Afternoon's flood did this to me

[yendor]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

Usually in a flood like in the pic, water should not enter the engine cos the intake is higher and the water will only fill the exhaust up to the water level. ECUs and computers would not be affected cos their locations are usually higher within the cabin or engine bay. The usual things that get affected are the ambient air temp sensors located low in the front bumper and perhaps washing off some lubrication in the air-con compressor. The bottom half of the engine usually got not much other sensors. Its the gearbox that houses more electronics and electrical connections for the gear change solenoid control.

If water gets into the cabin then its another kettle of fish.. really... Amplifiers placed below the front seats are the first to go. connectors located low in the frame like door ajar switches, main loom connectors and those for your seat belt connections are all affected. This is on top of the soaking wet carpet that stinks if its not dried fast...1 kind of salty, decomposing smell.

I do not think insurance companies cover such damages right? Can anybody confirm?

I would suggest that you get the entire interior stripped out fast to dry the carpets and connectors. Dampness will corrode the small connectors and cause more headaches later..

Good luck.

 

[gadgets]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

i'm scouting around for insurance renewal and happen to come across the Asia Insurance through a contact. it seems that they cover flood and windstorm.

TM Asia Insurance Singapore Ltd. - Products: Motor Insurance

 

[yendor]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

Wah sounds like the only one that covers. I just renewed mine with MSIG. Dun have flood. But quite cheap..

 

[yendor]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

oh yes, 1 more thing. Do NOT enter a flood with your fog lights on. What happens is that the heated lamp gets cooled by the water. This cooling sucks in water through the vents and the water enters the lamp. When the water contacts the hot bulb, it shatters and explodes. I kenna this during a recent trip to malacca.

Had to open both fog lamps to remove the little bits of glass and clean up some white residue on the inside surface.

OT abit... 1000th post liao...

Cheers

 

[sszone]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

sorry to hear that bro, hope all's well.

somebody was telling me in the event that car is flooded, we should never start the engine, which will cause a bigger problem. anybody can advice if this is so?

besides the engine part of it, there is a risk of the water n eletrical components reacting....most prob fry up some stuff

 

[gadgets]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

Wah sounds like the only one that covers. I just renewed mine with MSIG. Dun have flood. But quite cheap..

ya, it would seem so...am also thinking of renewing with MSIG or Asia, excess MSIG $500, Asia $600; premium M$870, A$811; windscreen M unlimited, A limit to $500 if installed at non-approved workshops.

 

[TripleM]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

Is Spore water drainage system worsening or what?...Holy crap, first time I hv seen so bad

I heard on radio also that some shops at Lucky Plaza was flooded with water but not severe...

 

[Mockngbrd]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

looked quite bad to me, got photos in todays newspapers

Here's some from Stomp:

 

[RTCS]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

looked quite bad to me, got photos in todays newspapers

Here's some from Stomp:
QUOTE]

Location: Park & Ride opposite Delta House. This was where I got stranded, my ride was at bottom left hand side, can't be seen in the picture.

Location: Blk 4 Delta Road. Seen from my office at Valley Point.

Location: Park & Ride opposite Delta House. The white van managed to start without any problem once the flood fully subsided. Seeing his success gave me motivation to try my luck. I also got mine started after waiting for an hour. My friend's MPV directly behind the white van also started but he had "air-bag" warning light. Another friend of mine couldn't start, his interview came out in the papers. Many others couldn't start too and had to call for towing but were told to wait, business too good.

None of the above pics were taken by me.

See me staring blankly at my ride in The Straits Times. Page H2 and another pic in Page Prime 4.

 

[RTCS]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

Day 2

Circumstances had it that I still need to drive it. Starting the engine is as smooth as ever, BMW engine is really strong!. But it is still soaking in my cabin. There are some malfunctions, mainly electrical:

Same as yesterday
Air-con blowing only hot air, no compressor light, no vent light - no problem to turn off the blower.
Window switches are intermittent.
Tripmeter, speedometer, fuel economy meter comes intermittently - yesterday all gone.
Fog light soaked in water.
Cabin soaked in water.
ABS warning light

Today
Hazard light blinking furiously - had to remove the relay inside fuse box. Driving without signal light, but brake light not affected.

Before starting yesterday after the flood had subsided, I have actually checked and ensured that battery and air-filter was not submerged in water anymore. Gosh I have a plastic box in the glove compartment and it is completed filled with water! Now you know how bad was the flood and how much water was there!

Tomorrow
To strip and wash everything, hope that tomorrow, Sat & Sun is as sunny as today. To dry up below the carpet and plenty of wd40 at all connectors. The amplifier is behind the glove compartment, must be gone liao, front speaker definately gone.... repeat self-talk to stay cool.

 

[RTCS]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

Thanks everyone for all of your concerns. Deeply appreciate.

No, most insurance will not cover. sample of a contract from one of the company that I represent:

General Exceptions

The company shall not be liable ....
...... any accident loss damage or liability....directly or indirectly....arising out of or in connection with....war....strike....riot....detention....flood....typhoon....hurricane....cyclone....tornado....valconic....earthquake....or other convulsion of nature.

It's ok lah, be happy and make everyday a good day. Make tomorrow a sunny and hot day.

 

[roversen]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

Feel sad for you, hope that your car will be back to normal tomorrow morning.

 

[RTCS]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

Saw the link to TM Asia, mmmm, it does mention free flood and windstorm cover. Quickly will settle my car by next week and then see whether they want to let me represent them too.

 

[redrex]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

It happen to my previous car before due to mostly likely because of the circus line where they are doing now , they block up some long kang , small rain ok, but if heavy rain come the water over flow quickly that cause the flood.
Next time u should not start the car , tow to your work shop and get a air gun to blow the engine compartment as dry as possible , it will save u many parts the cause the shock/burn when the monent u turn the ignition.
Hope u are doing fine now .

 

[henry2703]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

HI RTCS....

I work in an insurance company. While it is stated that insurance do not cover acts of GOD, there are a lot of times, they may do it out of Goodwill. Some cases because you have been a long time client. Others coz they want you to have the feel good factor and stay with them...

My suggestion is, you make a note of what needs to be done to your car. Things that needs to be repair / change, and things that needs to be clean. Get a real quote from the service providers, ie PML and detailing company.

Then you call up your insurance company, show them the quotation you got for the suggested repairs and clean ups. It might help also if you bring along your proof of purchase, to show that you only got your ride 2 months ago. Tell them you are willing to let their loss adjuster have a second opinion on your car.

Talk to them nicely, don't be too aggressive. It is year end.. this year has been relatively quiet... a lot of company in the industry has excess claim budgets not being used yet... you may get lucky.

I hope i am not too late in this response... Good luck to you! I can say, you have a chance.

 

[RTCS]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

Hi guys, I'm back!


Did not have the time and mood to logon last few days but still want to say thanks to all the brothers who have showed your concerns and for the advise. It has been a trying week but alls well turned out well. after a few days work on it.

Day 3 (Fri 30.12.2007) - Bright and sunny day with gusty wind
Spend the whole day downstairs carpark stripping her bit by bit, layer by layer until expose everything down to the bare body. Then got to sun everything and pasar malam attracted a lot of attention. Everything is still soaked, seats, carpets, sound proof, etc, etc and still lots of water needed to be scooped out of cabin. At the same time worried that it might rain again. Luckily my house is at lift level, so later on decided to carry everything home to sun at balcony it will take a few days to dry and damn heavy with water dripping along. That alone took the entire day.

 

[///M3]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

woah..thats madness

 

[RTCS]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

Day 4 (Sat 1.12.2007) - Bright and sunny day with gusty wind

While sunning and flipping the seats, & carpets etc every now and then with some squeezing and twisting in between upstairs at my balcony, I was up and down to the carpark, still cleaning and touching up in the cabin. As there were some malfunction, took the entire day to "oil" as much the bare metal body. Replaced some wires as their ends are beginning to corrode, some were already quite bad shape after soaking for four days. Clean whatever connectors that came to my sight. Next is to troubleshoot all the malfunction, one by one, basket my multimeter which I needed most is also soaked and spoiled. Managed to salvage all of the electrical components including hazard light switch, hazard light relay, window switch, window circuit breaker, abs relay, tripmeter, speedometer,fuel consumption meter, amplifier, air-con ecu, so everything internally seemed to be ok now. By then again it gets dark and have to stop.

Day 5 (Sun 2.12.2007) - Bright and sunny day with gusty wind

Continue sunning and alternating between upstairs and downstairs, and spend some time with the kids since it is Sunday.

Day 5 (Mon 3.12.2007) - Bright and sunny day with gusty wind

Had to return to work, so ask wifey to take the day off to help to sun the items as they were not quite heavy now as most of the water has dripped off already.

Returned home at night and satisfied that they are dried enough.

Day 6 (Tue 4.12.2007) - Cloudy day with gusty wind and light shower
One by one, items by items, slowly I fixed back everything ensuring not to damage anything and remembering which screw and nuts for which panel etc. Gosh it is another long process and gain it took entire day and I had to stop as it gets too dark to even fasten a screw properly. No time to open fog light to drain off the water which is still trapped within.

Day 7 (Wed 5.12.2007) - Raining cats and dogs
Quickly fix up the remaining items and drove to work, wanting to visit the workshop in the afternoon for an undercarriage visual check but again was caught up with my work and had to postpone it tomorrow. Drove home after work but as I was about to reach home, the ride became very rough, whole car like shaking when idling. Since it is raining heavily, didn't want to do anything to it. Anyway tomorrow going to send to workshop for servicing and visual check.

Day 8 (Thu 6.12.2007) - Light rain
Wanted to drive downtown to work for a few hours before sending to workshop in Eunos but couldn't start. Must be related to the problem last night. No choice liao, ask AA for towing to workshop, basket PIE jammed for 2 hours! Told my mechanic about my predicament and began to bribe him with some cigarettes. Also took the opportunity to do an oil change since I have never done it yet, insisted on better spark plug also. So the work began under the bonnet and problem was eventually fixed. Also asked for an undercarriage check and realise a cracked joint along the exhaust, the crack looked like its been there for a while but worsen lately. I think that may explain my high fuel consumption. So had to weld and patch it up. Did also some regular adjustments like handbrake etc.

Halfway through received an sms from Collin notifiying satay gathering for the evening. Alamak, cannot go again, don't know how will the car be, can repair in time or not. Told myself be patient, surely will be able to go next time

Finally everything is settled and it begans to rain again. Bill was ridicously low so paid cash instead. (Still owe $20 because not enough cash) and drove off happily promising to return in next few days for further tuning if needed and also make balance payment..

On my journey back to Jurong, felt very happy and satisfied. For the clean bill of health for my car, super duper low price paid to mechanic, full sunny days when needed to dry the seats and carpets, personal satisfaction for being able to diy most of the repairs and very obvious improved power which I supposed was lost due to leak in exhaust. Even my wife feels the improvement also.

Well will monitor to see if fuel consumption inproves too.

 

[quiksilver]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

glad everything works out for u now!

 

[jin teck]

Re: Afternoon's flood did this to me

you should have call any of the Sandees n we will come to help to pasar malam n dry all parts for you. Anyway, hope your ride is back in shape. Which workshop did you go too since is cheap n good. Can share?