How To Fix Flooded Vehicle In The UAE
Even if floods are a sporadic phenomenon in the UAE, when they strike, they disturb the life of UAE people significantly. Since flash floods are a potential threat to vehicles, they affect the reliability and overall safety of the car, making you sell them through unethical techniques. The weather bureau also recommends people keep themselves and their vehicles away from floods as they can damage mechanical equipment, destroy engines and transmissions, and harm the car’s electrical system.
Looking for an used Car?
You can still effectively deal with flooded car repairs despite all these threats. Let’s look at some practical tips for fixing a flooded car in the UAE.
Useful tips to fix a flooded car
If you ever find yourself with a flooded vehicle that is going nowhere, here is how you can fix it.
Avoid Starting Your Car Right Away
If your car is filled with flood water, do not make the mistake of starting it immediately. Restarting your vehicle can cause muddy water to enter the engine, resulting in damage that can be expensive. You must ensure that all the internal mechanical parts have dried up before starting. The best way is to call a roadside recovery or emergency services and get your vehicle towed out of the water. You can also push it out of the flood water if it is not too high.
Consider Disconnecting The Battery
Flood water can cause damage to a car battery, including its parts like electrodes, wires and more. Moreover, if the water gets inside, it can dilute the battery acid, and sometimes the battery may explode. Disconnecting the battery can also help you prevent electric shocks while checking other parts.
Open Car Windows For Ventilation
Once you remove the water from the inside of your car, you need to dry it out at the earliest. You can use the electrical fans and car’s heater to get rid of moisture from the cabin. But most importantly, you can keep the doors and windows open, allowing air to enter and ventilate the car naturally.
Inspect And Clean Out The Interior
If the flood water creeps inside the car, drain and dry it. You can use a towel to soak the water from the car seats and carpet. If you have installed floor mats in your car, take them out to dry or use a vacuum cleaner to dry them out. If you want to speed up the drying process, you can use dehumidifiers and fans, which can help remove the musty odor that the flood water leaves behind. In addition, you can use an upholstery cleaner to remove the watermarks from the car seats.
Check The Engine Oil
It is inappropriate to start the vehicle if you find water droplets in your car’s fuel. Make sure you check the engine oil with a dipstick, and if you find droplets on the dipstick, it means there is water in the car engine. Avoid starting the car if you find water in the oil, as it can damage engine cylinders.
Change Oil And Oil Filter
If you locate water in your car engine, consider changing the oil immediately to get rid of water. You may also need to empty the oil filters to get rid of the water. If you can’t do it yourself, you can call a service center and get it done by a professional mechanic.
Examine The Fuel System
Usually, if your car’s fuel system has water, the vehicle might face ignition, acceleration, and sudden stoppage issues. You can try out a few methods to check the water, such as checking fuel color, identifying foul smell, observing microbial growth and using water-finding paste. If you discover water, you may need to flush the fuel system, for which you can use a siphon pump and remove half of the fuel to check if there is any sign of water.
Check The Air Filter
The next crucial step for fixing a flooded car is determining if water is in the air filters. A wet filter shows that there is water in the air filter and the engine. In such situations, it is best to flush the engine. Ensure you take out the spark plugs and ignition coils and turn the engine over with the ignition key. It enables water to emit out of the engine head and the exhaust system. However, consult a professional mechanic if you don’t know how to fix a flooded engine.
Measure The Level Of All Other Fluids
Besides the engine oil and fuel, consider checking all other fluids in your vehicle, such as the clutch, brake, power steering and coolant reservoirs. Even if the reservoirs are tightly sealed in most modern cars, water can still seep in and cause damage to different parts of your vehicle.
Check The Car’s Electronic Systems
Finally, checking the vehicle’s electronic system is crucial to learn if the electrical systems are above or below the waterline. In case they are below, you may need to replace them. You can check it yourself or hire a professional mechanic to inspect it thoroughly.
Does the car insurance cover the costs in the UAE?
Almost every first-party insurance scheme covers car damage by “natural perils” or “natural calamities, including rain, flood and storm. You’ll have to read the fine print, as comprehensive plans will only cover these. If you have third-party insurance, the costs will not be covered, leaving you with the costs.
According to the Ministry of Interior, those who have had their vehicles wrecked in floods or rain can use the incident report to claim car flood insurance. They have to upload a photo of a damaged car and a registration card on the website, which is available in English and Arabic. The service fee goes around Dh20. Once the user submits all the details, they are issued a registration number.
Once you have the damage report, you can approach an insurance company to proceed with the repairs for their cars. The insurance company then sends a recovery vehicle and takes the car to an approved service center or garage. The mechanics will then advise if the car is repairable or a total loss.
Now that you have gone through all these tips, you can quickly fix and protect your flooded vehicle. However, if the flood water has massively damaged the bottom of your car and it’s beyond repair or requires expensive repairs, it only makes sense to purchase another economical vehicle. You can check our list of used cars at Cars24 and find the top auto brands at budget-friendly prices.
Stay tuned to Cars24, UAE’s best car-buying platform, for more information.
FAQs
Can we drive during floods?
While some SUVs manufacturing companies claim water-wading depth, most vehicles are not meant to be driven in a flood or heavy rains through half a foot of water. So it is better to avoid driving as much as possible through flooded areas.
How to drive in flooded areas?
A few things you can do while driving in floods keep on moving, avoid standing pools of water, don’t start the engine if stalled in water, pump the brakes once the water clears and don’t panic if you get stuck inside. You can immediately call emergency services and ask for help.
Even if floods are a sporadic phenomenon in the UAE, when they strike, they disturb the life of UAE people significantly. Since flash floods are a potential threat to vehicles, they affect the reliability and overall safety of the car, making you sell them through unethical techniques. The weather bureau also recommends people keep themselves and their vehicles away from floods as they can damage mechanical equipment, destroy engines and transmissions, and harm the car’s electrical system.
Looking for an used Car?
You can still effectively deal with flooded car repairs despite all these threats. Let’s look at some practical tips for fixing a flooded car in the UAE.
Useful tips to fix a flooded car
If you ever find yourself with a flooded vehicle that is going nowhere, here is how you can fix it.
Avoid Starting Your Car Right Away
If your car is filled with flood water, do not make the mistake of starting it immediately. Restarting your vehicle can cause muddy water to enter the engine, resulting in damage that can be expensive. You must ensure that all the internal mechanical parts have dried up before starting. The best way is to call a roadside recovery or emergency services and get your vehicle towed out of the water. You can also push it out of the flood water if it is not too high.
Consider Disconnecting The Battery
Flood water can cause damage to a car battery, including its parts like electrodes, wires and more. Moreover, if the water gets inside, it can dilute the battery acid, and sometimes the battery may explode. Disconnecting the battery can also help you prevent electric shocks while checking other parts.
Open Car Windows For Ventilation
Once you remove the water from the inside of your car, you need to dry it out at the earliest. You can use the electrical fans and car’s heater to get rid of moisture from the cabin. But most importantly, you can keep the doors and windows open, allowing air to enter and ventilate the car naturally.
Inspect And Clean Out The Interior
If the flood water creeps inside the car, drain and dry it. You can use a towel to soak the water from the car seats and carpet. If you have installed floor mats in your car, take them out to dry or use a vacuum cleaner to dry them out. If you want to speed up the drying process, you can use dehumidifiers and fans, which can help remove the musty odor that the flood water leaves behind. In addition, you can use an upholstery cleaner to remove the watermarks from the car seats.
Check The Engine Oil
It is inappropriate to start the vehicle if you find water droplets in your car’s fuel. Make sure you check the engine oil with a dipstick, and if you find droplets on the dipstick, it means there is water in the car engine. Avoid starting the car if you find water in the oil, as it can damage engine cylinders.
Change Oil And Oil Filter
If you locate water in your car engine, consider changing the oil immediately to get rid of water. You may also need to empty the oil filters to get rid of the water. If you can’t do it yourself, you can call a service center and get it done by a professional mechanic.
Examine The Fuel System
Usually, if your car’s fuel system has water, the vehicle might face ignition, acceleration, and sudden stoppage issues. You can try out a few methods to check the water, such as checking fuel color, identifying foul smell, observing microbial growth and using water-finding paste. If you discover water, you may need to flush the fuel system, for which you can use a siphon pump and remove half of the fuel to check if there is any sign of water.
Check The Air Filter
The next crucial step for fixing a flooded car is determining if water is in the air filters. A wet filter shows that there is water in the air filter and the engine. In such situations, it is best to flush the engine. Ensure you take out the spark plugs and ignition coils and turn the engine over with the ignition key. It enables water to emit out of the engine head and the exhaust system. However, consult a professional mechanic if you don’t know how to fix a flooded engine.
Measure The Level Of All Other Fluids
Besides the engine oil and fuel, consider checking all other fluids in your vehicle, such as the clutch, brake, power steering and coolant reservoirs. Even if the reservoirs are tightly sealed in most modern cars, water can still seep in and cause damage to different parts of your vehicle.
Check The Car’s Electronic Systems
Finally, checking the vehicle’s electronic system is crucial to learn if the electrical systems are above or below the waterline. In case they are below, you may need to replace them. You can check it yourself or hire a professional mechanic to inspect it thoroughly.
Does the car insurance cover the costs in the UAE?
Almost every first-party insurance scheme covers car damage by “natural perils” or “natural calamities, including rain, flood and storm. You’ll have to read the fine print, as comprehensive plans will only cover these. If you have third-party insurance, the costs will not be covered, leaving you with the costs.
According to the Ministry of Interior, those who have had their vehicles wrecked in floods or rain can use the incident report to claim car flood insurance. They have to upload a photo of a damaged car and a registration card on the website, which is available in English and Arabic. The service fee goes around Dh20. Once the user submits all the details, they are issued a registration number.
Once you have the damage report, you can approach an insurance company to proceed with the repairs for their cars. The insurance company then sends a recovery vehicle and takes the car to an approved service center or garage. The mechanics will then advise if the car is repairable or a total loss.
Now that you have gone through all these tips, you can quickly fix and protect your flooded vehicle. However, if the flood water has massively damaged the bottom of your car and it’s beyond repair or requires expensive repairs, it only makes sense to purchase another economical vehicle. You can check our list of used cars at Cars24 and find the top auto brands at budget-friendly prices.
Stay tuned to Cars24, UAE’s best car-buying platform, for more information.
FAQs
Can we drive during floods?
While some SUVs manufacturing companies claim water-wading depth, most vehicles are not meant to be driven in a flood or heavy rains through half a foot of water. So it is better to avoid driving as much as possible through flooded areas.
How to drive in flooded areas?
A few things you can do while driving in floods keep on moving, avoid standing pools of water, don’t start the engine if stalled in water, pump the brakes once the water clears and don’t panic if you get stuck inside. You can immediately call emergency services and ask for help.
