Originally Posted by healthagent
I'm not even sure it would have mattered if you had insurance at the time. You claimed you drove when the street was flooded. It's likely the insurance carrier would have found that it was your fault and not paid a dime.
I can almost guarantee you that no auto carrier I know of would have coughed up a 12K check 36 days after you bought a used car because you drove it through water.
You guys may know a lot about certain things but you don't know much on this subject. Any insurance company will definitely cover a vehicle in this situation if one has coverage. It will be covered underneath the comprehensive portion of the coverage. Hitting water and damaging a car is like hitting a deer or a tree falling on your car. They will even pay to install a new engine if needed or whatever is required.
Running a vehicle into water can definitely destroy an engine. The water doesn't even have to be that deep. The air intake on some vehicles is located fairly low to the ground and water can get sucked up into the engine. Water will not lubricate and will not compress and this can result in bent valves and major engine damage. If you kill any vehicle in water the last thing you want to do is restart it. Instead you will want to have it towed to a garage. They need to check the engine oil for water and also the gas tank. They will change the oil if necessary. If the engine will not crank over as if it is frozen, remove the spark plugs and turn the engine over by hand to remove the water from the cylinders. Dry out the ignition system, spark plugs, coil, etc. A engine that can be saved after running it into water can be destroyed by trying to start it and run it with water in it.
The first area of concern when dealing with water damage is the engine and the transmission fluids. They should be checked with the dipstick. If you observe fluids that appear milky, beige in color, or appear diluted, there is a good chance water is in the pans. In this case, the auto should be towed to a repair facility. If you attempt to drive it with water in the oil or transmission, the damage will quickly become much more serious. If you have any doubts, have it towed. Once the car is in a safe place, the transmission and oil pans can be completely drained, and the fluids replaced.
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Besides daubling in insurance I own 50% of an auto repair shop with seven bays and six technicians. Three weeks ago the shop worked on an insurance claim for a Toyota Sienna that had been ran into the water and got water into the engine.
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Hydrolock
Hydrolock (short for either hydraulic lock or hydrostatic lock) is a condition of an [COLOR=#0066cc]internal combustion engine[/COLOR] in which an incompressible liquid has been introduced into its cylinder(s), resulting in the immobilization of the engine's pistons. The liquid causing this malfunction is often water, hence the prefix "hydro-". Internal combustion engines must compress air to work efficently and this works because gases can be compressed. Liquids do not compress so if a volume of liquid greater than the volume of the combustion chamber at its minimum (top of the piston's stroke) enters the combustion chamber then the piston cannot complete its travel. Either the engine must stop rotating or something must give. The result is often a bent connecting rod or sometimes a cracked cylinder head or block.
Hydro lock is relatively common when driving through floods, either where the water is above the level of the air intake or the vehicle's speed is excessive, creating a tall [COLOR=#0066cc]bow wave[/COLOR]. Cars with Cold Air Intakes mounted low on the vehicle are especially vulnerable to hydrolocking when being driven through standing water several inches deep.
Re: Didn't Switch Newly Bought Car to Insurance and Now Accident
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