A car can be fixed after suffering flood damage, but the damage may be tough for the average vehicle owner to repair without the assistance of trained mechanics. There’s also a chance serious flooding will result in a car being totaled by your insurance company; in which case you will probably just need to replace your vehicle.

Flooding can negatively affect or destroy nearly every part of a vehicle. Water can get in gas tanks and engines, damage electronics, permeate fabrics in seats or flooring, ruin leather and wreck interiors. Those types of damage can cost a lot to repair. In many cases totaling the car for salvage is less expensive than gutting and replacing a car’s interior and all its electrical components.

However, not all flood damage is irreversible. In some cases, a moist interior can be dried out and then thoroughly cleaned.

Mechanical Repairs After Flooding

The process for assessing and repairing vehicle flood damage includes:

1. Checking the engine oil for water contamination (can be done using a dipstick)
2. Removing the spark plugs
3. Changing the vehicle’s oil and oil filter
4. Draining the fuel tank if any water got inside
5. Cranking the engine (with the spark plugs removed) so that any water in there gets shot out
6. It’s important there’s no water in the gas tank prior to cranking the engine, otherwise water could get pulled into the fuel system
7. If water does come out, the mechanic trying to restore the vehicle should spray aerosolized oil into the cylinders before repeating the cranking process
8. Once the water has been removed from the engine, replace the spark plugs and attempt to start the vehicle
9. Let the vehicle run for a few minutes (if it started) and then turn it off
10. Check the oil to see if it’s cloudy (if it is the filter and oil should be replaced again) 
11. If the vehicle’s electronic modules, control units or the vehicle’s fuse box were damaged or covered by water during the flooding, they will likely need to be replaced as well

Be forewarned, it’s not uncommon for those fuse and module components to become hard to acquire in the immediate aftermath of a flooding event. A lot of people may be attempting to perform the same repairs on their vehicles. Salt water can complicate all of these steps, which is why so many vehicles submerged in hurricane storm surge are simply totaled.

Car Interior Restoration After Flooding

The amount of time and effort required to clean out your vehicle’s interior depends on how high up the water reached on your car. Drivers, their mechanics or auto detailers may need to remove interior door panels and trim to let the inside of the doors dry out.