Flooded cars
Atty. Jerome G. Neri
The Scrutineer
AFTER all the flooding in Cebu and Manila in the recent weeks, plenty of cars that have been flooded will be for sale, and quite a number of them will be advertised as “guaranteed not flooded.” So, if you are in the market for a used car, you should be wary of formerly submerged cars, as many of them may not have been properly repaired or thoroughly checked and could result in a nightmare purchase.
I have a friend who purchased a car that had been flooded. The car looked great and seemed to function perfectly. In less than a month, the gremlins started kicking in. First his wiper stopped working, then his electric windows. The wiring was checked and no problem was found. The main suspect then became the wiper motor and the electric window motor.
Physically, the motors looked good from the outside but after opening it, the inside of the motors were full of rust. The wiper motor is located in the upper part of the car at the same level as the top part of the dashboard. The conclusion was this car was completely submerged.
A closer look at the car had to be done. True enough, there were still traces of water inside the engine, transmission and differential. A thorough cleansing of the whole car was in order. In the end, the car was fixed and now has no more issues. The owner was lucky that his wiper motor failed, otherwise he would not have discovered that he bought a previously and recently flooded car that was not properly restored after it got submerged.
TELLTALE SIGNS. There are telltale signs of a flooded car. You can find the evidence of flooding in the hard to reach areas of the car. One of the first places I check to see whether or not a car has been flooded is the floor under the carpets. The floor must look “honest,” meaning it is not ultra clean and there is the usual dust for its age. An uncleaned floor under the carpet of a previously flooded car would have mud instead of dust. When the floor under the carpet is also squeaky clean, that is likewise a red flag. To get the floor under the carpet clean, the seats and the carpet have to be removed. It is big work, and one of the reasons this work is done is because the car was previously flooded.
Another place to look is under the dashboard. This is a part of the car that is not easily accessible to cleaning, therefore evidence of flooding can be visibly seen, and just like the flooring under the carpet, if it is squeaky clean, the one of the possible reasons is that it was cleaned due to flooding.
WHAT TO DO. If ever your car gets flooded, it is not the end of the world (what I’m talking about here is a car that gets submerged above the window line). The first thing to do is to disconnect the batteries so as to avoid electrical damage or aggravate electrical damage. Next, is to remove everything from the interior to the exterior, and I mean everything. In other words, the car has to be completely disassembled.
Air dry all electronics and keep your fingers crossed that nothing has shorted out. Disassemble the engine and thoroughly clean – same thing goes for the transmission, differential and brakes. Make sure to spray on moist repellant on all metal parts that may corrode.
After the drying process, reassemble everything and the car should be back to normal. If it does not start or run well, in all probability it is caused by an electrical component of the car that has been damaged by the water. These electrical components, such as engine sensors, engine control units and transmission control units can be purchased.
Fixing a car that has been previously flooded is a big task, but it must be done the correct way without taking any shortcuts. This will keep the car as reliable as it was before the flooding.
