Assess your vehicle for damage

But the government, which created the Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC) led by the Justice Minister, has been changing personnel and flood-relief techniques on a trial-and-error basis all along.

This has left people in northern and western Bangkok, who are still suffering from 50cm floods, to simmer in anger against the authorities as they never sent anyone to negotiate with them, or at least inform them when the water would recede like in the other areas. Meanwhile, the flood level is stabilising (in some cases slightly receding). However, the water is terribly contaminated due to the large amounts of garbage lying in it for many weeks.

Angry people in these flood-hit areas are starting to come out and close down roads, and in some areas start to destroy vehicles passing by. All that the government could do through the FROC was to send mediators to the troubled areas to negotiate with the people who had closed the roads. They did not try to take on a proactive role by informing people of the facts so that unrest could be avoided.

Although the problem is expanding to other areas as well, the prime minister has remained high above the water, appointing others to go out and negotiate. She has not gone down to hear the problems directly from the people, and has never been able to make a decision in solving the problem by herself even once.

As the water level comes down, people are now bringing out their vehicles and using them. Well, those who had driven their vehicles through the floods are now worried, especially when they hear strange noises from their vehicles. Many fear that the damage may spread to a dangerous level, and do not dare to drive before sending these vehicles for costly repairs first.

Today, I would like to advise motorists to try to check these noises by themselves so that they know whether it is necessary to send the vehicle to the garage or if they can keep on driving as normal.

Whenever you hear strange noises, first try to locate which part of the car it is coming from. Imagine the car being divided into four parts and try to locate whether the sound is coming from the front left, front right, rear left or rear right.

Also try to classify whether the noise is like metals rubbing against each other or whether it sounds like metal knocking against each other (like hitting an iron pipe on a sheet of metal). Or does it sound like rubber rubbing against each other like when you use an eraser on a sheet of glass?

If you are able to distinguish what type of sound you are hearing, there is greater chance that the mechanic can quickly and accurately locate and solve the problem. For example, if the owner hears sound like rubber rubbing against each other after driving through flood that is half a wheel deep, but it goes away after you drive on for four or five kilometres (and happens every time), then it can be assumed that it came from the belts in the engine room. As the belt becomes wet, it creates a sharp and loud squeak.

To find out whether this is the case, whenever you drive through a flood and the sound appears, stop the car beside the footpath and shut off the engine. Open the engine compartment lid and pour lots of talcum powder over the belts. Then restart the engine and if the sound disappears, you can be sure that it came from these belts. To fix this problem, you need to adjust the tension of the belt or if any of them appears to be old or worn out just replace it. But you do not need to do it in a hurry. Wait until the flood is gone and have it done along with other repairs in the vehicle.

Now, for metal rubbing or scratching sounds, be aware that they can cause more damage and danger than the first type. This is usually caused by the bearings in the pulleys for the air compressor, water pump, alternator, etc.

An easy way to check is to turn off the engine and spray a small amount of lubrication into one of the pulleys. Don’t soak them with the lubrication because this can cause the grease to flow out. Start the engine and listen. If there is still noise, continue to the next pulley. Repeat the procedure until you find which one is causing the problem. Then you can just have the mechanic grease up the pulley again or replace the bearing.

If the noise is like the ring of a bell, notice whether it happens when you just start the engine, when the engine is idling or when you release the clutch and whether it disappears when you start revving up the engine to higher speeds.

In this case, the sound should be caused by the vibration of the engine at low revs, resulting in the metal parts clanking against each other. Mostly this is from the exhaust pipe that knocks against the chassis in pickup trucks, or against the floor of passenger cars. Test this by leaving the engine at idle speed and when you start to hear the sound try revving the engine until you feel that the cabin feels still. If the sound disappears then you can be sure of the origin.

Or, if you want to be more confident, leave the engine at idle speed until the sound comes, and then get out of the vehicle and use your foot to lightly hold the exhaust pipe still. If the sound disappears, then you can be sure it comes from the exhaust rattle. You can fix this by raising the idle speed just slightly, or mount the exhaust pipe more strongly. If you find that the rubber in the exhaust pipe mounting is worn out, replacing it will also help get rid of the noise.