Check the pad on the hood, especially on the side by the airbox. My Avalanche has always pulled rain up under the hood and soaked the hood pad by the airbox. Also, service people will sometimes fail to properly re-attach the airbox cover to the bottom because the holes don't always line up. I found a missing screw on my airbox after my oil change place started removing the cover and then stoped when I told him I had a K&N. He screwed it back down - or so he thought. No problems with water ingestion into the engine of my Av - yet.

americanmuscleman · July 16, 2003

Personally, if he was truly just driving in a heavy rain storm, and didn't drive through a flooded area, GM should fix it. Thats a GM design flaw if his engine injests water during a hard rain. I would fight that.

Its good his insurance will pay for it, but GM is the one who should fix it in my opinion.

Tex2kZR2 · July 16, 2003

First I would have bucked it up to his manager, and if that would not have resolved the problem, take it up to corporate and have them inspect the vehicle. If as you state that this damage was caused only by heavy rain. Or his insurance company can fight it out with GM, that's why you pay for it.

Also I would suggest investing in a K&N Air Filter. While it will not completely protect your friends EXT from sucking up water, it is better protection than a common paper air filter and might have made a difference in this instance.

sincityZ71 · July 17, 2003

Wow. That is really pathetic on GMs part. There has to be a flaw in his truck for that to happen. I have had my truck in pools of water up to the top of the tires and I have yet to injest any water into my engine. He should contact the corporate headquarters and start complaining.