Although a car soaked in water looks glamorous on the surface, it is far more dangerous than an accident involving a car’s frame!

Why?

The accident car had a certain part of the frame cut and then re-welded. Although the welding strength will be different from the original factory welding, it is at most worse than the original factory. It will still have a corresponding effect in the second collision (as long as It is a normal repair and welding); however, it is not the body frame that is damaged when the car is soaked in water, but most of the electronic control systems inside the central control unit!

The safe driving of a car depends on many sensors, electronic control components, and line plugs on the car body. Water-immersed cars will cause the greatest damage to these parts! Because the circuit is most afraid of water intrusion, and it is extremely difficult to repair it to its original state, unless all the original factory wiring is replaced. However, the cost of such repair is too high, and no one is willing to repair a water-damaged car like this!

Even if a water-soaked truck is repaired, the internal circuitry is extremely prone to failure, and we never know when problems will occur. It is like a time bomb.

There is a possibility of "explosion" at any time. Once there is a problem with the sensor of a key circuit while driving at high speed, the consequences will be disastrous!

So how do we judge whether a car has been soaked in water? Today I would like to share with you some basic judgment methods (only limited to routine repairs, intensive repairs may not be applicable to all, please pay attention to the risks! If you have any questions, it is best to find a professional second-hand car third-party testing agency for confirmation)

If you want to know how to inspect a water-soaked car, you must first understand the basic method of treating a water-soaked car - you need to remove all interior parts, and then clean them with a high-pressure water gun!

Water soaking is different from sunroof leaks. Water soaking in natural environment is mixed with a large amount of sediment, which will soak into every corner of the car with the water flow! Dealing with all of these is a big project and requires a lot of time and patience! At the same time, because water contains many corrosive substances, there is a clear difference between the corrosion state of metal after soaking in water and natural corrosion! So we can start from these two points

When we detect a water-soaked car, we need to first check whether the interior parts of the entire car have been disassembled or assembled in a large area. If many seats or interior covers have been disassembled, Installation, but whether it has been wrapped, made of floor glue, modified instruments, etc., then we have to wonder whether there is a possibility of water damage! Because no one will disassemble and assemble these positions for no reason

If the seats have been disassembled and assembled, we can continue to check the steering column. Most models of this position are not rust-proofed. If soaked in water, there will be some Rust, rust in the natural state is uniform and small embroidery spots

But the rust after soaking in water is often small rust spots, and the color is darker

Of course , some minor wading or sunroof leakage or parking in a humid environment for a long time may cause more serious similar rust! Therefore, seeing these problems, we can only boldly doubt that it is too early to draw a conclusion

We also need to confirm other clues and follow the principle from low to high!

We can open this cover on the side of the sill.

The wiring harnesses inside are wrapped with tape on some models, and placed in corrugated tubes on some models! Under normal circumstances, there is only a layer of floating dust on the surface of the wire harness, and there is almost no sediment in the area immediately adjacent to the middle of the wire harness.

If you find that there is such sedimentation in the middle of the wire harness, it is time to Be careful, the possibility of water soaking in this car will suddenly increase, because generally wading and sunroof leaks will not cause this kind of sediment in it!

We still need to continue to inspect the underside of the seats. Many sponges under the seats have a circle of curved iron wires. This is similar to the steering column inspection method. In the air environment, there is usually a layer of floating rust. If it is like the following This situation is very suspicious!

As you can see, rust spots have appeared on these wires, and the rust has soaked into the sponge next to it. This is because the water droplets between the metal and the foam are difficult to evaporate, which has caused this phenomenon over time.

But in this case, we generally think of it as mild water soaking. The impact at this time is not big because most of the lines have not been soaked yet!

The depth of water immersion reaches above the seats and even exceeds the center console. We generally think it is water immersion. How can we further confirm?

We can open the rear seats. The rear seats of most models are buckled on the floor. You just need to lift them up!

After lifting it, we can see some drainage holes

Under normal conditions, there will be a thin layer of floating dust in these locations! But after soaking in water, there will be a lot of sediment. In these inner holes, the sediment is very difficult to clean! It is easy to have the following problems

It is difficult to clean the inner hole, leaving these sediment residues

There is another location, that is the gasoline pump, which contains the gasoline of many models With the pump in this position, open the plastic cover. Some of the screws are screws. You can consider removing the screws

After opening, you can observe whether there is any sediment residue

This is after soaking in water. There are many people who may want to ask about the sediment. Isn’t it enough to just flush it here? It is true that this place can be cleaned, but please note that there is also a wiring harness plug here. It is not easy to clean out the sediment in it!

If these places are confirmed, the water soaking situation of this car can basically be determined

But we can continue to study the surrounding area of ??the center console to see if the water soaking depth has been completely Submerge the center console

Open the cover on the side of the center console

This is also connected by snaps. Use this small pry plate to pry it open

There are many corners here, and it is also very difficult to clean them!

You can see what this machine looks like after being soaked in water

The sediment and water stains on the surface are easy to deal with, but there is a lot of sediment in the surrounding gaps! This shows that the water in this car has exceeded the depth of the center console! This is all soaked in water!

When we check these locations on a car, we can basically tell whether it is soaked in water! Of course, in the end, I would like to remind everyone that these methods are not necessarily applicable to all models. The methods are for reference only. If you have any questions, it is best to ask a professional for confirmation!

I am A Fei from Car Inspection Bang, a second-hand car inspection master. If you have any questions about second-hand cars or need to inspect second-hand cars, please feel free to leave a message in the comment area or send a private message!

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.