?Underbody flushing service?

[FrankIII]

I was going through the volt owners and saw a reference to "Have underbody flushing service
performed once a year.". What is Underbody flushing service and how is it done? I've always heard electricity and water don't mix. Does driving through some puddles qualify as an underbody flush?

[MrEnergyCzar]

It Probably means to get an underbody car wash option to rinse all the corrosive salt from under the car....

MrEnergyCzar

[ClarksonCote]

It Probably means to get an underbody car wash option to rinse all the corrosive salt from under the car....

MrEnergyCzar

A quick Google search seems to confirm that...

[astrand1]

I do that every time I get a car wash. The place i go it only costs $1 more and they give you some other extra stuff. On top of that Im so anal that i go to the quarter wash every so often and spray under the car.

[Top_Speed1]

I do that every time I get a car wash. The place i go it only costs $1 more and they give you some other extra stuff. On top of that Im so anal that i go to the quarter wash every so often and spray under the car.

I top this so I must be super anal
I don't drive my Volt in the winter and it has never seen salt, still gets the under carraige blast when at my touch-free car wash by default however.

[DCFusor]

A friend who worries about such things made a nice setup for his own use. It's just one of those perforated sprinkler hoses stapled to a board he can drive over now and then. Seems to work really well and it's pretty cheap to put together. The battery pack and all the electrical stuff is as hermetically sealed as can be - and pure water is a lot less bad around electricity than something with dissolved salts in it which draws current and provides ions to act like an electrolyte for plating (plating can plate metal OFF things).

Though I can't find the link just now, there was a GM movie showing people walking around under the car on a lift where one of the techs pointed to a spot near the rear axle area where he mentioned it looked like there would be troubles there. I plan to clean mine off at the friend's house when winter is over at any rate. I've not had mine up on a lift to look myself yet.

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

I was going through the volt owners and saw a reference to "Have underbody flushing service
performed once a year.". What is Underbody flushing service and how is it done? I've always heard electricity and water don't mix. Does driving through some puddles qualify as an underbody flush?

You will be all right giving your Volt an underbody flush. Like DCFusor mentioned, the Volt's battery is housed in a water tight container, so it will not be harmed.

[Noel Park]

Huh, never heard of it. I guess that's what comes from living in SoCal, LOL. Salt, what's that? We learn something new every day from our friends here at here at GM-Volt.com. Thanks for furthering my education guys!

[Top_Speed1]

Noel you R funny but...

SoCal = a worse 4 letter word that starts with "S"...









sm0g!

[FrankIII]

So if the electronics are all hermetically sealed, what are they trying to wash off with the underbody flush? Are they trying to prevent corrosion and rust or keep any passages/surfaces clean for lower thermal resistivity and allow for better cooling?