EMERGENCY HELP!!! Flooded interior...

This issue was never resolved. Truck ended up going to insurance company and got totaled due to flood damage. Did a buy back to part out. Check out part-out thread in sig.

Here is what happened:

Last Sunday I put my 2009 V6 Tacoma in 4 feet of water. Flooded the interior up to the top of the seat cushions and up to the lower-most portion of the intake. I was able to prevent any hydrolock by pulling the spark plugs and purging the water that got sucking into the cylinders. I also disconnected the exhaust from the Y-pipe and Y-pipe from the headers to purge the water that was in them. Since we could not start it Sunday, we left it on the trail overnight with no luck starting it today (Monday). I decided to strip the interior of all valuables and leave the doors and hood open to allow it to dry overnight and most of tomorrow. Luckily it is in a fairly hard to reach location that all these Florida guys probably wouldn't be able to reach, let alone take anything from it. If it doesn't start tomorrow we will winch it out, tow it home, and let it dry out more in my driveway.

The facts:

1. The spark plugs were tested on another vehicle to be working fine, but when tested on my truck, they weren't sparking.
2. The spark plugs have constant power from the black wire but no noticeable voltage from any other wire while trying to start the motor.
3. No fuses are blown that we were able to check. Can't really check the big fat ones...
4. Several plugs located under the dash in the cab were submerged and still wet after one day.
5. Since flooding, new alternator was installed.
6. Since flooding, new ECU did not allow engine to start.
7. No CELs are able to be read.
8. No fuses are blown.

Any advice, especially from those that have run into a similar issue, is very much appreciated.



Edit: Update

Day 5:

Paid tow company to pull it across the stream and to the street. $250. Dealership says $105 to program a new ECU. Found one new online for $550. Dealership said it is very likely a bad ECU but will charge another $105 to run diagnostics.

Day 6:

Hooked up a battery charger and it read a "damaged battery" error code. But when I removed the positive lead the code went away. ECU was removed when I did this, not sure if that would matter. Was told this is a bad alternator. Will look into this tomorrow. Dropped off the battery at AutoZone to get charged.

Day 7:

Got new alternator from AutoZone. Battery charger no longer reads "damaged Battery" code, but engine still wouldn't start. Ordered a used ECU from eBay. Should arrive before next weekend.

Day 10+:

After the new ECU didn't work to start the engine, I decided to let the insurance company take care of it. I was a little worried at first that I was going to lose a lot of money, or worse, my truck. They ended up calling it a total loss die to the extensive flooding. I plan on doing a buy-back, buying a replacement Tacoma, parting out this one, then salvaging the remains.

Insurance company found a fair market value of over $22k. Now they just need to determine the salvage value and write me a check for the difference so I can pick up a new truck and start shipping out the parts that people have already claimed on my part-out thread.



Here is a picture of it in the drink



This is us purging the water from the cylinders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ8kJfgWD94

 

Please help!!

 

Could be just some electrical is wet still. WD40 is great to drive out the moisture. Next time I wouldn't suggest tryin to use such a nice tacoma as a boat haha. Use a ranger or something for that

 

Good advice

 

I wish I had more info but the computer might be smoked I'm pretty sure you submerged it, I think its under the dash in front of the center console so that is likely why you have no spark. however I would make sure your big fuses are ok before I would worry about electronics. I'm no auto mechanic but that's all I can offer you good luck getting it going

 

Yea, I'll pick up a couple new big fuses when I go out there today. Thanks.

 

are you talking about the ECU computer? if so then its located behind the glove box in front of the passenger seat.

 

I saw something in the location I described that looked like an ECU, but like I said I'm not a mechanic

 

Pretty sure the ecu was submerged. There are about 10 wire plugs that each have about 8-15 wires in each one behind and the the side of the glovebox. The bottom 4 or 5 plugs were submerged. When we tow it home tonight, assuming it doesn't start up, I'll be pulling what I can and dry it with some isopropyl alcohol.

 

bummer, best of luck to ya

 

Wow, sorry to see that.
Hope you get everything working.
Where did you get it stuck, I am also in Western, FL the Tampa area.

Since my truck is only five months old there is no way I would put it in something like that.

 

Was this in the saltwater mangroves? If yes, not good.

 

Freshwater stream

 

Wouldn't start today...

 

From your pic, it looks like the passenger side was more deeply immersed. If so, hate to tell you, but you may be so screwed. The ECU sits on the passenger side kick panel, if it was immersed in the water, I suspect you are in for an ECU replacement.

 

Sunk mine up to the bottom of the seats. I was lucky, the only things I fried were pass. air bag ecu and center air bag ecu. $530 worth of components. Good luck , hope your able to fix it.

 

Did it start right back up?

 

did you guys end up getting it winched out of that spot? or is she still sittin out there?

EDIT: Ill post this in the BS thread to see if anyone can help

 

Still in the same spot. We picked up some 4x4s from Home Depot but they weren't long enough to ensure the cab doesn't get flooded again. So the plan is to just go there today and tomorrow to see if it will dry out enough to start. If it doesn't dry before the rain this weekend then we will pull it out with any means necessary.

 

damn, what time are ya'll goin out there? I get off work here at like 1:30-ish but ill be pretty much available after 2:30pm and I can swing by and try to help.

what about sand bags? I know its fairly deep, but maybe we can get it to where its shallow enough and wide enough to get the truck across