Unheardof! 03' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

I own a 1.9TDI Passat 03. Beautiful car. I live in Montevideo Uruguay where the dealership service is not very reliable.
On FEBRUARY 2004, 2,000km after the 15,000 oil change, the onboard computer told me to put some oil into the engine because the levels were to low. So I did.
2 weeks later, I drove by a puddle of water (trust me, it wasn't that scandalous since other cars were successfulin crossing it) and my car sucked water and -unfortunately- hydrolocked and bent 3 rods.
It took 2 months to get fixed (since there were no parts in Uruguay so they had to be imported from germany) and $5,000 dollars that fortunately were covered by my insurance company.
After that (april 15th) the car was running beautiful except for a minor noise, and the dealership recalled the car back into the repair shop because there was some piece missing on the alternator belt...who knows what happened...
Anyway, on SUNDAY, my father was driving the car and he attempted to cross a puddle again, and....SECOND HYDROLOCK!!! It seems that 2 rods have been bent.

I wonder, why is this happening?? Maybe the guys from the repair shop (endorsed by volkwswagen) took the oil pan off? maybe they are using oils that dont meet 50w40 or 50w30..

I'm trying to find an explanation. Can anyone help me??? I dont know much about mechanics so I can be rather gullible and they guys from the dealership can end up pulling my leg..

thanks

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

It appears unlikely from the scarcity of information given that the oil had anything whatsoever to do with the hydrolock.

How deep was the "puddle" and how fast were you driving through it?

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

Is the air intake correctly positioned and all there? If it is then that's the limit of water you can swim through. Going faster creates a "bow wave" which effectively increases the depth of water and could push water up the intake.
You could blame the mechanics for their poor attention to detail or for not doing the job right (low oil level, etc.), but kinda hard to blame them for you driving through water and conking the engine. If water gets in, It's gonna happen, I suspect.

Check little things like the oil level when it comes back from a service just so you know it's been done. Ask for the oil contaner to make sure the oil was correct. If it's losing oil, then at least you know and can do something about it.

Stay out of the water if it knackers your engine.

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

I was driving at....hmm 2km/h ?? at the most...
I decided to go through after I saw other cars successfuly do it...and the PAssat was the only one that stalled...

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

Which dealer? Vladimir? When I visited there in November, they seemed very competent but I agree the parts are very scarce.

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

Puddle? A Puddle to me is an inch or 2 deep. Now if (a puddle) will drown a VW we had better figure out a way to raise the intake snorkel. For real how deep was the Puddle? Sucking water into any engine will either bend the rods, break the head or head bolts. It has nothing to do with oil at that point.

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

For real the puddle was deep enough for cars like a Honda Civic, Chevy Cavalier and a Geo Metro to go through!..The water level was at the chasis height..thats it.nothing more than that.. There was no waves when I went through it..AND, its the second time that this happens in a period of 4 months (and both times the drivers have been different) and its the first time in my life that this happens.
I cant believe that this is something that would happen to other passats in normal conditions, specially since other cars(smaller, older and ****tier cars) successfuly got out of the water..(like...20 cars before I decided to go through)..
so, again, what could be wrong?

First time, 3 bent rods...
Yesterday the guys at the repair shop told me this time there were 2 bent rods.

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

For one thing, I know with absolute certainly that at least 2 out of the three cars you mentioned above are non-interference engines... your TDI is a different breed.

This whole thread is rife with speculation and a one-sided account of what happened, even though you are given the benefit of the doubt by default. What *appears* clear is that in both instances, the engine hydrolocked upon crossing a "puddle". If you look at the plumbing from the lower side of the car to the intake manifold, the water has to be sucked (or forced) through a convoluted path and up a vertical height of over half a metre! That is no small feat, as you correctly wonder. Was a boost pipe left off? Was the air intake modified in any way? When you say the puddle was chassis high, does that mean it covered the ground clearance of the car?

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

Chassis high? That's not a puddle. That's a lake.

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

Moral of Story is don't keep attempting to drive through deep puddles, twice is enough!

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

Agree with Skypup. Bear in mind that when you push water with your front bumper, it creates a wave that will rise ABOVE the chassis. The water then went in your intake and into your engine. Oil has nothing to do with this. My advice is STOP driving through deep puddles! Other cars making it across does not mean you will. Your intake system is different than Honda's et al.

Unheardof! 03\' TDI Hydrolock & Bent rods TWICE

The only intake piping that hangs low is the intercooler's; to all TDI expert, in what condition would we have low boost/vacuum in that piping? If the engine is at low RPM there might not be any turbo boost = air filter is the only restriction = some vacuum + hydro pressure of the water!!???

I would check that the intercooler and its piping are tight and not cracked.

TDI expert any othe ideas???