I like the gutted track car idea.
Need advice on cleaning a flooded car
- Thread starter loneryder
- Start date
A second or third floor in a parking garage would seem like a good place to take a vehicle if there is a hurricane bearing down on you. Or would wind and flying debris cause damage there too?
We had a heavy thunderstorm right after we took delivery of our Volvo. The winds got pretty high. There were a lot of flying shingles (asphalt mostly) during that storm and lots of them on our lawn afterwards. And my Volvo had been parked outside. Surprisingly and fortunately there was no damage to it. That car had tough paint.
I stood in a well protected doorway and was fascinated by the low slope roof across the street. You could see the rain bending and leaving a gap on the leeward side of the roof ridge - I expect that represented lift. Fortunately most roofs stayed on during that storm, but friends nearby had 2X4s come through their kitchen ceiling from a torn off neighbour's roof. And a few other houses in our neighbourhood lost roofs.
Not a hurricane or tornado but pretty high winds just the same. I think they called it a plough wind.
We had a heavy thunderstorm right after we took delivery of our Volvo. The winds got pretty high. There were a lot of flying shingles (asphalt mostly) during that storm and lots of them on our lawn afterwards. And my Volvo had been parked outside. Surprisingly and fortunately there was no damage to it. That car had tough paint.
I stood in a well protected doorway and was fascinated by the low slope roof across the street. You could see the rain bending and leaving a gap on the leeward side of the roof ridge - I expect that represented lift. Fortunately most roofs stayed on during that storm, but friends nearby had 2X4s come through their kitchen ceiling from a torn off neighbour's roof. And a few other houses in our neighbourhood lost roofs.
Not a hurricane or tornado but pretty high winds just the same. I think they called it a plough wind.
GON,
I admire your patience and skill to do this type of work. It takes a certain kind of person to bring a waterlogged car back from the dead. You have the knack, that's for sure.
I could never acquire the patience to excel at something like that. The first short circuit and I would fire bomb the dam thing. The electrical systems in these modern cars are enough to turn Mother Teresa into violent maniac. Add salt water, and I can't imagine the issues.
Keep up the good work. It takes a few guys like you, to make up for us guys that have all we can do to change oil without throwing wrenches through drywall.
I admire your patience and skill to do this type of work. It takes a certain kind of person to bring a waterlogged car back from the dead. You have the knack, that's for sure.
I could never acquire the patience to excel at something like that. The first short circuit and I would fire bomb the dam thing. The electrical systems in these modern cars are enough to turn Mother Teresa into violent maniac. Add salt water, and I can't imagine the issues.
Keep up the good work. It takes a few guys like you, to make up for us guys that have all we can do to change oil without throwing wrenches through drywall.
GON
$150 Site Donor 2025
Bill,GON,
I admire your patience and skill to do this type of work. It takes a certain kind of person to bring a waterlogged car back from the dead. You have the knack, that's for sure.
I could never acquire the patience to excel at something like that. The first short circuit and I would fire bomb the dam thing. The electrical systems in these modern cars are enough to turn Mother Teresa into violent maniac. Add salt water, and I can't imagine the issues.
Keep up the good work. It takes a few guys like you, to make up for us guys that have all we can do to change oil without throwing wrenches through drywall.
Thanks- but the issue of fixing flooded vehicles is not so tough. The key is it can't be a daily driver, and one must have time. If one can meet those two criteria, flooded vehicles are pretty easy to make fully reliable.
Flooded vehicles get an erroneous bad wrap in my experience. Mechanics/ body shops can't make money fixing a flooded vehicle properly, so rebuilds by shops are typically/ predictably not done fully (to standard). This is why the flooded vehicles get a bad rap. A mechanic can't invest the time to go over everything, he is under a time crunch to get it out the door. So, gremlins become the results of a mechanic repaired flood vehicle. And flippers are often much worse than a mechanic fixing a flood vehicle. Insurance companies don't want an unknown liability, so they just salvage the vehicle and then they get back to doing what makes the insurance company money, actuarial tables and rate hikes.
The bad rap for flood vehicles is well deserved and highly accurate- but not because of the water. It is because the process does not allow the vehicle to be fully serviced during the rebuild. I have personally repaired five flooded vehicles in the last six years. All five are still on the road and have zero gremlins. And I promise you I am no rocket scientist; I am not even a competent back yard mechanic. But I do take my time, apply critical thinking of "what should I be doing above and beyond" when going through a flood vehicle, and I have no urgency to get the vehicle on the road.
One final comment, my three children are grown. If I had children at home, I would not be rebuilding salvage/ flooded vehicles. Just something to be a fun challenge for an old guy...... And of note- I am sorry for the situation in Florida, yet I have only known about it from BITOG postings, I haven't watched TV in weeks. I am a doer, not a spectator. And I make a ton of errors in being a doer, and at times might be spending more than having someone else "do it".
Why do people assume it has insurance, and if it does, assume the owner is clueless about filing a claim. Without more input from the OP this could be a 20 year old $2-3K CLK that wouldn't be insured.
and even if it was insured you are only going to get book value and hopefully you can buy a used one with the money, some people think they get a new car!
BTW - I think most would agree to soak down the car in fresh water as discussed perviously but if you can, at all costs if you can do it right away while the car is still soaked with the salt water. Salt will corrode faster when dried out and connections exposed to air.
There used to be something about this with submerged marine engines, right from the manufacturer, leave it submerged until you can get fresh water through it as soon as possible.
There used to be something about this with submerged marine engines, right from the manufacturer, leave it submerged until you can get fresh water through it as soon as possible.
4 feet of water. OK-we disagree. He has at least two properties-it's insured.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Car values are insane right now, so insurance prices are probably bananas.
And lots of people don't want to have an insurance claim so they don' have their rates raised. But that's the point of having insurance.
GON
$150 Site Donor 2025
Nick,
I am currently insuring six vehicles, full coverage. The vehicles sit most of the time. It will take a catastrophic loss for me to file a claim.
I know my situation is rare, but an increase in rates on six cars is a big hit. My agent told me a $800 claim or $28,000 claim is the same mark against me, the dollar amount of the claim is not a factor in rate increases. Just that a claim was made- he further said even if the insurance company paid zero, just the fact that made a claim is going to be a permanent mark against me.
Most wiper motors are wired direct to power source with wiper switch activating the applied ground.
That still doesn't explain why people assume he has insurance on the car. Because they hear, "Mercedes?" I could have bought two Mercedes this week for under $1000. Can't imagine anyone buying those will get more than liability. OP has made one single post with no details on the car beyond CLK convertible.
He didn't say he did or did not have insurance. You would think the OP would clarify this point you seem to be fixated on.
Owen Lucas
$100 Site Donor 2023
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Keep your face away from the airbags, I've heard of them deploying on flooded cars when people turn the key, quite possibly randomly too. Salt water does mysterious things to SRS sensors and electronics in general.
I wasn’t there to evachate.
