Truck Went Swimming!!

[RKlassen]

My buddy had his truck roll away on him down a hill and into a lake! He says there was 8-12" of water on the floor of the cab in the front but the dash wasn't wet. He shut the truck off and there may be a little bit of water in the oil. It sat in the lake for about 2 hours then it was towed to a shop. When it came out of the water the lights were all on but the switches were off (wet PCM maybe?). The truck is a 2005 3500 Quad Cab 4x4 with a leveling kit and it has 34,000km (21,000 miles) on it. He would like to know if he should clean up the truck and start looking for a new one? Or keep it? He is meeting the insurance adjuster on Monday to see if the truck is fixable/worth fixing. What do you guys think?

 

[Slicks]

My buddy had his truck roll away on him down a hill and into a lake! He says there was 8-12" of water on the floor of the cab in the front but the dash wasn't wet. He shut the truck off and there may be a little bit of water in the oil. It sat in the lake for about 2 hours then it was towed to a shop. When it came out of the water the lights were all on but the switches were off (wet PCM maybe?). The truck is a 2005 3500 Quad Cab 4x4 with a leveling kit and it has 34,000km (21,000 miles) on it. He would like to know if he should clean up the truck and start looking for a new one? Or keep it? He is meeting the insurance adjuster on Monday to see if the truck is fixable/worth fixing. What do you guys think?

I'll give him 2,000. 00 for it... Just kidding, I would see what the insurance guy says, that truck could be a nightmare.

 

[BHanna]

I would think it could be saved but whether it's worth it depends on the labor rate and how much stuff you replace vs. try to dry out.

You'd definitely have to replace some contaminated fluids, the carpet, maybe the seats, and clean/dry out all the electrical stuff that was under water which could take a lot of work and you may still be left with electrical gremlins down the road.

People go through water that deep when 4-wheeling pretty often though.

 

[Matt400]

He is meeting the insurance adjuster on Monday to see if the truck is fixable/worth fixing. What do you guys think?

Flood vehicles are a total, he should take the check and run from it.

Besides the clean up issue, its the corrosion that developes in the wiring harnesses, water damage to axles, transfer case, transmission and so on.

You would have to disassemble those components and basically rebuild them cuz draining and refilling won't get all the water out when it sat in the lake for 2 hrs.



Post back what he does.

 

[HBarlow]

Flood vehicles are a total, he should take the check and run from it.
Besides the clean up issue, its the corrosion that develops in the wiring harnesses, water damage to axles, transfer case, transmission and so on.
You would have to disassemble those components and basically rebuild them cuz draining and refilling won't get all the water out when it sat in the lake for 2 hrs.

Post back what he does.

Ditto. Insurance companies often declare such a vehicle a total loss because the complaints and claims resulting from this incident won't end soon.

 

[ColemanR]

I agree with what has been said above. With that being said I have a project that needs a Cummins chassis:-laf (57 suburban) so if they total the truck and your buddy is'nt interested in it have him PM me or E mail me @ -- email address removed -- Good Luck Randy

 

[Wingate]

My first CTD was an 89 model that was an insursance flood claim. I went with a used car dealer friend to an insurance auction and got him to buy it for me. The truck was sitting on the side of the road due to being out of fuel and a flash flood came along and submerged the truck. I spent probably 3 weeks draining, flushing, cleaning, drying. . etc... before I ever tried to start it up. Once I did, I spent another 3 weeks flushing everything again.

The truck had 120K on it when I bought it and had over 340K when I sold it and never had another issue related to being under water.

BUT, this was an old, simple, 12v mechanical engine... . Closest thing it had to a computer was the digital clock on the aftermarket radio that was in it... . (that I had to replace!!!)

Hopefully yours will get totaled. Usually insurance companies will total one for being submerged.

This is another example of WHY I dont let my wife back the jet-skis down the boat ramp!!!!

 

[JWadford]

i sank mine and the only thing that doesnt work is the fog lights, but i just ordered a new fcm and that should take care of that

 

[RKlassen]

Yes the truck runs fine. The adjuster wrote it off yesterday.

 

[JWadford]

Yes the truck runs fine. The adjuster wrote it off yesterday.

what did the insurance give for the truck and what was the deciding factor

 

[ColemanR]

So did he buy it back?

 

[AABEN]

If it was me I would try to buy it back. Where is this truck at? Let me know.

 

[RKlassen]

Deciding factor was that the truck had to sit at the shop for about a week until someone could look at it. When the adjuster got there the carpet and seats were full of mould. Not sure what the payout was but my buddy seems happy with it. The truck is in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada. I don't think either of us has the funds to buy it.

 

[JEstes]

I don't think either of us has the funds to buy it.

You might be surprised. You can usually buy a vehicle back for next to nothing.

 

[Cummins Thunder]

A friends Nissan Versa went about 6ft under salt water during our last hurricane and the power windows and a few other things still worked! Everything I have that went under hasnt been right since except for my Long 445 tractor Water covered everything except the gauges on the dash and all I have had to do is change and flush all fluids and change the battery about four months after the storm. Everything on the machine works exactly as it did before the storm Oo.