Got swept off the road one morning at a low water bridge. Barely got out. Been starting it and changing fluids but still looks like choc milk and pepto. Went to warm it up after the third change and it just clicks or thunks, doesn't turn over, all the lights, gages, etc work, new battery. Crate engine and trans so can't let insurance have it for nothing. Where do I start? Bought a new interior but have to get it running first. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Alot of guys take anything that could have got water in them off to allow them to dry out ,its tuff to say now that you tryed to start it ,was the car totaly under water ,there are places that work on those cars an alot of things just need to dry out ,but other things need replaceing ,some times its alot of work an more then its worth ,is it the z28 ss or base car,sometimes you can buy it back cheap from the insurance company an less then what they give you i would work with a place that does flooded cars an fixes them for a liveing,check out youtube too if you got to do it yourself google how to fix a flooded car may help ,but i would not run the engine until your sure it is dry,siting does it help either ,i would say check distributer ,pull all the plugs starter anything that could still be wet

 

There is no way to make a flood car dependable. You will never get the water out of every connector or the mud and crap out of internal structures. There is a reason the insurance company will total a 90k Zr1 vet if it was in 30" of fresh water and it not because the carpet won't dry. It is because they know over the next 5 years the repairs to keep the car running will be insane and more importantly the car will never be truly dependable/safe.

Your best bet would be let the insurance company total it, buy it back and put that engine and trans in a non-flooded car. (using the non-flooded electronics) If you buy a car body the same year and engine size with a blown motor it should be cheap even if you have to pay for someone to do the swap. The other option is to let the insurance company total it buy it back and sell the motor and trans. Combine the money from the insurance company and the sell of the drivetrain and buy another car.

Insurance company will not give you extra money because of the replacement parts, I have seen that played out in court before. But insurance company can not increase the value of the wrecked car when they resale it to you either.

We had a customer on his way home from a $2500 repair got rear ended. He got book value. He wanted Book value plus $2500 since he just did the repairs. Judge said the repairs are needed to maintain book value. There is no increase in value because you maintained the car.

 

im thinking the engine is seized up and toasted.

 

Some time you just have to take your lumps and move on. Take the insurance money and find something you like better. Water in places it shouldn't be is a PITA just like everyone said.

 

there are places that do nothing but flooded cars an wrecks ,but they have to tear them down its alot of work,i seen a 2002 le1 on opcar flood car 11k miles .value 14k sold for 7k ,so for those that do the work wich pretty much meens tear the car down to the shell then rebuilding it ,though that le1 could be worth that in parts,also too sometimes cars are only partly flooded ,some only need the interior replaced ,if the engine was not under water up over the hood that is a plus i would say ,but not the case hear ,op has not responed as to wich car base 3800 z28 ss ,but it sounds like he has plans to fix it

 

As a general rule water does not hurt and engine too much. It just needs several oil changes to get all the moisture out. The brown milkshake color is just moisture whipped into the oil. That assumes no one tried to drive it while there was a lot of water in the oil. The oil/water mixture will not hurt the motor at idle as long as it is mostly oil. I have brought junk yard motors back from the dead that where full of rain water in the oil pan and cylinders. Starters on the other hand do not like being underwater at all.

If someone tried to start the car without pulling the spark plugs first I would expect internal engine damage from hydro locking. That condition would most likely not be salvageable because it would cost more to repair it then buying a reman engine.

 

The engine isn't hydrolocked, it ran after the flooding. To me, it appears he may have locked up the engine, being that he was clearly running it with water in the oil.
Try removing the spark plugs and turning the engine over by hand. If it doesn't budge....uh-oh!