The current monsoon roads of the valley are a tragic site to see. The roads and alleys filled with brown rainwater and clogged drainage systems causing the roads to flood and no way for the water to escape. Road side parking traditions have never been affected by any catastrophe but now the two-wheelers parked on these flooded roads face a major issue on their engines and batteries. Being submerged in these flooded roads the major electrical and functional part of the two-wheelers are heavily hampered due to direct contact with water. Firstly, to prevent this from happening, it is better to park in designated shady and dry areas, but if this situation occurs anyways, below we have listed some immediate solutions for your flooded two-wheeler.
1. DO NOT START/ACCELERATE THE VEHICLE
- Once you recognize the vehicle is flooded, do not try to immediately accelerate or give ignition to the engine. The water may enter the two-wheelers electrical system, exhaust, brakes, the engine and other functional units, when tried to accelerate. It will be wise to manually drag the bike/scooter out of the water source to somewhere dry and let it sit on a double stand for at least 10-15 minutes.
2. DISCONNECT THE ELECTRICALS
- As soon as the vehicle is left to rest in a dry area, the electricals must be disconnected, specially the battery connectivities. The tech-savvy two-wheelers nowadays may have automatic and running electricals, so to prevent short circuits and battery failure, the connecting wires must be detached.
3. REMOVE THE SPARK PLUG
- One of the most essential things to do in this situation is to remove the spark plug. If the wet spark plugs are left unattended for a long period of time it will be difficult to remove it after the mud from the muddy water solidifies and eventually the threads of the spark plug corrodes.
4. LET IT REST
- In the case of a gearless scooter, it is best to let the vehicle rest in a dry place without accelerating it. The belt cover on these gearless scooters may collect the water, so to get rid of it, simply the two-wheeler must be taken to a dry and shady place and let it sit for a good 10-15 minutes, which will automatically drain the water itself . After this a gentle acceleration and ignition will automatically start the scooter as normal.
The above mentioned tips are just an immediate response to the flooded vehiclesand it is wise to take the drowned vehicle to a professional mechanic who knows the vehicle and its engine better than us.