Do any car owners know the location of the air suction pipe into the inlet manifold of their car’s engine? Before buying a car, ask the sales executive about this. If he doesn’t know tell him to find out, but at any rate, make sure you know.

Most cars have it located in front of the engine, exactly above the grill or on either side of the front fender lining.

This is very important to know, otherwise you run the risk of paying huge bills. These days, hydrostatic locks are occurring quite frequently (especially in high end cars – maybe you can guess the ones I’m referring to), so much so that even insurance companies aren’t covering hydrolocks due to losses for their companies. For this reason, be sure to find out whether or not hydrostatic locks are covered in your insurance policy. If it costs extra, I would advise taking it unless you are confident in your ability to avoid hydrolocks.

The reason these problems are growing is because of the poor drainage system in our country, which is especially apparent in the monsoon season. Furthermore, car companies – particularly the foreign ones – are not concentrating on this problem, and falsely stating that they made their cars for Indian conditions.

Tips to avoid hydrolocks

• If you know where the air inlet suction pipe is for your engine, then feel free to drive into water logs, taking care to make sure that the air inlet suction pipe is above the water level. Otherwise, the engine will suck water instead of air, and as water is incompressible, the engine will get damaged, possibly even breaking.
• If you’re doubtful, don’t take chances in water logs. Better to avoid than trying to play the hero and following others.
• Perhaps you’ve noticed two and three wheelers going fast in water logs. I’m unsure whether they think that’s the right thing to do or that they’re trying to show heroism. You might have seen many of these same two and three wheelers trying to start their stalled vehicles, usually after the water log. This happens due to splashed water falling on the sparkplugs and high tension plug cables, due to driving fast in water logs.
• Always remember to go slow in a water log. If the water is above the rear exhaust pipe, you should keep the RPM above 2000, while slowly pressing the clutch halfway. Try to avoid splashing water while in a water log. If you don’t keep the RPM above 2000, water will enter the exhaust and stall the engine. I don’t have to tell you how inconvenient it can be when your car stalls in a huge puddle of water and you’re heading to a party, or worse, the airport.

The key to avoiding all these problems is to know the position of inlet suction pipe, so you can then take care to keep it exposed to air and above the water level. Not only will this save you money, it will keep you from having to ask yourself how to go to the office for a month while your car is stuck in the garage.