Need advice on cleaning a flooded car

[loneryder]

If your car is sitting in 3-4’ of water the vehicle will be totaled by your insurance company. You will struggle to find a replacement in this market but at least you are safe. Sorry about your luck.

Thanks

 

[loneryder]

A few years ago vehicle manufacturers moved the batteries back the fire wall so all the post crash safety features like rolling up windows, applying the brakes and warning flashers had a few milliseconds more time to activate before the battery was crushed.
As a former Fire Captain I've literally been on hundreds of crashes and attended many classes on vehicle extrication and this is a significant change from older cars.

Yeah the battery is in the right rear wheel.

 

[loneryder]

Do you have comprehensive insurance on the car? If so, call the insurance company as it is totaled. If you don’t, and want to screw with it do as everyone above has mentioned. Saltwater is terrible for electronics and the interior is going to get funkier each day that it sits sealed up with all that moisture in it. Upload some pics when you are able to.

Yes I have comp on it but the wholesale value they will give me won’t be much. It’s in cherry condition. The leather is not even cracked. A while back I posted pictures of the valve covers off. Looked like a new engine. No varnish at all.

 

[loneryder]

I agree the car is most likely toast, so in that case I would get out the garden hose and flood the entire car with fresh water, all electrical connections and wires, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that got salt water on on in the car and in places you might not have considered, soak the engine, EVERYTHING.
Let dry for a week, start car and go. Hope this helps, you have NOTHING to lose by soaking it down in fresh water. I think if done properly and throughly you might have a chance.

This is what I am hoping to do. Maybe get a little more use out of it. 1or 2 of the SAMs may be low in the body and if they are ruined then game over.

 

[wlk]

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.

Maybe your state is different or your agent may not be being truthful in stating your rates will go up across your 6 vehicles. I have 7 vehicles on my policy and all with full coverage. Both my son's have had accidents and the only premium that ever went up was I lost the discounts on that specific car policy that my son had. One vehicle was totaled $6k-ish and the other had about $2800 in damage. No other vehicles insurance premiums ever increased. Sorry I just read that as odd for your agent to say that and sway you from filing a claim.

 

[GON]

This is what I am hoping to do. Maybe get a little more use out of it. 1or 2 of the SAMs may be low in the body and if they are ruined then game over.

Sams are super easy to replace, and typically very inexpensive. I would not let sams be a key factor in your decision making.

 

[wlk]

Yes I have comp on it but the wholesale value they will give me won’t be much. It’s in cherry condition. The leather is not even cracked. A while back I posted pictures of the valve covers off. Looked like a new engine. No varnish at all.

They will pay more than wholesale, if the estimate comes back low, tell them no and the car is worth more. Go online and save some sale adds from dealerships with the same car, tell them it was pristine and see how it goes. I did that with my truck that my son totaled and they came back with $2500 more than the first offer.

 

[loneryder]

Loneryder,

Good morning. Very sorry about the Hurricane and the impact on you.

3 to four inches of salt water in a Mercedes is likely not a death sentence to the vehicle. You don't list the year of your CLK. That is important to know if the wiring is analog or digital (fiber optic), but either way, I think there is a likeliness you will be ok. Based on the very limited information you posted (I know that is all you have), I speculate your CLK will be an easier fix than one may think.

For the record, I have rebuilt no less than four flooded Mercedes S classes, all are still on the road today to the best of my knowledge. My daily driver is a 2005 S500. This 2005 was a Hurricane Harvey victim. I have driven the S500 for four years, over 60k miles. The S500 has done no less than three cross country trips, and many 1000 miles round trips to visit my Grandsons, at 80 mph on I80 through Wyoming. The S500 is beautiful inside, one would not know it had 230k miles on it.

First things first.

Pull the battery (and keep it out)
Pull the seats
Pull the carpet
Look of the CLK has body drain plugs, if so pull them
Buy six or more cans of Deoxit (see picture). Any connection you separate, contact cleaner, then deoxit

You will want to air out the CLK. That is your biggest challenge. You don't post if you have an enclosed space to air the CLK out. You won't be able to get the windows down with no power, and likely same issue with the ragtop.

I wish I was still living in Columbia, SC. If feasible I would be heading your way to do a visual assessment and get the first four steps done with you, and then go over the electrical situation.

Based on the limited information you posted, I think you are in much better shape than one would guess. You have a huge advantage over 99% of flooded vehicles. Just days after the water entered the CLK, you will have started the reversal of the water damage. Many flood vehicles have water sitting in them at a garage, and then at an auction yard, sealed up for months, before the repair process is started.

Please let me know if you need anything- very happy to help.

On for the record, most of the flood damaged Mercedes I rebuilt, I have done a blog on the repairs, from start to finish. To the best of my knowledge the blogs are still on line.
View attachment 119062

Thanks Gon. It’s a cherry 2000 CLK convertible with 4.3 V8. 100k miles, just had new plugs last spring. Not a crack in the leather. I don’t know when I can get down there yet. The electric grid was destroyed. Just found out my new carport is laying on it. Hope to have some pics late Sun.

 

[loneryder]

I’m 2 miles inland from the Beach as the crow flies and 3 miles via road.

 

[JHZR2]

OP, sorry to hear this. Was the battery disconnected/removed at the time?

There is limited, but some hope imo…

My 91 BMW had a flood title. Never knew why. Everything worked, no issues. Bought it with 72k, sold it with almost 190k.

I did replace a whiny diff.

But from the interior and exterior you never would have known. It was only because the seller disclosed it.

Are you sure the water is up 3-4’ from the floor where the tires are? Or 3-4’ in general in the area? Big difference. Is it’s parking spot at, below, or above sea level?

I’d go in thinking the worst but hoping for better. The fact that it is seeing salt water is a major downside even if it was only enough to wet the carpets.

Do you know that it was submerged, and by how much?

 

[JHZR2]

Insurance claim? They’ll insist it be totaled.

If it got wet with saltwater, hopefully yes.

That said, unless it was on a stated value policy, they’ll offer dimes on the dollar with no recourse. Insurance is one step from theft IME.

 

[loneryder]

4 feet of water. OK-we disagree. He has at least two properties-it's insured.

It’s insured.

 

[loneryder]

OP, sorry to hear this. Was the battery disconnected/removed at the time?

There is limited, but some hope imo…

My 91 BMW had a flood title. Never knew why. Everything worked, no issues. Bought it with 72k, sold it with almost 190k.

I did replace a whiny diff.

But from the interior and exterior you never would have known. It was only because the seller disclosed it.

Are you sure the water is up 3-4’ from the floor where the tires are? Or 3-4’ in general in the area? Big difference. Is it’s parking spot at, below, or above sea level?

I’d go in thinking the worst but hoping for better. The fact that it is seeing salt water is a major downside even if it was only enough to wet the carpets.

Do you know that it was submerged, and by how much?

Just don’t know yet. It’s location is about 14’ above sea level. My area caught the worst of it. Park ha been there for 40+ years and never flooded.

 

[loneryder]

I learned today that the carport is laying on the car. Hope to have pics late Sun.

 

[Owen Lucas]

It’s insured.

You might need to get a salvage certificate in FL to keep the car and have the buy back / salvage value subtracted from your settlement. Depending on the salvage value, would it be worth keeping a vehicle that requires extensive repairs (even with free labor) after the settlement is reduced. I guess you'll find out once you have the vehicle appraised.

 

[atikovi]

Yes I have comp on it but the wholesale value they will give me won’t be much.

Insurance will (supposed to) pay off on the full retail value which can commonly be found in commercially published price guides. About $7,500. https://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/2000/Mercedes-Benz/CLK430/2-Door-Convertible/Values

I had the same car 15 years ago, salvage car too, but don't think it was flood.

 

[atikovi]

This is what I am hoping to do. Maybe get a little more use out of it. 1or 2 of the SAMs may be low in the body and if they are ruined then game over.

Electronics are plug and play so not such a big deal unless they are hard to find used or are very expensive. I found the worst problem with major flood cars is with leather seats. They deteriorate when exposed to water. Odd when you think about it as cows are out in the rain all the time. Had a 95 Saab convertible I was told rolled down a boat ramp and was totally submerged. Not sure what they did to it before I got it, but it ran fine, just the seats were hard and wrinkley.

 

[alarmguy]

This is what I am hoping to do. Maybe get a little more use out of it. 1or 2 of the SAMs may be low in the body and if they are ruined then game over.

I hope you update this thread someday to let us know how you made out.
Good luck

 

[DuckRyder]

If the seats are wet it’s totaled . If below the seats. It’s often hard to tell waterlines the clearing is rarely the highest. Turn a claim in on it and let insurance deal with it. If it was in Ft Myers it’s likely bad.

General tips for cleaning a flood car are don PPE and gut the interior…

 

[GON]

You might need to get a salvage certificate in FL to keep the car and have the buy back / salvage value subtracted from your settlement. Depending on the salvage value, would it be worth keeping a vehicle that requires extensive repairs (even with free labor) after the settlement is reduced. I guess you'll find out once you have the vehicle appraised.

Every state's salvage title process is different. In my opinion- no individual wants to try and convert a salvage certificate to a rebuilt title in Florida. A salvage certificate in Florida does not allow for the vehicle to be licensed.

Florida has one of the more complex and harder to achieve processes to convert a salvage certificate to a rebuilt title. I rebuilt one salvage certificate vehicle in Florida. Huge amount of paperwork, and a very long wait time just to have the vehicle inspected. About 40 plus pages of documents I had to submit.

Wait time for a Florida repaired salvage vehicle has been so very ling, the state allowed a handful of private firms to perform salvage inspections, I think the handful of firms that can do this in Florida are in the Miami area.

In closing, because of fraud, when the inspector completes and approves the salvage vehicle inspection, the documents go in a sealed envelope with a special security bounding. The envelop must immediately be brought to the DMV. Craziest process ever.