Texas Flood .... not for the faint of heart....

[_A2_]

I wasn't sure what area to post this in. Could be general, could be techinical ( as in How screwed am I?), or it could be in the for sale section.

 

Here in Central Texas we got >= 9" of rain, in about 4 hours, early Wens. morning.

 

 

This is my Flatbed. It was running, but I was having trouble keeping it running. Had been thinking about selling it, now I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. The van was parked next to it before the flood, it JUST ABOUT got washed away. The van belongs to my foreman and was perfectly fine before the flood.

 

 

 

This is a, or was a '75 that I just got in Dallas last year for $500. It doesn't run, but is tricked out with electronic ignition, K and N filter charger, CB radio, Headliner console, carpeted bed.

I bought it just for the body, because there isn't a scratch on it. It seems now that might be the only thing salvageable.

 

 

The water was about 2-3' higher at it's crest, so the carbs on both trucks were definitely under water. Besides cleaning gas tank, and opening up the engine to dry, do any of y'all have any other advice as to this type of water damage ?

 

Or does any one want to buy them ????? LOL Just kidding

[jefe de jefes]

Yikes. Stay safe man

[yellowdatsun]

You may not have a choice, they might have to be totaled. Many times flood victims are totaled out, or given "non-repairable" titles. So if you want the insurance money that's fine, but if you want to keep them I wouldn't tell anyone about the flood. If there's no insurance on them, that you have no choice but to keep them. They'd all need at least a wiring harness I'd bet, and if water got into the carbs they might need engines too.

[dreamer2]

My father bought a 82 Toyota 4x4 that was under water in a lake,( even had fish in it ) He drained the oils engine trans rear ends put new oils replaced batt. cleaned all electrical conections and fired it up. The only thing he lost was one gauge. It was on a salvage title but we drove the hell out of it for years. It was very time consuming but for $500 it was worth the risk. The truck was estimated to be under water for a month. He also put new tires on it after he got it running.

[screamer510]

My father bought a 82 Toyota 4x4 that was under water in a lake,( even had fish in it ) He drained the oils engine trans rear ends put new oils replaced batt. cleaned all electrical conections and fired it up. The only thing he lost was one gauge. It was on a salvage title but we drove the hell out of it for years. It was very time consuming but for $500 it was worth the risk. The truck was estimated to be under water for a month. He also put new tires on it after he got it running.

 

Yeah, check out TopGear's invincible truck, a red early '80s Toyota. I would consider a Datsun to be in the same boat, no pun intended!

[]2eDeYe]

:(

 

A thorough cleansing is definitely in order. Don't forget to flush the frame rails.

[_A2_]

2eDeYe' date='28 January 2012 - 12:00 PM' timestamp='1327773605' post='621647']

Don't forget to flush the frame rails.

 

 

Thanks....That's something i wouldn't have thought of.

[herculesinwyoming]

i have pulled a 76 chevy truck out a pond after it sat 24 hours, drained all the fluids and fuel, left the doors open for a few days in the hot sun.

the truck lived another 10 years, the alernator and the starter did fail about 2 years later but im not sure that was related to the water.

[KFunk740]

Be sure to pull the sparkplugs and spin the engine a little bit to shoot all the water out before trying to start it. As long as you don't try to compress water, then there shouldn't be much wrong with the engine. The rest is just a lot of luck and cleaning connections... plus yanking out stinking upholstery. If you've got a cloth seat, I'd atleast try taking it out and letting it sit in hot direct sunlight for a few days. That'll kill most of the stinky stuff...:blink:

[JCR]

start selling the parts

we will buy them

 

no seriously had a friend (try) to drive his lowered nissan hardbody through a deep flooded road with standing water the truck stalled 1/2 way through (water into the throttle body)

it sat there for a while till we could call a friend to come and help pulll it out

we did full tune up and replaced all the fluids and it ran GREAT for years after that minus always had a little funky smell

good luck with it

sucks that it happened

[79D50]

An old trick us commercial fisherman guys would use is to run diesel through the motor if water is introduced into the internals. Take out the plugs like someone mentioned and spin the motor. Drain all the oil out of it. Fill her up with diesel fuel and spin the motor over by hand. Drain and repeat about 3-4 times. The oil in the fuel displaces the water (they don't mix...I checked...lol) and also lubricates and helps protect the piston walls and rings from instant corrosion. Replace plugs and add 10/40 oil and fire it up. It will smoke. Let it run for 5 minutes. Drain oil again and add regular 10/30 and you should be just fine.

 

This is a cheap preventative measure and I've done it 100's of times. We had a greenhorn who left the oil cap off the top of the main in the skiff and it rained all night. We didn't discover that fuck up till the next morning. After the treatment, the motor ran like a champ with no problems. Diesel is your best friend.

[JCR]

nice tip ...love it

[dirtydiesel]

im not sure about cars being the same. but i work with marine engines and gears. hyd equipment on boats too. i purchased an engine trans from a sunk boat. was a diesel tho. i draind all fluids and opened all cylinders. put clean diesel fuel in the crank case( about a half gallon more than what you would put in for oil) thats to clean sludge and such also makes the excess water flush out faster. put about a full cup of wd 40 in the cylinders. let that sit for about 6 hours. and did the same for the reduction gear. than after it all had sit. drained the fuel out of both componets see if the engine would " bar over" to make sure it was not siezed two full rotations. then pulled the pan to inspect crank bearings. and cyl walls. they were all fine. hooked up starter and rolled over engine till all the wd 40 was cleared from the cyl. hooked every thing all up. added clean oil. and see if it would start. thing ran like a beauty. re adj. valves and sold it two weeks later. its been two years since and its never had any issues.

 

but that engine wasnt under water more than two days.

[_A2_]

That's some good stuff with the diesel.

 

Thanks y'all, appreciate it.

[makya]

That's some good stuff with the diesel.

 

Thanks y'all, appreciate it.

Sorry to hear about the flooding down there. We had some hard rains up here, but for a short time so no major flooding.

 

I know you were kind of joking earlier, but if you do decide to get rid of one of them, let me know.