Anyone with practical experience of crossing deep 'puddles' in a T6.1 california?

[Almost bought a california]

Just back from the West Country this weekend, managed to dodge the worst of the rain but it was wet and I encountered a number of road that were under water to some degree! For reference I would consider water the depth of the tyre side wall to be a puddle and wouldn't consider crossing much deeper than the centre of the wheel (however its not always possible to determine this before hand and the length of the detour might be a consideration!)
Thinking about the number of plastic undertrays, diesel heaters, gbox breathers, etc. I was not looking for lessons on fording, comments saying 'I wouldn't do it!' or links to snorkels, water proofing and wading equipment :-0 but I was wondering if anyone had any practical experience of things that have gone Wrong (or right!) when they have crossed water at around the wheel centre / bumper level?

 

[2cvhound]

There is a good discussion called How Deep Would you Go on the forum which has a few case histories. Sorry for not posting a direct link! I have always worked on the basis that if it is too deep for my welliesI will turn around and find another way even if it takes a lot longer.

Many years ago I floated my 2CV with four people over a particularly deep part of a ford. The air intake on those is on top of the engine so that was ok. However I did need to wait for the inboard drum brakes to drain as they were even less effective than normal when full of water!!

 

[Polomint]

Been through a ford of about 35-40 cms deep with no problems.

 

[pjm-84]

That's impressive. I normally work on how the engine is pushing the water. Touch and go in my XC70 yesterday coming out of Somerset. I reckon if I wasn't in the centre of the road I may have come a cropper. The only reason I went through is because I had been through 4hrs earlier going the other way and was following, at a distance, what I thought was a small hatchback......it was a Dacia Duster.

 

[wildslammer22]

Just back from the West Country this weekend, managed to dodge the worst of the rain but it was wet and I encountered a number of road that were under water to some degree! For reference I would consider water the depth of the tyre side wall to be a puddle and wouldn't consider crossing much deeper than the centre of the wheel (however its not always possible to determine this before hand and the length of the detour might be a consideration!)
Thinking about the number of plastic undertrays, diesel heaters, gbox breathers, etc. I was not looking for lessons on fording, comments saying 'I wouldn't do it!' or links to snorkels, water proofing and wading equipment :-0 but I was wondering if anyone had any practical experience of things that have gone Wrong (or right!) when they have crossed water at around the wheel centre / bumper level?

30cm is the safe ‘wading’ depth on a standard unmodified Cali. The diesel heater will be fine for short submersions without modification ie not underwater for a prolonged periods. I’ve taken mine through slightly deeper fords but I do have a raised air intake and a suspension lift but TBH I wouldn’t exceed the 30cm guide if at all possible, even at that depth there will likely be a small bow wave.

 

[Meoncoast]

After a water wade in our Ocean, the auxiliary heater fan took a few days to dry out and was very noisy for a while after this I was more careful!

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

From memory, the air intake is just under the headlight so I would keep the bow wave below that, slow and steady and second gear, (dsg).
The most fun I ever had was in a Bedford mk where the water was at seat bum level (all bungs removed to stop floating)

 

[Doorbundle]

Top tip: Don't drive though water at a depth where you wouldn't walk through it.
Common sense applies.

 

[Kalifornia Kim]

Go Slow. Drove through a puddle at roughtly 40kph, and ripped the plastic undertray away. Folded in half. Wrestled it back into shape, but a few screw holes are now torn away.

 

[nigpdreadingfc]

I swapped my undertrays for 6mm aluminium. No chance of these being bent going through water

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

This is a cheap solution to help prevent your heater from water ingress:

Safety Cover "Island" for exhaust pipe of the additional heater, e.g. Planar, Autoterm, Eberspächer

Long water crossings (e.g. on Iceland) are a challenge for drivers and vehicles. It is not uncommon for low-lying components on the vehicle to…

www.oryxsolutions.de

Simply install the cover before entering deep water. Obviously the heater can't be on, and should be cool. Essentially hasn't been on for at least an hour prior.

 

[Almost bought a california]

Go Slow. Drove through a puddle at roughtly 40kph, and ripped the plastic undertray away. Folded in half. Wrestled it back into shape, but a few screw holes are now torn away.

Thanks Kim,
This was one of my big concerns - I took it nice and slow but next time I will use M1 and go slower!

The advice in the manual is very general (no deeper than the bottom of the sill, walking speed, etc) but it does also say to deactivate the start/stop system which I hadn't considered but which is probably good advice!