How To Check For Flood Damage in Your Car

How To Check For Flood Damage in Your Car

Worried your car might have been water damaged from flood waters? Our Service Team have put together the 3 most important things to check if your car has flood damage.

CHECKING FOR WATER DAMAGE

The quickest way to find out whether or not your car has flood damage is to literally smell it.  It's very difficult to completely rid a flood damaged car of its mouldy aroma and mildewy scent. So have a look throughout the car, paying special attention to its overall look, scent and of course, any mildew formation.  Any of these are a sure sign that your car was exposed to significant amounts of water.

Another quick tip is to pull the seatbelts all the way out to see if there is any form of discolouration from water stains along the actual straps.  Along with your sense of smell, your sense of touch is important to sensing moisture in your car.  Run your hands along the carpet and pat it in different spots to try to locate moisture.  This should be done throughout the entire car just to be sure.

TAKE IT FOR A DRIVE

If exposed to high waters for extended periods of time, a cars electrical system can get compromised and create some big problems. You'll want to take your car for a good drive, testing the various functions singularly & together to ensure all the electrical components are operational.

Have a look under the bonnet of the car (if you are mechanically inclined) and gently bend the electrical wires to see if they're brittle. If they are, you've likely detected water damage. When you turn the car on, listen for different sounds, and use your eyes and nose to see if smoke appears around at all.

Make sure that all the dashboard lights come on also. Turn on the wipers, air conditioning and cigarette lighters to make sure they work as expected. And don't forget to listen to the radio & check each of the speakers are working.

RUST & OIL

Make sure to look closely at your exterior paint. If you see bubbles, you should be wary as there could be rust under the paint. Corrosion is a common issue in a flood-damaged car, but might take some time to become apparent.

A quicker check can be done by having a look at the oil. Changes in the colour and thickness may indicate that water has contaminated the engine's oil - that isn't a good thing.

If your self inspection has picked up anything of concern, you should consider getting it checked over by the team from Motorama Tyre & Service. They will be able to tell you exactly what's going on & diagnose any problems before they become more chronic, or expensive problems to fix.