What to do with flooded cars?

[madkatz]

Hi everyone, i am one of the fortunate people to have my car not flooded by ondoy, but unfortunately a lot of my friends cars have been soaked and submerged and thats why i started this thread, basically im asking people who have good advises on the do's and dont's when it comes to flooded cars.

i have found this thread from sir theveed

http://tsikot.yehey.com/forums/showt...25987&page=141

which i have found very very helpful since all i know and a lot more that i don't know have been stated here and which i am suggesting to my friends but any other advise or suggestion would be greatly appreciated

i know bringing the car to a kasa or a detailer is probably the best idea but Big berts araneta is closed right now and im also sure that most detailing shops are already full so lets all contribute all that we know, helpful advises regarding what to do in the mean time to prevent further damage here in this thread

[madkatz]

guys this is a very informative helpful and complete guide from sir Theveed and its sure to help a lot when it comes to all the questions regarding what to do with your flooded car

http://tsikot.yehey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63552

and this is what i got from going around and asking my friends in the auto and racing industry

1. remove the battery terminals, although chances are you won't get grounded anymore since your battery is already shorted, still try to wear a glove or use a dry rag to keep your hands insulated when removing the battery, when removing the battery remove the ground cable first, usually the black one

2. Remove any part of the car's interior that can easily be removed and put back, separate the seat covers if you have them, and let them dry out in the sun, the suns UV rays should do the trick in killing molds and most fungal problems, this will also help a lot in removing the awful smell. but if its really flooded all the way to the roof, better get big berts to do it for you.

Also some people suggested rubbing baking soda in your carpet and seats scrubbing it with a soft bristle brush and then spray a little white vinegar with equal parts of water and let it kill whatever fungi, mold or bacteria there is, another one suggested using plain car shampoo diluted with water and for one pail add 2 cap fulls of zonrox (preferably the one thats more gentle on fabrics) I honestly have never tried these stuffs and there are concerns with my friends as to whether these procedures can change the color or remove the color of upholstery and carpets, but since we're left with no choice we're gonna try it tomorrow morning and let you guys know what happens, also it would be nice if someone can confirm if this is a good practice, these are just suggestions from other friends and some car detailing shops we went to a while ago that unfortunately was unable to accomodate us

3. With the battery safely removed, as stated above, clean and hose down the car with running water and dry it with a blower or a clean dry cloth, and then spray the electrical componenets with contact cleaner, and this is just an added tip i got, you could also try to wipe the rusted dirty and greasy parts ( not painted surfaces! ) with kerosene, this is supposed to be a good cleaning agent at the same time it can provide the car with a small layer of oil to prevent further rusting. You could also use some vacum cleaners with a reverse function where it can be turned to a blower to dry your engine bay.

4. For those flooded to the roof, its always better to have the professional check your car either at home or have it towed, but if your car wasn't flooded all the way to the top or flooded over the engine and air filter and if you are feeling a bit confident that your car can start and is planning to give it a shot, try these things, check your engine oil dipstick, pull it out to see if it has bubbles of water, if it has water, better have it towed to the nearest gas station and chances are you're in at least for a change oil, check your air filter, check if the filters are clogged with dirt and mud especially if you see the lower part of your air filter thats discolored, chances are water has got inside, again have it checked, next find a make shift dipstick to check your fuel, same style with checking your engine oil, if you see water upon checking, have it towed to the nearest gas station and have it professionally changed. if everything looks ok and if you still wanna give it a try, go ahead its your car, although i strongly suggest you have a professional check it, a friends neighbor in talayan tried to start his car and it went from bad to worse, what we did was hire a mechanic and drove him around my friends houses to check each one if we can start it.

5. In the recent surge of customers towards kasa's car shops, and detailing shops, i would strongly recommend that you go to those places that are known for their services, i would personally prefer to spend a little more and wait a little longer and have reputed people to do the services for me rather than some shop which i don't know, chances are there are some opportunistic shops out there that just rush jobs to get a faster customer turn over in short you end up with a "Minadali na trabaho" which could in the worse of scenario's leave you unhappy and worse just waste your money. So its sometimes better to leave it to the really good professionals not just those that get paid for mediocre services

[madkatz]

just a heads up guys! typhoon pepeng is reported to be getting stronger, i don't know if its just the wind speeds that are getting stronger since yesterday its max winds were only at 185 now its at 230 very close to milenya winds, or if its humidity is also intensifying, i've been trying to contact pagasa to get some readings on its humidity to no avail. To those that has barely recovered or to those that has friends that have not yet recovered i guess this would be a great time to warn them and have them be prepared, a few of my friends would be staying at our building tomorrow morning just to be sure since their houses are still flooded and still has no electricity

also try to get ready by keeping some of the basic needs around

1. prepack extra clothes into plastic bags
2. charge your cellphones and rechargeable batteries or buy extra batteries for flash lights
3. try to store some candles
4. prepack rice grains (bigas) and bread in airtight plastic containers
5. try to get those easy to open canned goods that can be readily consumed
6. get some multivitamins