possible flood vehicle
12-21-2009, 09:52 PM
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possible flood vehicle still on the hunt for a bird im goin to see this car tomorrow but the engine bay pics show some rust around the air intake ac lins and other spots also the carpets look well see for yourself. what should i look for?
the seller says the car runs perfect has 77000k on the odom but the paint has damage from hurricane wilma (1st clue right!
its a florida car and i will run a carfax later once i ask him if it was in a flood
the seller says the car runs perfect has 77000k on the odom but the paint has damage from hurricane wilma (1st clue right!
its a florida car and i will run a carfax later once i ask him if it was in a flood
12-21-2009, 10:34 PM
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thanks guys i suspect its a flood car but i have not seen the car in person but i suspect only because of the rust seen on the pics of the engine bay and also the carpet seems odd so you guys agree or just think that if its a flood car to stay away?
12-21-2009, 10:55 PM
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You have to satisfy yourself that it indeed is or is not a flood car. That changes everything.
Frankly I don't think I would consider a flood car unless it was going to be a pure project. Maybe a track car or something. Engine components and underhood electronics are usually sealed well enough to resist damage from the occasional water spray at a car wash or a nasty rain storm but I'm not sure they test and verify them to be water tight when sitting submerged in water. Too many harnesses, too many low voltage signal circuits that die over the next year or two from corrosion, everything inside the car would be suspect. All the electronic gizmos in the interior that aren't designed to be sealed from water ya pretty much figure are suspect. There is the foam in the seats, carpet, and headliner that can retain that water and get moldy smelling.
Then you get into did they get all of the water out of the fluids? If they got it all out quickly then I suppose they might be okay but if it sat in the water for a bit and internal parts rusted up...or they didn't get all the water out of the trans...
A place I used to work sold and serviced Isuzu light to medium duty trucks. A few new customers were in flood plain areas. They towed the trucks to us and their insurance wanted to see about resurrecting them. Fluid changes and cleaning was small potatoes. Starters and alternators, filled with silt and river poop, had to be replaced. We documented everything quite well including evidence of corrosion (even after only about 10 days), silt, and water damage in the interior fuse panels, interior electronic modules, even the instrument panel. Eventually the insurance companies gave up and totaled them. One of the trucks, a 26,000 GVW unit, had less than 5,000 miles on it. They reasoned that it would be much cheaper to salvage the trucks and buy the businesses new ones than pay for a laundry list of repairs for years to come.
Mind you, I imagine a person could bring one back from a flood if they were determined. If it was low levels of water you might be quite fine for most components. I'm sure there are survivor stories out there where ppl have given flood cars a new life. For that matter I'm sure some have brought vehicles back from fires. If it were my own personal vehicle, I would not want to bring it back from either.
Frankly I don't think I would consider a flood car unless it was going to be a pure project. Maybe a track car or something. Engine components and underhood electronics are usually sealed well enough to resist damage from the occasional water spray at a car wash or a nasty rain storm but I'm not sure they test and verify them to be water tight when sitting submerged in water. Too many harnesses, too many low voltage signal circuits that die over the next year or two from corrosion, everything inside the car would be suspect. All the electronic gizmos in the interior that aren't designed to be sealed from water ya pretty much figure are suspect. There is the foam in the seats, carpet, and headliner that can retain that water and get moldy smelling.
Then you get into did they get all of the water out of the fluids? If they got it all out quickly then I suppose they might be okay but if it sat in the water for a bit and internal parts rusted up...or they didn't get all the water out of the trans...
A place I used to work sold and serviced Isuzu light to medium duty trucks. A few new customers were in flood plain areas. They towed the trucks to us and their insurance wanted to see about resurrecting them. Fluid changes and cleaning was small potatoes. Starters and alternators, filled with silt and river poop, had to be replaced. We documented everything quite well including evidence of corrosion (even after only about 10 days), silt, and water damage in the interior fuse panels, interior electronic modules, even the instrument panel. Eventually the insurance companies gave up and totaled them. One of the trucks, a 26,000 GVW unit, had less than 5,000 miles on it. They reasoned that it would be much cheaper to salvage the trucks and buy the businesses new ones than pay for a laundry list of repairs for years to come.
Mind you, I imagine a person could bring one back from a flood if they were determined. If it was low levels of water you might be quite fine for most components. I'm sure there are survivor stories out there where ppl have given flood cars a new life. For that matter I'm sure some have brought vehicles back from fires. If it were my own personal vehicle, I would not want to bring it back from either.
12-22-2009, 01:28 AM
#7
A woman I used to know bought a cleaned up flood car, an Olds. Every once in a while, it would just die. Re-starting was no problem. I'm certain there was some corrosion in some plugs and it was a bad connection.
While going around a hair pin turn, the engine quit and she went into oncoming traffic. It was a huge accident, both cars were wrecks and both drivers went off in ambulances for a stay in the hospital.
Pull up a carpet and look for clues of mud or water staining. Deeply pitted aluminum that shouldn't be. Look inside the alternator if you can for a white-ish coating on things.
While going around a hair pin turn, the engine quit and she went into oncoming traffic. It was a huge accident, both cars were wrecks and both drivers went off in ambulances for a stay in the hospital.
Pull up a carpet and look for clues of mud or water staining. Deeply pitted aluminum that shouldn't be. Look inside the alternator if you can for a white-ish coating on things.
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12-27-2009, 12:19 AM
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last update the car is sold.... TO ME!!
the best X-mas gift in the world my 1st LS-1
new tread with pics will be posted now
car had no signs of flood probs it is super clean and rides like a dream ,,,,, car
and clean autocheck for what its worth.
the best X-mas gift in the world my 1st LS-1
new tread with pics will be posted now
car had no signs of flood probs it is super clean and rides like a dream ,,,,, car
and clean autocheck for what its worth.
12-27-2009, 01:29 AM
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thanks P-bell i wanted to sleep in here but i got a grip on my self and just looked at her for to 20th time and went to sleep. the seats are gray and are in the best shape i ever seen stock f body seats in person i was goin to swap my camaros seats but not sure anymore>>>
01-17-2010, 03:56 PM
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Mine was water damage TA also. I agree with above post see how high the water got. In mine the only things I had to replace were the power seat motors and the alternator, the water nerver even made higher than the power seat motors. Insurance companies are quick to write a car off with water damage. The guy did not even open the doors on my car and did know how much damage there was. I bought back cheap never had a problem with mine going on 5 years.
To get the car back to life I did the following
1. New seats off of ebay (same year and color better condition)
2. New alternator.
3. New carpet (same year same color, poor totaled Firehawk donor)
4. Cleaned and sprayed all power seat electical connections (5 years no corrosion)
5. Cleaned out interior bottom with no carpet in it.
6. Took detailed pictures of the flood (yes I have video of the car in the flood it never made it above the Trans Am letters on the door) and repair so any potential buyers down road would could see the car is in great shape for themselves.
Oh yeah, once you start a rebuild you can't stop and end up with a 400+ RWHP TA.
To get the car back to life I did the following
1. New seats off of ebay (same year and color better condition)
2. New alternator.
3. New carpet (same year same color, poor totaled Firehawk donor)
4. Cleaned and sprayed all power seat electical connections (5 years no corrosion)
5. Cleaned out interior bottom with no carpet in it.
6. Took detailed pictures of the flood (yes I have video of the car in the flood it never made it above the Trans Am letters on the door) and repair so any potential buyers down road would could see the car is in great shape for themselves.
Oh yeah, once you start a rebuild you can't stop and end up with a 400+ RWHP TA.
Last edited by tasilver; 01-17-2010 at 04:07 PM.
