Flood-Damaged Vehicle? How Additives Can Help Recover It

Once a vehicle has been affected by flood waters, many people believe their only option is to write it off and start again. But if your vehicle was parked and not running when it was submerged, the damage may not be as bad — and the vehicle could well be recovered.

Short answer: a flooded vehicle isn’t always a write-off, especially if it wasn’t running when submerged. Inspect every fluid for water, drain and replace what’s contaminated, then use the right additives — CRD Fuel Enhancer, FTC Decarbonizer, AW10 Antiwear and Flushing Oil Concentrate — to clean, lubricate and protect the fuel system, engine, diffs and transmission from corrosion.

How Can Additives Help a Water-Flooded Vehicle?

First, thoroughly inspect all areas for water — oils, diesel, air and fuel filters. Once all the fluids have been removed and inspected for water, new fluids can be put in and the process of restarting can begin.

The key question is how much water got in. For minor contamination, the right additive added to fresh fluids will clean, lubricate and protect against corrosion. For severe contamination, you’ll need to fully drain and refill the tanks and flush the oil system first — then treat with additives. When in doubt, drain first.

How Do Additives Help With Water in Diesel?

Diesel contaminated with water. If water has severely contaminated the diesel, you’ll need to drain the fuel tanks:

• Clean the fuel system and drain the tanks (remember, you can’t make water magically disappear from diesel).
• If the tanks have only minor water, add CRD Fuel Enhancer to the tank.

Water Contamination in Engine, Differential or Transmission Oil

The sooner you remove the water-affected fluids, the better. Get the oil out of the components and replace it with new oil and a strong concentrated additive like AW10 Antiwear.

If diffs, transmissions and engines have been submerged, the longer the water-contaminated oil remains in the vehicle, the more damage occurs. After the fluids have been flushed or changed, inspect how much water is in the oil. AW10 can be added to the diffs, transmissions and engine oil — reducing engine wear, improving oil quality and, most importantly, preventing internal corrosion from forming. Note: if the components have had a lot of water, the engine will benefit from being properly flushed out to remove any oil-and-water sludge.