The healing process....begins now

I absolutely will need a clever way to clean the engine bay when I'm through because it's straight up nasty right now.

I'm really looking for guidance on the starter problem though. I'm thinking it's salvageable but I've never pulled out a starter before and I'm a little wary about doing so and not having a clue how to fix it when I do. Would the electrical contacts cleaner work on the starter too? I'd imagine that cleaning it would probably fix it right up.

 

go to walmart and guy a cheap toilet brush, thats what i do every once in a while, and no i dont use a used toilet brush on my truck

 

Personally I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'd just remove the electrical connector and clean it, reattach with some dielectric grease and call it good. These trucks are notorious for starting slow.

But yeah if you want to pull it apart contact cleaner, multi meter, and the fsm.

I spray my engine bay all the time at the car wash fwiw.

 

Wow, good luck with the cleanup. Good thing you thought quickly and shut the engine off before it took in water.

 

Max, thanks for the links. I'll likely have to reference them later.

I went out to start the truck this morning and it seems it's gotten just a little worse. I turn and hold the key in the "start" position. I hear the start gear actuate but the motor doesn't start to turn the engine for almost a full two seconds. Let me be clear, the engine doesn't turn over slowly and it's not labored. It's as if the part of the starter that actually turns the engine doesn't get the message for almost two seconds. Then, when it DOES get the message it fires right up like it would any other day of the week.

I think it has to come out and get cleaned.

 

If your alternator turns out to be a problem as mentioned by others before, I can sell you the one that came out of my truck. It's the factory Toyota towing package (130a) alternator.

Looks like a real pain in the ass, though. Best of luck to you.

 

I'm planning on taking it out and cleaning it. I know how a motor works and I find it hard to believe that anything inside it is actually broken. My guess is that the contact areas that need to conduct electricity to the spindle (or whatever it's called) are crazy dirty. But then again, I've never pulled one out. Not looking forward to it. Maybe Saturday unless there's a need to do it sooner? I work from home so it's not critical; just inconvenient.

 

Thanks for the pic for reference. I'm betting that a dirty communicator is the culperit. I'm finding that after starting it once or twice it starts quicker so I'm wondering if some of that crap gets scraped off? Not sure but I'll find out one way or another.

I suppose I should look at how much starters are just in case. Thanks for the help thus far.

 

We need a thread dedicated to swamped trucks cause there is a whole lot of misleading info in this thread.

If his breather didn't go underwater please tell me how water got in his diff?

Please explain how his engine oil would have water in it.

How could water get into his power steering?

Sorry to bust your balls but how would some muddy water cause a zerk or seal to leak?

Wheel bearings with bad seals do not like to be submerged. Wheel bearings with good seals could care less cause they are dry.

lol

.

My intake looked just like that and my filter never got wet. If you remove the filter and see no water marks no need to mess with the MAF.

Next time clean the engine before taking it apart. You prob have more crap in there from falling in now then before.

 

oh boy, haha, here we go.

 

pass it over here


I want to hear why they would tell OP to do what they did in his situation.

 

You. I like you. Yes. You.

Hahaha. No but for real, thanks for the way you put things. Even though it was pointed at helping Italyn, it is helping me atm, since I go through semi deep water now and then and I was doing more things to the truck than were needed it seems.

 

Beather did go under unfortunately. It was probably fine but better safe than sorry. New stuff wasn't that much.

No idea. But I was 345 miles past due on my oil change so it was time.

The lid on that is "eh" in terms of sealing. Plus, I don't know that it had been changed before. Good chance for me to learn something and again, better safe than sorry.

I was quite careful and I'm fanatical about detail when it comes to stuff like that. Plus, I drank beer while I worked. This vastly improves the quality of my work and also my mood.

I decided to do spark plugs because they'd never been changed (50,700ish miles) and the MAF had never been cleaned. I figured now was as good a time as any since I was making a week of it.

 

Looks like a pretty sealed system....curious as to how anything could have gotten in there. Maybe it's just the plugs that got dirty?

Ahh hell, I'll quit bitching and get after it tomorrow.

 

Makes sense..yea your way overdue.

I wasn't trying to bust your balls, just the people telling you what to do without asking you the correct questions.

In where?

 

Much appreciated. No sense in spending money you don't need to right? And just to clarify, that's what I was trying to do in the deadening thread. People think they can use the crappy stuff and instantly see they're getting more "stuff" for less money. But they don't realize they can use LESS of the good stuff and get better results for less money with less work. I go on a tirade about situations like that sometimes.

Oh, and my last post was supposed to include a picture of the starter motor that I have posted below here.

 

Funny thing is Toyota says their starter is sealed...I can tell you first hand it is not. I'm on #2 right now

 

Since you have experience in the area I'll ask if what I'm thinking is a good idea.

I'm thinking about using some GE SiliconeII (or something similar) to seal any part that's NOT sealed or looks like crap could get in. Good idea or bad?

 

I sealed my entire cab when I had my interior out with silicone and put dielectric grease in all my harnesses before I put marine dry bags with acoustic caulk over them so they can't get wet anymore. You can't keep water out because the door seals suck on AC and DC, but you can limit where it goes.

If you have to ford deep water I would highly suggest taping the door gaps shut and climbing in dukes of hazard style through the windows.

I wouldn't try to seal the starter or the alternator. You could make a splash deflector for the alternator, but if your in standing water your screwed.

 

All good ideas. Any points of entry I should make sure I take care of while the interior is out?

And I like the tape idea. Not that I plan on doing deep stuff regularly but it's worth keeping a small roll of tape in the truck just in case.