When driving through floods, the main things to consider are to avoid getting water into the exhaust pipe, the distributor system (for gas fed engines), the carburetor (for gas fed engines that are not fuel-injected), and the air cleaner (for diesel-fed engines). But this is just a survival tip.

Common sense dictates not to drive your car through a flooded street. But given the woeful state of roads in Metro Manila, which mutate into churning, murky, garbage-strewn rivers after just a short period of heavy rain, it's sometimes hard to heed this bit of common sense. What should you do when find yourself in a flooded street?

If you can spare the time and have the patience, it is much better to wait for the floodwaters to recede and disappear before driving on. By simply pulling over and sitting it out, you prevent a host of maintenance problems from cropping up in your car in the future. Just don't forget to park your car in a safe place that's on high ground. If you intend to sit inside the car, pull over to a safe place where you don't block traffic, lock all doors, turn off the engine (to avoid CO-poisoning), and, if you're parked on a roadside where traffic is still flowing, switch on the hazard or emergency lights. Turn off all other electrical accessories such as the stereo to avoid draining your car's battery -- especially if you're in for a long wait. Remember, you need sufficient power from your battery to crank up your car's cold engine to be able to drive off once the flood goes down.

If, however, a matter of extreme urgency leaves you no choice but to brave the flood and move on, and the floodwater level on the road is not higher than your car's floor or half the height of your car's wheel - and will not go any higher, say a prayer, proceed cautiously, and

• Switch off the air conditioner. This will make the load of pulling the car through the flood lighter on the engine. Moreover, with the A/C off, the auxiliary fan stays off, reducing the risk of getting floodwater splashed onto the engine compartment and on vital electrical components.
• Drive slowly. Again, to reduce the risk of getting floodwater all over the engine compartment and the engine itself.
• Increase and maintain the engine RPM to about 1500, but not over 2000, or a little higher than idling level (if your car doesn't have a tachometer) to prevent water from getting into the exhaust pipe. Any higher than 2000 RPM is unnecessary
  • To increase engine RPM without increasing speed.
    • For cars with automatic transmission, apply moderate brake pressure while stepping on the gas.
    • For cars with manual transmission, apply moderate pressure on the clutch pedal while driving on first gear.
• Avoid revving the engine too much and shift to neutral if you have to stop.

When finally out of the flooded street, do not go over 20 kph and avoid sudden braking until the brakes are dry and operable. To dry them, apply moderate pressure on the brake pedal intermittently while the vehicle is in motion until the brakes are completely operable. Finally, when you park your car for the night, do not engage the handbrake or parking brake. Instead, secure your car with wheel chocks (if you don't have one, a couple of big stones will do) and leave it in gear to let your rear brakes dry out completely overnight. This way, you won't drive out the next morning and find that your rear brakes are stuck up.

Last, check your vehicle's engine and remove any piece of junk or flood debris that might have strayed into the compartment and clung to any engine component, especially the radiator, the auxiliary fan, or the condenser unit of the air conditioning system.

Should your car die down while driving through a flooded street, do not re-start the car. Re-starting the engine may only damage it. Just switch off the engine and have the car towed to the nearest auto shop.

Once your car is in the shop, make sure the mechanic checks the following:

• Engine Oil. If the oil has been contaminated, have the oil changed. Looking at the oil dipstick is an easy way to check if the engine oil has been contaminated: if the oil on the dipstick has some discoloration, usually whitish, then the oil has been contaminated and must be changed.
• Transmission Fluid or Gear Oil. The gear oil must be replaced if contaminated. If your car has automatic transmission, have the automatic transmission fluid (ATF) checked and replaced too, if contaminated. You can check it yourself by looking at the ATF dipstick located on the transmission assembly.
• If your car is equipped with Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI), have the computer box inspected. (Most car shops and even car dealers do not have the equipment or the capability to do this though. At the CarSavers, we have the equipment and specially trained technicians who can restore flood-damaged computer boxes, cd/tape players and other electronic components, if you bring your car to our shop within 48 hours of getting it wet.)
• Fuse box. This must be completely moisture-free.
• Starter motor assembly. The electrical and mechanical parts must be cleaned and lubricated thoroughly.
• Wheel bearings. The wheel bearing on all four wheels must be re-packed.
• Because floodwater is highly corrosive, have all these done at the soonest possible time.

Better yet, have all these done in the nearest CarSavers facility. We'll do these and more (including deodorization and dehumidification) with our complete Vehicle Flood Damage Restoration service!