I sunk the cruiser ???

OUCH!!!! Lucky you weren't solo eh.
I seem to remember something about insurance write-offs that went, if it is saltwater all it has to do is reach the sills of the vehicle and in fresh water if it reaches the seats. This was some time back in the '80's I guess and things may have changed with newer rustproofing treatment technology but could be worth a look.

Others here will definitely know more about it than i do. Good Luck

Johnny boy


Been there, Done that.............Oh what fun!!!!!

You will have rip the carpet/mats out and let it dry. Let the Cruiser stand for week to let the electrics dry out. Take CD player out an put it in the stove oven for half an hour on 150 degrees. This may work. For all other electrical gear....if you can get to them.....use a hairdryer to blow dry the equipment. Once again you may be lucky. You will have to change the gearbox, transfercase and diff oils if necessary. Check them to see if water has ingressed. It sounds like you got some water in your bellhousing as you must have tried to change gear whilst in the water. Your clutch plate could be damaged and that will mean you may have to replace it and the thrust and the spigot bearings

If you can convince your insurance company that it was an accident you may be lucky with a claim.

Good Luck!!!


Cheers

luckily for you no insurance companies in Australia have idiot clauses... you can be an idiot and they will still cover you.

Only issues would be clauses about not going off-road, but hopefully you know about those.

You need to speak with your broker (hopefully) or directly to your insurer if insured directly ASAP.

Bad luck mate. Good luck with the repairs.

Here are a few full stops for the next post!!! LOL


................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Johnny,

Everyone else has been sympathetic but I reckon this little adventure is likely to cost you a fair bit, so you might as well get some benefit from it! Here are a few things to consider.

Rule No 1. Whenever you're faced with a difficult drive, steep up or down, water, whatever, always ask yourself "Do I have to do it?" Never risk the expensive vehicle unnecessarily.

Rule No 2. If you decide to proceed, assess the risks and balance them against the benefits. To do this properly you'll need more information than you can get by sitting in the vehicle. Walk your proposed route. In the present case, get wet. Walk the route and find the submerged logs and the deep holes. Change your route to avoid them, or reassess how essential it is that you do this.

Always assess what steps you should take to prepare the vehicle. For a steep rough climb or descent, or in soft sand drop your tyre pressures to give you a bigger footprint to provide better traction. For deep water crossings, you should also have prepared by extending the breathers on diffs and gearboxes so they vent well above the water level. (Gearboxes and diffs get hot, so they are vented to atmosphere so that pressure can't build up and force oil out past bearings. When these boxes are suddenly cooled by being dunked in water they suck air in, or if the vent is under water they suck water in.)

You must keep water from reaching the fan. If water rises onto the fan the blades can be deflected forward to tear the radiator to pieces - expensive. If in doubt, wrap a water blind around the front of the vehicle - a strong plastic or canvas sheet from bonnet around the front, and back underneath far enough so that forward movement will stop water rising onto the fan. (Another option is to remove the fan belt, but a blind (bra) is easier.) This is even more important for a petrol vehicle because the ignition system must be kept dry - it helps to spray all high voltage areas liberally with wd40. Obviously you must also keep water out of the engine's air intake - if water gets in here and the engine stops, DO NOT attempt to start it; if you a very lucky you may not need a new engine. Attempting to start an engine which has water in one or more cylinders will cost $$$$.

You are relying on maintaining a bow wave to keep a trough in the water level beneath the engine, so never never stop in deep water. It's good practice to have a snatch strap already connected up before you enter the water if you think there's any risk you might need it.

Which all brings me back to the 2 basic rules - don't run risks unless you have to, and if you must, make a very thorough and well informed assessment of the risks and benefits. Make sure the gain outweighs the pain.

Not trying to be hard, but, please, learn from this one. Suggest too that you might benefit from joining a 4WD club, one that gives good training. Ours is Canberra based - if that's your territory, see our member profile for details - you would gain a great deal from such a club. Also, it's good to learn from your mistakes, but much cheaper to learn from other peoples'!!

I'd agree with what others have said about fixing your vehicle - I'd drain and replace gearbox and diff oil, preferably check and repack wheel bearings. Remove all carpet, floor covering and seats to dry. Do anything you can to dry electricals. From what you've told us, I think you've got off very lightly.

Hope to see you back on the road soon.

John

Are you having fun yet?

Remove the f&r seats ,consol, carpets, underlay, floor bungs, door trims.
Mop up all water, damp bits, wash down carpets and wipe dry door trims. Leave undercover with all doors, bonnet etc open until dry.
Lay out all the removed bits and let them dry flat, once dry brush/vacuum and treat with an odour killer if required. Armourall all the vinyl, brush and vac the seats (these can take over a week to dry) Lube the seat runners and wipe any unpainted metal under the seats with lanolin etc. Stick your head under the dash and wipe out the tide mark and any remaining dirt.

Change all the fluids, brake ,clutch, gbox, diffs,transfer case, engine oil.
Repack front and rear wheel bearings,and hubs, grease prop shafts and anything else you have with a grease nipple on it.
Inspect the rear face of the radiator for fan damage.
Go through your wiring, any plug that got soaked, separate , blow out with compressed air, and treat with CRC 2.26.
Look for any trapped water in the shell you should now have in your garage, remove it, wipe it dry , blow out with compressed air and treat with lanolin or Lanox or DEODOURISED fish oil, get into all the seams, lap joints, door skin folds, chassis rails, sills under the doors etc, if you wet it treat it.
Speaking of doors lube all the locks and hinges.
Lights, remove and drain, wash out with fresh water to remove mud etc wipe the indide surface of the lense with paper towel, dont wipe the reflector youll scratch it, leave face down with the bulb hole at the top to dry out.
Try the metho trick with the cd player it might work it might not.
Remove the electric antenna and see if you can drain it, give it a spray with crc 2.26 as well.
Thank whatever dietity you subscribe to it wasn't SALT water, this will keep you busy for the next 2 weeks, enjoy

I am a 4wdriver but also a keen fisherman, did you even remotely think of the damage you were doing to the enviroment. In the USA they are banning anglers from wading because it damages the fauna in the water. No Blxxdy wonder the greenies are locking us out everywhere you look.
I hope you have learn from this as you are young and inexperienced.
Pete

Hey Johnny Boy,

Just had the same thing happen to me in my 105 series GXL diesel, differance being i could not get mine out for 11hrs, water in the front passenger side half way up the seats, stripped as much out of the car as i could once removed from river and let thoroughly dry over two days in 36"c heat..appears to have all dried out ok, central locking didn't work for a couple of days but is working ok now, i also have an airbag warning light staying on, went and saw toyota this morning and they have recommended that i sell it ASAP, i am dropping it of to them tomorrow to get the 100 thousand service so they are going to go right through it and check it over, Toyota said that if any of the computers got wet (they are located in the left and right hand front kick panels) that you will have problems later down the line.
I have removed kick panels and inspected, they appear ok with no signs of moisture....
I guess time will tell, if i begin having problems with it down the line i will get rid of her straight away.

Good luck with her and let me know how ya go,

Regards,

Josh