Just thought I'd mention that I nearly drowned the SIII yesterday while out on a local lane. I spotted a dirt track with a height restriction sign and wondered if it was a public road. Turns out it is and I had a look for lanes in the area while I checked, finding a couple of lanes I hadn't seen before.
So I went out yesterday afternoon to have a look. The first lane had a ford in it and I could see a couple of Land Rovers coming the other way, so I stopped and walked down to the ford to see how deep it was and if they were going to go through it. They decided to go through but their vehicles were much better prepared than mine so they were (just) okay, but it still came over the bonnets of both. There was no chance of me getting through so I decided to skip the first part of the and go around to the second, which they said was fine.
On the way I noticed their was a burning smell which turned out to be the handbrake stuck on, but I'll tell you about that at another time. The lane was fine until I reached what would normally be a small stream, but with the rain we've had it was now a proper river. I checked the depth with an old fence post leaning up against the bridge and it was quite deep but was acceptable. Anyway, I went for it and the water came up and over the bonnet and through the bottom door seals into the cab. It was doing fine until it got halfway up the bank out of the water and it stalled. I managed to pull the choke out, put it into first and restart the engine and it dragged itself out. Luckily I was at the end of the lane so there were no other obstacles, I wouldn't have wanted to go back through there.
Unfortunately I then drove home with the choke out, so I must've done about 6mpg and now there's no petrol left.
