Vehicle Oil Contamination After Flooding — Hawke's Bay Recovery Experience
Following the Hawke's Bay flooding events of 2023 and 2025, EEK Mechanical supported hundreds of oil contamination recoveries. Here is what we learned.
Scale of the Events
Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023 caused the most extensive vehicle flood damage New Zealand had seen in decades. In Hawke's Bay alone, thousands of vehicles were affected across Napier, Hastings, the Esk Valley, and outlying communities. The flooding in 2025 — while less severe in geographic extent — concentrated damage in the Clive and Whirinaki areas.
What We Found On-Site
In the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, the most common scenario we attended was vehicles that had been partially submerged — floor level to bonnet level — and had owners attempting to assess or start them after the floodwaters receded. The proportion of vehicles with water in the oil system was high — over 80% of vehicles submerged above wheel height showed oil contamination or risk of contamination on assessment.
The Attempted Starts
The saddest cases were vehicles where the owner had attempted to start the engine after the flood — sometimes successfully at first, before hydrolocking, and sometimes with an immediate hydrolock on the first revolution. In both scenarios, the repair cost went from a few hundred dollars to several thousand.
The Right Protocol After a Flood
After any vehicle submersion: do not touch the ignition. Call EEK Mechanical and your insurer simultaneously. We assess, document, drain, and flush on-site. In the Hawke's Bay events, we co-ordinated directly with IAG (AMI, State), Tower, and FMG assessors to streamline the claims process for affected policyholders.
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