Flooded Tacoma

Hey guys! I have an '01 tacoma. It was running great, then I took it off a gravel road, and into a ditch. It rolled onto the passenger side. I turned the motor off, not the water which is good. By the time the truck came to rest, there was about 4-6" of water in the cab. We got the truck out, and when I went to crank it, there was very obviously water in the cylinders. I pulled the spark plugs, and cranked it. I got all the water out of the cylinders, and used electrical cleaner on the MAF plug, and all the coil pack connectors. I also used MAF cleaner on the MAF itself. I went to start it again, but it just cranks. I pulled the fuel return line off the injection rail, and when I cranked it, no fuel came out. I have no idea where to start. Any input would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

Did you change the oil? There’s probably water in that too.

 

I checked the oil. There was no water in it. The water wasn’t super deep

 

You try flooring it while starting it? To try and get more air to start it up?

 

Yep. And I’ve tried starting fluid

 

Check all your fuses?

 

Yep. Done that too

 

Are you getting spark?

 

Yes, check for spark at the plugs. The ECM is on the passenger side behind the glove box. If water got to it while it was still powered, it may have been fried. At least pull the glove box and dry all the connections to the ECM. I would also recheck/replace the EFI fuse in the engine compartment fuse box.

EDIT: The EFI fuse controls both the ignition and the fuel. I pull it when doing a compression check to keep the ignition from firing or flooding the engine with unburned fuel.

 

This^^^^

strip the interior (seats/center console/carpet)
Unplug pigtails to electrical components on passenger side
Forced air…..the longer the better
Maybe space heater (low setting/monitored) near ECM
GL
Let us know

 

After a heavy rain my truck wouldn’t even crank. Water had managed to leak through to my ecu and upon pulling the ecu out a good half cup of water poured out of it. I air dried it for a few days. Reinstalled it and started right up.

 

Yeah most likely you've got water into the ecm....

If you'd pulled that out ....taken the cover off and let it dry for 2 or 3 days.....you may of had half a chance...
now you're in very sketchy territory.

First thing I'd do is pull that ecm, dry and inspect....If that aint viable....you'll go nowhere....zero...


IF that ecm is bad/compromised ....then...If your lucky....you've got an auto...and those are dime a doz.....around $150 and plenty to choose from....

IF you've got a 5 speed M/T....that's an entirely a different animal...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314855192886



Very Very worst scenario is you've bent a rod.....its doesn't take much water to hydro lock these...


You guys dont disappoint .....this is gonna be an interesting thread...

 

Isn't there a device that kills the fuel pump in case of a crash? Maybe that needs reset.

 

You check your blinker fluid?

 

A mechanic would approach it logically, you check the 3 primary requirements (spark, fuel, compresion). Compression problem is unlikely if it was shut down normally and won't restart. The initial goal is always to determine which of the 3 is not happening. Apparently it's not getting fuel, so that's the road you take. If it were me I'd check basics like the fuses but not dive too deep. Next see if the fuel pump relay (FPR) was picking up, if it's not then I'd then check the FPR's control voltage, if it's there then its the relay or something between it and the injectors. If there's no control signal then you work backwards from there. It's called half stepping and it's a very effective way to track down an issue and was taught for years in the military, probably still is. The goal is to determine what's not there then find a logical point upstream to check the missing function. That point of verification will determine if you look upstream (towards the ecu) or downstream (towards the fuel pump). I saves you the time and effort to check each component along the way. After you've verified that the FPR isn't getting it's control signal (if that's the case) next check would be to test and see if the ecu is sending out the signal. If it is it's then the problem is between the ecu and the FPR. If it isn't then at that point you need to understand what the ecu needs as inputs to turn on the pump and pick places to verify those. Most likely there's a connector or possibly a relay that's gotten wet and a signal is being thwarted before it reaches the FPR. Another thing you can do is use compressed air to blow any water out of the multipin harness connectors. One bit of advise, easter egging is jumping around checking stuff with no logical plan as to what you're trying to eliminate. Occasionally it identifies the problem but more often it's a time waster. A flat rate mechanic would go broke if they used easteregging to fix vehicles. They ID the problem with one of the three requirements (Fuel, spark, compression) I mentioned, then they focus on that and use a methodical method to eliminate the possible culprits. Good luck

 

Have you checked the interia switch. In a rollover this switch closes and kills power to the fuel pump so it doesn't spray fuel everywhere.

 

Come back and let us know....My bet is it just needs a few days

 

This came to mind when seeing the "dry the ecm" suggestion. Place it in a bag of dry uncooked rice. It acts as a desiccant. When a bonehead drops their cell phone into water (toilet) this drying method sometimes helps.

 

^^^^interesting i would do 100%

 

That was the method used by the fishermen out on Truk/Chuuk Island in the Pacific. They used rice to dry the Picric acid/TNP explosive taken out of WW2 Japanese bombs to go fish with. Good idea!