The truck:


2005 4.7 auto with 80k miles.


What happened:


As you may or may not know two days ago in Pensacola Florida (as well as the east side of the US) got a LOT of rain. Destroyed roads, folks died, ect. When the wife was driving home as all of this mess started she ran into water that killed the truck. She said she tried to restart it once then remembered I told her never to do that so she stopped. I'm going to assume more than once. She was pushed out rather quickly and I towed her home that night. I work for the Sheriff's Office so that night as well as the next day I couldn't check on the truck due to work. It sat in the front yard with the tow straps still attached. That and it was still raining, a lot. The next night our county jail had a gas leak and blew up. Killed a few and sent a bunch to the hospital. With that I worked until about 3pm today when I finally got home to look at it.


What I did:


Pulled off the intake and air filter that was filled with water and set them aside. Checked oil, no milky film at all. Changed oil. Pulled all plugs. Water showing on all of the plugs. After pulling the plugs I sprayed the oil fogger spray into each plug hole to protect and lubricate them. I then 'bumped' the ignition to rotate the motor. Water came out of the plug holes (mostly on the rear of the motor). When bumping it again all I got was clicks from the motor. No spinning of the motor.


I've sunk an inline 6 Jeep before and just pulled the rear plug to clear out the water the same way. I'm wondering if the reason I'm not getting any motor rotation to push out the water is because there are no plugs attached? Any guidance from this awesome forum would be greatly appreciated. As I work for the county and really can't afford to replace the motor I'm trying to do what I can to save this vehicle. It's had absolutely no problems in the past. Thanks in advance for any and all advise.




Jeff

 

either the starter shorted out, or the battery is drained, try jumping the truck to see if the motor will rotate

 

First things first, put a breaker bar and socket on your flywheel and rotate it by hand. If the plugs are out, it should rotate pretty easy. If it's rock solid with all the plugs out... Well.. Bad news.

 

I second this. It sounds like low battery voltage or a failing starter. Im sorry about the flooding. We just went through that in CO 6 months ago. Our prayers go out to you, your family, and friends.

 

He has already turned over the engine by bumping the starter, as indicated in the post. He is referring to the "click" and why it is failing to continue to turn over. even the worst engines I have rebuilt with loosing the entire capacity of oil, I have never seen a crank stop to the point of zero rotation with a breaker bar.

 

Thanks for the help. I totally missed the forest for the trees on that one. Low battery I'll throw the cables on it after breakfast. Thanks again.

 

So everything worked out ok with the motor. Got it cranked and other then the check engine light and all of the extra white smoke from the spray oil it seems to be running ok. Test drive revealed that the front passenger steering is jacked up. Attempting to attach an image to show exactly where. If anyone knows of a vendor to get the replacement parts I could really use the direction. Also, will I have to replace the entire steering unit or can I just replace the bent part that attaches to the boot? Thanks.

 

That whole unit has to be replaced. Rockauto, best prices man

 

Glad to hear it's not too bad after all.

The vertical bar on the left is the swaybar endlink. Find the parts on Rockauto, better parts than OEM for sure.

 

dont forget to use two things that will help. WD-40 and Marvel Mystery Oil. MMO in the gas tank. and through the intake.. just some not to much. dont for get the rear end lube. and grease the U-Joints. check the trans oil level.