Just had the chance to see my car after Sandy. As you can see there was a little water damage. I pulled 3 gallons of water out of the motor, pulled the plugs, turned the motor over to get the rest of the water out put a new filer on and oil in. We almost got it started but we ran out of light. Is there anything else I should be doing any help would be great Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Drain all the oil and replace,,,oops I re-read and see you did that..my bad. Check transmission and rear axle HRP
Don't know what trans you're running, but none of 'em like water added. Ditto for the rearend, if water got in the vent it'll mess stuff up. Wish you the best of luck. Saw a nicely restored Porsche 914/6 on a flatbed the other day after it got submerged.. These older cars seem to do a lot better than modern computer-controlled stuff.
Don't forget the trans and rear axle...they'll both be full of water as the water-line on your car's seat shows. The front wheel bearings have seals but I wouldn't trust them, especially to salt water. I'd check them for water too. Hit the driveshafts U-joints with a grease gun to force out water/force in lube. If that was salt water, sit a lawn sprinkler under that car for a few days if the weather is above freezing now. And as long as there was already water inside that car, I'd go ahead and take the garden hose to the entire inside of the car...what do you have to loose at this point? Hose that baby out.
Hopefully your gauges, stereo, etc. will be ok. Electronics don't usually suffer water. As to the upholstery, well...... You probably ought to drain the fuel tank, if you haven't. It may have gotten waterlogged.
There's a vent hole in most rear axles, so changing out gear lube would be a good idea. And I wonder if some of that "dessicant" dryer stuff in a bucket inside the car would help to dry out an interior without rotting it? Works on clothing and inside shoe boxes. Maybe?
Do as the others have said. Also pull off the brake drums. There will be a lot of dirt in there. Check out the radiator. If you had running water thru your garage it will be full of mud and weeds in the fins.
i hate to say this from the flood of 93 here in iowa, the car is ruined. and we didnt have salt water. you will chase failures on the car till hell freezes over. i hope you have insurance, and let it work
I wouldn't write the car off yet. We have flooding in Houston yearly and unless a car is ran without changing the things suggested, it should be fine. The cost of trying to revive it isn't that much. I'd rather try, than just throw in the towel.
I think I'd pull the interior, check all the drain holes in the doors and hose everything out. Guys that drive through standing water at Bonneville should have some clean up tips. Good luck to everyone affected by the storm. Bob
I live in MO and lived in the 93 flood, In Jefferson City, we had to drive about 60 miles one way to get to the other side of the bridge,,,,,,,because Hwy 54 and Hwy 63 got blown out the MO river was the biggest source and goes all the way through here, until it hits the Mississippi,,,,,, almost got to the St Louis Arch, change your fluids, make it run and, change fluids make it run, don't let it set with water.................change and make it run.....Had a 6 cylinder Chevy Merc boat sunk,,,,, changed transfer case and engine oil several times and it was OK......................If that don't work rebuild or scrap................. I think I figured out what FNG is f**king new guy,,,,,although I am not that young or new anymore...maybe here but not in life All depends how much you have invested,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and how much you can spend......or want to spend boooooob
Probably should pull every light bulb in the entire car and dry/clean the sockets, clean up all your ground wire connections, check/clean distributor, hell, the list goes on. Bought a "wet" car a long time ago when i was young, well before all of the electronics we have today, and that thing fought me forever. Small stuff, mostly electrical-switches, grounds, connectors, everything. Not to mention carb, starter,and alternator corroded, fuel tank/lines full of crap. As others have pointed out, check/clean repack wheel bearings,clean rear end, trans, etc. Seems the quicker you get the water out of these areas, the less damage is done.
I'm not sure where your battery is located in the car but I imagine it was submerged,therefor I assume you'll be replacing it. Bear in mind the acid may well have been flushed out the old one,give the area round about a good scrub and neutralise any acid spills.
Yep you tranny and rear end is probablt full of sale or brine water as well. You will need to dry ourt the distributer and ythen you needs to take everything out of the inside and dry it out, some of it will get moldy anyway and you will have to replace it. Yoyu may find at a later date that you rewire it. all of your but splices and connections are going to get oxidized. One last thing if it ever comes to the place where I am buying the car from you please be straight with me and remind me that I am buying a flood car.
I have some experience with flood cars, both "low water" cars (floor boards) and deeper submerged vehicles. The most critical element is time. The faster you get everything opened up, cleaned up and dryed, the better your results will be. So called "fresh water" is bad enough, it has dirt, sand/silt in it but if it WAS saltwater, DOUBLE the emphasis on timely disassembly and cleaning. As for the upholstery, if you keep it in place, fans, dessicants etc. are a waste of time. STRIP the entire interior of any component that was wet and dry it in the sun if possible or in doors with lots of air circulation if need be. Don't be surprised though, if the interior is smelly and is toast. Wiring can be saved if ALL the connectors are opened, cleaned thoroughly and dryed. Reassembly with dielectric grease or, at a minimum, WD40. You can try salvaging the guages, radio, etc, but like the upholstery, don't be surprised if they too, are shot. A deep flood car CAN be saved, but it is a LOT of work to do it right. The body and major mechanical parts are the easy part. It's the electric and soft trim that is so vulnerable. Good luck with it. Ray
Im just wondering, that if you knew days in advance that this storm was coming why you didnt get it out of there.
I had a 72 Caddy that went swimming. I did all the usual things including putting dry gas in the gas tank. It ran good, but i woukd get a little water in the fuel filter every once in a while. more dry gas... dident help. I dropped the tank and it was 1/2 full of water!!! 10 gal.!!!, but ran good!!! The screen on the fuel pick up would stop most water but would allow the gas to go through.
If you got it insured, call your insurance agent, especially if it was dosed with salt water. Looked at an OT collector car Friday... got a good salt water soaking up to the steering wheel... interior smells like ass. Owner spoke with his agent, they're probably going to total it. Bob
Yeah, call your collector car insurance carrier ASAP! This sucks! I hope everything works out for you.
Treat the car as a frame off resto if it was under salt water. Aside from the tires, glass and weather striping, salt water will corrode anything else in its wake.
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