StringRust

iTrader: (2)

The bay made its way into my garage due to the recent hurricane. Looks like there was about 3 feet of water in it. Took out all the seats, carpet and the rest of the interior and cleaned/dried everything. Drained quite a few quarts of water out of the oil pan before actual oil came out. Anyone have any ideas how to flush out the water entirely from the engine? Ive been told I could fill the crankcase with diesel fuel and then drain it but I've never heard of that before nor have I found any info online about doing so. Any input as to if the engine can even be saved? I got my lawnmower and other gas powered equipment working again but those are small simple engines.

afremont

Disconnect your battery if you haven't already. Like you saw, the water went to the bottom and I imagine your engine is the least of your troubles. If the water got up over the fuse box, and it was salt water to boot, your fusebox likely looks like something retrieved from an ancient shipwreck. Your transmission and rear-end are going to have water in them as well. I'm not saying it can't be fixed, but you're up against a real struggle. You'll be replacing the vehicle harness basically along with rebuilding the drivetrain. Don't bother trying to work the problems out of your existing fuse box and main harness, the problems will never end, just replace it all. Oh and your gas tank likely took a big drink of water thru the funky looking vent that hangs back there. Wash your seats and carpet with the fresh water hose, rewetting them isn't going to hurt anything. Wash everything else with soap and water, to get that salt out off. Your headliner is going to detach from the moisture in the car. Anything electrical that had power to it is crusted up good now. Sorry to be the bearer of all that bad news. Your car can be saved, but it's going to be a major restoration project to keep it from rotting away.

EDIT: To answer your actual questions, your engine can be saved. I don't think you will even have to dismantle it if you haven't cranked it at all. You could take the top end apart and see where the water went in and the path it followed to the bottom and then just pour a quart of wd40 (I believe you can still get it like that) in there and let it do its thing on any water. You could pour alcohol thru and it would "grab" water and drag it along. The water seeped into the engine possibly thru the dipstick. Water didn't go over the carb or exhaust ports, did it? If it did, then you'll probably want to remove the heads and clean that up. Don't run the engine with the tranny connected or your transmission will really be a mess. There is a vent in the top and water will have run down thru it. The same with the rearend.

StringRust

iTrader: (2)

Interior has all been washed. Headliner is good. Replaced it about a year ago and after I removed all the interior Ive been running a dehumidifier inside the car. Its been holding at 20% humidity. Fuse panel got wet. Its scary looking haha. At least I dont have an ecm or other related components to worry about. Took all that out a year ago and running non-cc dizzy and carb. As for the engine I think im going to fill it with marvel mystery oil and let it soak. Going to work on trans and rear tonight. My almost finished project became a huge project now.

LilSki

iTrader: (1)

Make sure you hose the rest of the car down as much as humanly possible especially down the cowl. If there is any salt residue left anywhere it will be a rust bucket in short time. Keeping it dry after being in salt water won't help much. Get it is wet as possible with fresh water to wash the salt away and it might have a fighting chance.