Flooded

[John Mulders]

not the carb but the whole area, last week Monday we had tremendous amounts of water pooring down (from hurricane Tomas).

The whole island has experienced serious damages, one rescue person drowned during evacuation of a hospital. He also was a classic car owner and member of the Wabi club and part of the Citro (sea rescue). Horrible thing.

Normally my house will be surrounded by water but the house, carport and apartment will stay dry.

Not this time. While I was away helping at a company rescueing computers the water quickly rose and I waded back home up to my belly through the water (6'4" myself). Strong current made me very carefull.

The house itself was only getting 2 cm of water and my wife already had moved the electronics to higher positions.

Power was off for a day and during the night we had the dogs upstairs while my wife and I were battling the water.

The carport was a stream and the apartment got 40 cm of water !

Lots of stuff damaged, incl a fried control panel for the electric gates.

My F150 was dry, my wifes Rav seemed dry but we found wet carpet later on.

the Corona of the boys was not so lucky, flooded.

The P15 also has taken some water but it also could poor out directly.

The water reached up to the doors but as there was a strong current I have no idea where the water has been able to get too?

Not so happy that the rear seat was on the ground the in the appartment

It is drying now and hopefully will be ok.

The pictures show the current in the driveway, the fallen tree, the end of the driveway where all the pebbles were just washed out and the start of the carport where the water sucked all the pebbles out.

My backdoor neighbor street was bad aswell, a mercedes was pulled along and followed by a container, both ended up two streets further and the Mercedes was hit by the container. The container, full of building materials was looted...during the storm.

Waiting for the insurance company (tomorrow).

I aready started the Rav and the Corona, both first had to spit a couple of liters of water out of the exhaust.

But I haven't started the P15 yet and am worried that it may have water in the differential (the seal is not there).

Also the drums (brakes rear) will have been soaked.

Any risks in trying to start the P15? I am sure the engine is tough enough but I really don't want to start it and find out I better first checked this or that?

Any advice appreciated !

John

[Young Ed]

As soon as possible rinse any upholstery parts with clean water and let dry in the sun. Dad used to fix flood cars for ford and thats what they did. If you just let them dry the dirtyness of the rain water will quite possibly leave a smell. When I was first driving my car and my moms got flooded and we did this to save them.

[Don Coatney]

WOW! Welcome to water world. My house is currently a construction zone due to a leaking water line to the ice maker on my refrigerator and I thought I had it bad. Nothing compaired to what you have.

Check the dipstick on your P-15 and if no water is present it is probably OK to start. However your differential will be a problem if it was completely under water and possibly your transmission if it was also in the drink. I think you know what you must do to check things out. Best of luck.

[oldodge41]

In my opinion I would check the oil on the dipstick. If it is higher than normal or shows signs of moisture I would drain and refill with fresh oil before turning it over. Then warm it up and change it again. If the level looks normal and no other signs of water it is probably ok to start. As for the tranny and rear diff. Better safe than sorry. If they were submerged I would drain and refill, run a little bit and change again. If the rear drums were submerged I would probably pull them and inspect. The water isn't so much the issue as the dirt and crud that may have been left behind. Good luck to you and yours. I feel for all the victims of these natural disasters.

[John Mulders]

Been cleaning up a bit in the apartment.

Decided to look at the oil level of the P15 as suggested, it is around an inch higher then full. That can be right.

So how would the water be pushed in the engine? I only can thing of through the exhaust pipe and then up though open valves?

Insurance is noce but I already figured out the damages to the house (gate, kitchen) will not be over the own risk so I will have to pay that for myself.

When I moved the Corona the brakes were stuck in the back, I guess the same thing will the case with the P15.

Frustrating.

Guess I will need to do the oil change asap to avoid damage higher up in the engine.

Same for the drums, the sooner I get her rolling the less chance things really will break.

John

[TodFitch]

Been cleaning up a bit in the apartment.

Decided to look at the oil level of the P15 as suggested, it is around an inch higher then full. That can be right.

So how would the water be pushed in the engine? I only can thing of through the exhaust pipe and then up though open valves?

Insurance is noce but I already figured out the damages to the house (gate, kitchen) will not be over the own risk so I will have to pay that for myself.

When I moved the Corona the brakes were stuck in the back, I guess the same thing will the case with the P15.

Frustrating.

Guess I will need to do the oil change asap to avoid damage higher up in the engine.

Same for the drums, the sooner I get her rolling the less chance things really will break.

John

I suspect that the draft tube would be the lowest point of entry for water into the crankcase.

[Niel Hoback]

Theres just nothing good about a flood.

I think the dipstick hole is the lowest opening in the block. You would have had to have pretty deep water to get high enough to get in the block.

I would drain the oil before cranking the engine if you suspect water in it. You will know immediately when you pull the plug if water comes out first.

Theres just nothing good about a flood. PITA !

[oldodge41]

Yes, I would drain that water as soon as possible. If it was deep enough to enter the engine don't forget about the tranny and rear. Best of luck to you......Tim

[John Mulders]

Thanks, the line should have read "That can't be right".

On the way the water may have entered:.

The car was with the back to the flow of the water.

So although the water level may not be that high to enter through the dipstick I think the pressure may have pushed it in the draft tube .

As there was a strong current the pressue could push it higher in a confined area.

I first thought it may have come through the exhaust, the two other car spit out a lot of water when started.

Anyway , thanks for the advice and kind words. Will keep you updated.

John

[BobT-47P15]

Dang, John. That's the pits. That water sure can make a mess very

quickly. I think the advice given so far is good.

You had a flood........then that Carnival cruise ship had an engine room

fire and is being towed back to California after only going a couple

hundred miles. Wonder what the next excitement will be.

[Niel Hoback]

I need a new belt. Does that count?

[Dennis Hemingway]

John, I hope everything works out good for you. We had a flash flood go threw our house a few years ago, it has cost us about $40,000. in damages.

Be sure to check all of your appliances about 6 months after the flood our major appliances started to give us problems due to electrical connections rusting.

Dennis:cool:

[John Mulders]

I need a new belt. Does that count?

Only if it comes from the cruiseship !

[John Mulders]

The rain keeps coming and so does the water.

For weeks now we have seen the water coming down, flood the area and then it dries up (sort of).

Had one tree fall down during the rain from hurricane Tomas and had another one over the driveway a week later. No damage to the house.

Two other trees are leaning towards the house and apartment but I haven't found a moment to cut them down (rain makes it impossible to work the trees).

Last night more rain and when I returned home for lunch the tree in front of the house was down.

It clipped the roof just a bit, the way it was leaning over I was expecting way more damage.

Still one tree that is a risk with the saturated ground.

Hopefully I can cut some branches away this weekend.

Not been able to drain the oil from the P15, also something I want to do asap.

Really worried for further damage (clutch, transmission, brakes etc).

So on my shoppinglist : oil for both the P15 and the Woodshark chainsaw !

John

[Frank Elder]

If you can cut only a certain amount of branchs make sure they are the ones nearest to the house so if it does fall on its own it will be away from the house:)

[John Mulders]

my plan exactly.

but I am sure you all have seen those youtube films where the tree went the other way than planned...

I will just not tape it so that won't happen !

John

[Dodgeb4ya]

John, Sorry to read about your bad situation. The master cylinder and wheel cylinders were probably under water. Brake fluid loves to absorb water. So you can assume that the system is mixed with water. You should probably take all the wheel and master cylinder assemblies apart and clean and rebuild them. Flush the brake lines thoroughly too. If you don't do this you probably will end up with sticky/fading or no brakes. I guess that you are probably already thinking about this too.

I wish you best of luck--Bob