LAFAYETTE — It only takes a few inches of rain to damage a vehicle, according to Michael Harris, owner of Danny's Auto Repair in Lafayette.
"If you drive through water on the road, you risk your intake sucking water in and it's catastrophic damage," said Harris.
He adds that water cannot compress like fuel, which creates a dangerous situation inside the engine.
"Water doesn't compress because an engine runs on compression of fuel and so, when it compresses water, it can't. Pistons can't move to compress and all that pressure builds up and has to go out somewhere," he said.
Once water is sucked in, the engine quickly reaches its breaking point.
"Most of the time, you end up doing severe engine damage to where it requires engine replacement," Harris said.
Issues can also arise in the vehicle's electrical system.
"Electrical problems too with all the computers in modern vehicles. Anything gets wet, it can be bad, and you can lose control of your vehicle," Harris said.
Drivers may think their vehicle is damage-free, but that damage could show up later.
"It could drive through water and be fine, and you won't have a problem until days later because the water sitting inside the module causes corrosion," Harris said.
He said while some people get lucky, most of the time these repairs are very costly.
