How to Overcome a Flooded Car Along with Service Cost Estimates
Flooded cars are a serious problem that must be addressed. If not, your car may suffer a number of adverse effects. Although it requires a significant cost estimate, dealing with a flooded car must still be done.
How to Handle a Flooded Car
There are many ways to deal with a flooded car. Some of them will be outlined in this article. You can follow these methods as follows!
Push Your Car
If your car is flooded on the road, we recommend turning off the engine immediately. If you want to move the car to a safer place, you must push the car.
Starting the car engine while it is flooded is very dangerous. This can cause water to enter the engine and cause a short circuit.
After successfully moving the car to a safe place, immediately disconnect the battery cables. Doing this can prevent your car from short-circuiting, especially in parts of the car that contain electronic components.
Immediately Disable Your Car's Handbrake
In addition to disconnecting the battery cables, you also need to disable the handbrake on your car. This is done to prevent the brake pads from sticking and being easily carried away by the flood current.
After the handbrake is disabled, immediately chock the wheels with stones. If not, you can shift the gear to first gear. Besides being a way to handle a flooded car, this method can also be used if the car needs to be left for a long time.
Dry the Car's Ignition Components
To avoid damage, the ignition parts of the car must be dried immediately. The ignition components referred to are the carburetor, spark plugs, coil, air filter, and distributor.
In addition to drying, these components should also be checked for functionality. Make sure whether these components are still functioning or not.
If your car has ECU-based components, we recommend taking it to a workshop. These components are very sensitive, so you should take them to someone more skilled.
Drain the Gasoline Tank
After drying, you can immediately drain the gasoline tank. This is done to ensure whether the gasoline has mixed with floodwater or not.
Gasoline mixed with floodwater is very dangerous. It can cause rust in the gasoline tank and damage the ignition system in the long run.
Check the Carpets and Other Interior Components
Flooding not only causes problems for the exterior or engine of the car. But also for the carpets and other interior components. Therefore, checking the carpets and other interior components is mandatory.
Make sure these components are not wet from floodwater. Also, ensure that these components are not affected by mold and rust, and do not smell. If that happens, immediately clean them.
You can clean them yourself. If not, you can take your car to a workshop to do so.
Check the Function of the Car Audio
When checking the interior components, don't forget to check the function of the car audio. Especially, the speakers. Make sure that part is not damaged, even though the car has been flooded. If it is damaged, immediately take it to a specialized workshop. There, the speakers will be repaired directly by experts.
Drive the Car Slowly
After you have done the previous steps, you can try to drive your car again. Do not drive it fast right away. Just go slowly.
Drive the car slowly while gradually pressing the brake pedal. This is done to speed up the drying process of the car engine. While driving, you must pay attention to the sound of the car engine. Is it still normal or a bit rough? If the sound starts to get rough, immediately do the following!
Take the Car to the Workshop
As mentioned earlier, this step is taken if your car's engine makes unusual sounds. Even if you have already done several ways to handle a flooded car.
While at the workshop, your car will be repaired until it returns to its original condition. If possible, ask the workshop to replace the gasoline or oil in your car. This is done to avoid gasoline or oil that has mixed with floodwater.
Adverse Effects of a Flooded Car
There are several adverse effects that arise if you are reluctant to address a flooded car. These effects are:
Causing the Car to Rust
Floodwater is very corrosive and can cause the car to rust. Especially if the floodwater carries mud or dirt into your car. There are several parts of the car that are prone to rust. The dashboard and the underside of the car are two of them.
Damage to the Electrical System
In addition to causing the car to rust, flooding can also damage the car's electrical system. The AC, lights, wipers, and EPS indicator lights are the parts of the electrical system that are most vulnerable to damage.
If your car uses an ECU system, flooding will completely damage that advanced electrical system. If that happens, you will have to take it to the workshop. This will certainly increase the maintenance costs for your car.
Causing Unpleasant Odors
Flooding that submerges the car also affects the aroma inside the car itself. A car that has been flooded usually has an unpleasant smell, especially in the interior.
This happens because there are interior parts that are still wet, such as carpets or car seats. If that happens, you must immediately clean those components.
Estimated Service Costs for a Flooded Car
There is a separate cost estimate if you have to repair a flooded car at a workshop. The estimated costs can be quite significant. But isn't it better than letting the car be damaged due to flooding?
The amount of the service cost estimate itself greatly depends on the workshop you intend to go to. Whether it is a general workshop or an authorized workshop.
Let's start with the general workshop. In a general workshop, you should have at least IDR 2 million - IDR 5 million for servicing a flooded car. This cost includes checking the engine, as well as cleaning the interior and exterior. If the service includes repairing the electronic system and combustion chamber, the estimated cost can reach IDR 6 million - IDR 8 million.
Then, what about the authorized workshop? In an authorized workshop, the lowest cost estimate is smaller compared to a general workshop. Only IDR 700 thousand. However, overall, the estimated service costs at a general workshop range from IDR 700 thousand - IDR 16 million. This amount greatly depends on the level of damage, the cost policy of the authorized workshop, and the level of damage to the car.
That is how to handle a flooded car, along with the estimated costs. Hopefully, it can help you if you later need to deal with your flooded car.
Author: Anggie Warsito
