Crossed Through 27" Of Water, Now What?

[DA BIG ONE]

Yep, Measured 27" at deepest point, to bodyside mouldings however, the drivers door leaked and water filled the up on the drivers side floor areas front and back. Most drained back out the way it entered around the door and door opening.

Motor ran fine, rode brake all the way through, only splashing from the motors cooling fan.

Checked diff., and other fluids, all ok.

What do I need to do now, are there body plugs I can pull, or?

Pull the rugs, or vacuum them?

The bodywork from my accident was not done properly, so the leak!

[Dihrdbowti]

I would try and dry them out as fast as possible. You might want to at least lift the carpet to get the padding a chance to dry out. If you have some way to blow air underneath it might help the drying process.

Good luck

[DennisG01]

If you have a sunny day, open the doors to face the sun. The sun works wonders!

[cruzer]

A wet/dry shop vac works well to get water out of carpet. Then open the windows and let dry.

[DA BIG ONE]

Pulled up rug, wet, wet, wet, did the shop vac thing now using HD blower to finish the drying.

Found the seam open at the l/f floor drivers side, and the door frame will fix it too.

Anyone ever use the spray on bed liner on the interior floor of their truck?

[JoeyD]

Remove the carpet and padding. It will take a month for it to dry and it will stink and rot.

[DA BIG ONE]

Originally posted by Joey D:
Remove the carpet and padding. It will take a month for it to dry and it will stink and rot. The whole carpet? I was wondering about this, is it the carpet or the padding that is the real problem, or both?

[65-f100]

Joey D is right about the stinking. Unless you are absolutely sure you got it all - I would tend to pull it too.

As far as the bedliner stuff - I know a lot of the street rod guys are using it under their whole car for sound deadning and sealing. It does a much better job than the old undercoating. It would probably work well for you too. Good luck!

[DA BIG ONE]

Originally posted by 65-f100:
Joey D is right about the stinking. Unless you are absolutely sure you got it all - I would tend to pull it too.

As far as the bedliner stuff - I know a lot of the street rod guys are using it under their whole car for sound deadning and sealing. It does a much better job than the old undercoating. It would probably work well for you too. Good luck! Thanks for the input, looks like today I will be removing the seats and console to get that rug and padding out.

[DennisG01]

Just an idea...If you're going to remove all of the carpeting (which is a good idea) and you're going to spray the floor with the bedliner, why not just spray it very nicely and leave it as is? (don't put the carpeting back in). I've never had my carpeting out, so I don't know, maybe there are some gaps or something in the floor that won't look good.

[DA BIG ONE]

Originally posted by Dennis Galligani:
Just an idea...If you're going to remove all of the carpeting (which is a good idea) and you're going to spray the floor with the bedliner, why not just spray it very nicely and leave it as is? (don't put the carpeting back in). I've never had my carpeting out, so I don't know, maybe there are some gaps or something in the floor that won't look good. The padding smells real bad, the carpet does not!

Plan to spray bed liner, maybe reuse the carpet which has the heavy rubber backing, but in sections for easy removal in the future.

Protect the wiring harnesses from chaffing, and seal the connectors from the elements.

[sturgeon-phish]

I removed the padding and carpet from a truck I had once and the cab noise goes WAY up. It is also a lot hotter in summer and colder in winter. It was easy to keep clean, just spray it out!
Jim

[DA BIG ONE]

Originally posted by Jim Sturgeon:
I removed the padding and carpet from a truck I had once and the cab noise goes WAY up. It is also a lot hotter in summer and colder in winter. It was easy to keep clean, just spray it out!
Jim Forgot about thermal issues, will research other padding options.

[ees]

I know the smell of the interior is important, but I would change all your fluids soon. It only takes a fraction of a percentage of water in lubricant for the performance of the lubricant to suffer greatly.

You engine is probably OK since it will just cook off the water in normal operation. I would change the other fluids - axels, tranny, transfer case.

You should really repack the wheel bearings also. If you have done this recently you might be able to skip this, but I would not.

Sorry to sound like the harbinger of death here, but the seals in automobiles are not designed for that type of opperation. You are probably better off than I would be since your seals are 5 years newer.

[DA BIG ONE]

Originally posted by ees:
I know the smell of the interior is important, but I would change all your fluids soon. It only takes a fraction of a percentage of water in lubricant for the performance of the lubricant to suffer greatly.

You engine is probably OK since it will just cook off the water in normal operation. I would change the other fluids - axels, tranny, transfer case.

You should really repack the wheel bearings also. If you have done this recently you might be able to skip this, but I would not.

Sorry to sound like the harbinger of death here, but the seals in automobiles are not designed for that type of opperation. You are probably better off than I would be since your seals are 5 years newer. Thanks for the thoughts, I am going to change out all the fluids just in case!

[DA BIG ONE]

It turns out, that water is in the front diff, & tranny (tranny acting up now).

I can only guess how, or why water entered, maybe vents?

Front diff case was replaced after my accident, it leaked fluid right away, the seal that was leaking and was fixed so I guess water found another way to enter.

My 86 GMC JIMMY had the 6.2 and I beat the crap out of it almost on a daily basis, woods, mud, deep fording and it lasted me well past 250,000 miles then sold it at high retail.

I wonder if the Burbs gonna be fine after this latest &^%%^)(*^#@#?

[tom.mcinerney]

If the water was salt brine, it would help to flush all submerged exterior surfaces with fresh from a garden hose....and then, if still motivated, brush/flush with distilled water.
While a real good painted surface will probably be OK, the salt grains tend to remain wet, and the effect is a continious bath in dilute hydrochloric acid, which turns steel brown, and can promote active, chronic pitting in aluminum castings.
I'd also suggest the garden hose in the rocker panels, over the fuel tank and brake lines, and the frame members. Best time would be after a drive in a good rain.
I've wire-brushed and painted surfaces which had a salt water deposit -- if not sandblasted, or washed with soap water, and well-rinsed, the underlying metal will often bleed rust through(or bubble pockets of aluminum oxide powder); the wire-brush+paint is near worthless. [Rinse is for real]!

[DA BIG ONE]

Originally posted by tom mac 95:
If the water was salt brine, it would help to flush all submerged exterior surfaces with fresh from a garden hose....and then, if still motivated, brush/flush with distilled water.
While a real good painted surface will probably be OK, the salt grains tend to remain wet, and the effect is a continious bath in dilute hydrochloric acid, which turns steel brown, and can promote active, chronic pitting in aluminum castings.
I'd also suggest the garden hose in the rocker panels, over the fuel tank and brake lines, and the frame members. Best time would be after a drive in a good rain.
I've wire-brushed and painted surfaces which had a salt water deposit -- if not sandblasted, or washed with soap water, and well-rinsed, the underlying metal will often bleed rust through(or bubble pockets of aluminum oxide powder); the wire-brush+paint is near worthless. [Rinse is for real]! Will spend much time on this.

Tranny is geting a soft parts rebuild w/blue plate clutches and steels, TransGo towing kit and synthetic fluid.