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-   -   Ford Freestyle gets submerged in water; Owner gets a 6.5 lakh bill (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/227155-ford-freestyle-gets-submerged-water-owner-gets-6-5-lakh-bill.html)

The incident happened in West Bengal as the car was submerged halfway in water for nearly 15 minutes. Owner decided to drive through a flooded underpass. The car went half deep in water before the owner could realize.

Engine lost power and died in the middle of the underpass. Owner waited for the water to clear and then tried to start the car but the car would not start and not even give the ignition sound. Owner called up Ford assistance and got the car towed away to the service center.



The Ford dealership called and informed the owner that the repairs will cost nearly Rs 6.5 Lakhs. They said that the engine has been damaged completely. The insurance company informed the owner that the engine damage is not covered in insurance even though the owner had nil dep insurance. Finally, he has been asked to cough up Rs 3 Lakhs from his own pocket whereas the rest will be managed by insurance money.

Engine being the most expensive part, isn't the engine covered under NIL dep insurance ?

Source : https://www.carblogindia.com/this-fo...6-5-lakh-bill/

This is why it is important to opt for engine protection or hydro lock cover separately, along with the zero dep part. You never know when you are caught out in flood prone Indian cities and you so don’t want to find yourself in this kind of situation.

And that's the moment where he lost 3 lakhs of hard earned money. :Frustrati

If you can't avoid crossing a water logged road, and the car stalls mid way- DO NOT crank the engine afterwards.

Sorry if I am being ignorant but doesn't NIL dep cover everything ? How different is this engine protection and why isn't engine covered as a part of standard insurance ?

There is a misconception in India that zero dep. Car insurance covers everything and words such as 'bumper to bumper' are used.
However the engine if seized due to water etc., delebrately or by mistake, is covered only if you have an add-on called 'Engine protector'. Different insurance companies used different terms for this.
An engine costs nearly about 40% of the car's value approximately and so a replacement with labor becomes very costly.
The Insurance company has done the right thing by not providing full amount.

In Zero Depreciation, engine is protected in case of any accident/collission and the person will not have to bear cost of repairs for the same, apart from the file charges.

However, engine protection cover is specifically designed for instances like floods where your engine suffers damage without any accident/collision.

If I understand correctly, insurance is mostly for accidents/thefts.

I do not think so, I have purchased this (engine damage) separately from ICICI policy. Moreover, this damage can be termed as intentional. The owner may approach the ombudsman, still I do not think it would help him for his foolishness.

This is why i got the engine protect add-on and all covers possible along with zero dep. There needs to be more awareness on what is covered and and what is not as the policies aren't well categorized and worded for a layperson.

+1. Spot On. But I think engine protect will be valid only if it’s not a deliberate attempt.

We have so many addons because of people who act like these and just think they can drive and do whatever they want and the insurance will take care of it. There should be a register which has all these info recorded, so that, the buyer (if at all the current owner tries to sell it of after repairs) knows about the engine buildup.

Absolutely. I've actually been in such a situation with a friend's Alto. Thankfully the car crossed the puddle and died immediately after. It was midnight so no help was available either.

-I opened the plugs, and cranked the engine 3-4 times. Lots of fluid got thrown out from the cylinders. Cylinder 1 was the most flooded. Cleaned the plugs also.

-We made sure the air filter was as dry as possible. It had just a bit of moisture when we put it back in.

-I felt there was some water ingress inside the engine oil circuit as the level was higher than normal. Since the engine was already quite hot, all I did was to remove the breather hose of tappet cover for sometime and covered it with a thin rag(to act as a filter against larger debris). Idea was, water and oil don't mix. So once the engine gets sufficiently hot, the water would evaporate and quickly escape through the open breather hose. It worked since by the time we reached, oil level was back to normal.

The car started after a couple of attempts and we managed to reach our destination safely. We changed all fluids and filters the next day and even after many years of this incident, the engine is working flawlessly.

The itch to crank immediately after a car has died down is too dangerous and should be controlled at all costs. One should realise that the engine died down for a reason, and unless that is fixed, its not going to start anyways.

This post makes no sense here, but I'm posting it, hoping it helps someone someday. :)

Regards,
Shashi

Forget insurance guy's, why on earth engine replacement costs 6.5 lacs? It's not for BMW or Mercedes. Can't imagine engine cost is so much for car which costs almost same amount. Also I am not sure why whole engine need replacement? Many mechanical parts can be reused for sure as car was in water only for 15 mins. Can somebody confirm?

Not even AFTER the water has cleared?

Afterwards, the wiring/electronics would have gone anyway so no point risking it in my opinion.

I used to live in Chennai during Dec 2015 flood and following the simple instruction of not cranking the engine which saved my a good amount of head ache afterwards. Though the car was still booked under total loss and I still lost money, not doing it is the best thing. Call the tow truck and send it straight to the service centre.

Protecting against hydro lock is a good thing to have, given that floods hit any city anytime without much warning.

However, the situation that the Freestyle driver got himself/herself into was certainly avoidable.

Drivers, especially the new ones, need to be educated on the DOs and DON'Ts of driving on waterlogged roads

As a thumb rule, if the air filter is wet and there is water in oil, do not start the engine. Push the car to a safe location if towing services aren't immediately available.

One of the DON'Ts mentioned above

The estimate is not for the engine alone - they'll practically want everything replaced except the body shell, chassis systems and maybe the seats.

Yes, a hydro locked engine can easily be done up at an FNG for a fraction of the cost of new since most parts can be re-used.

Would like to reminiscence an incident happened in 2015 torrential rain in Chennai.

A wise friend of mine in T.Nagar had his Lancer submerged 75% in water for 3-4 days or more. They could only see the wiper in the water clogged garage, which is when they were rescued by a team.

Over a month later, he dried the entire interiors unassisted; pushed the car to local mechanic & dismantled the engine, assisted ofcourse. Right from underneath the bonnet to the suspension arm, every single part, o-ring, bushes, washers were not only stinking, but had foul smelling muck. Most parts were cleaned, dried & reused, some of them replaced.

About 2 weeks later, they filled in fresh fuel & oils and cranked the engine. My good friend drove the Lancer back home & the car is still immaculate in 2020. I think it costed some 7K in total or so, no insurance covered.

That is when the knowledge imbibed in me that, it's not the water that damages the vehicle, but the crank who cranks it without cleaning!