PaulTGarrett
Grumpy old man
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2017
- Posts
- 509
- Reaction score
- 466
- Location
- Tampa Bay, Florida
- Ram Year
- 2012
- Engine
- 408 Cummins Turbo Diesel
Have been off the forum for a while, I need some help from the braintrust...
Background - Hurricane Ian hit us in SW Florida. When I was heading back home to St.Petersburg I got caught in the Interstate 75 flood. I was stuck on the interstate with no where to run and rising water. The water came up to about the bottom of my headlights (stock height truck) and I had about 6" of water in the cab. The engine did not suck any water and did not flood out. Once I was able to make my way out of traffic and the Myakka River I took back roads and got home to St.Pete, about a 90-mile-ish trip.
I knew I had all of the running gear underwater for over 30 minutes. I had the oil in the differentials changed (water was evident in front diff only). Oil in the transmission and transfer case were clear of any water but I had them changed (they were due anyway). No evidence of water in the engine, had the oil, air and fuel filter changed. Dipped my fuel tank, it was clear of water. Brake fluid was OK, above the waterline. Radiator was past due for a flush & fill, had it done, too. My power steering pump looks like the only fatality on the drive train. It is pretty screwed, it's location on the bottom of the engine and was totally submerged (STUPID place for it, ****-poor engine design). It was howling like a banshee at Halloween. I had the pump drained, flushed, refilled and crossed my fingers. It's still blowing oil at a ridiculous rate. Am just going to have it replaced.
After all the fluids were changed, everything was fine. Drove it back and forth from St.Pete to Port Charlotte many times, both straight and pulling a heavily loaded flatbed trailer. No problem, everything worked as it should. Just kept the power steering pump topped off and ran with it. Cab was a bit stinky while drying out but the truck was running, everything worked OK. By the way, it cost me $1350 to have every liquid other than the brake fluid drained, flushed, and refilled.
A few weeks later Hurricane Nicole blows through. I was up in St.Pete, we just got some light wind and a LOT of rain. Here's where things went to crap... My truck was outside in the rain <gasp>. When I went to drive it I noticed a lot of water in the driver's floorboard. Figured I had a leaky windshield, sucks but whatever... I drove it about a block and the power steering pump started SCREAMING... Turned around and headed back home. The engine started and ran fine, the transmission shifted fine. The dashboard seemed OK, all the usual warning/operational lights on. Then I noticed that I had no turn signals. Emergency flashers OK but no turns. Uh oh... So far I have found that none of the remotes on my steering wheel work. EVIC is showing it's last display but no input from the wheel. Headlights work but no high-beams. Overhead cab lights OK. Interior lights OK. Electric brake dead. Compression brake dead. Tow/haul dead. Radio works. Power points work. Tail lights work but no brake lights.
I looked under the hood and it seems the battery, fuse block (power control?), and computer modules were all above the water. The fuse box seemed OK, no evidence of water pooling, no evidence of corrosion in the fuse block or on the batteries. Since the engine didn't suck any water I used the air filter box as my reference.
I'm mostly disabled and on a fixed income so was hoping to do a little exploratory poking around before dropping a couple of thousand at a shop. Anyone have any idea of where I should start looking? Is there an under-the-dash junction block that could have gotten rained on and needs a good shot of contact cleaner? Any other ideas?
Thanks for the help, guys!
PTG
Background - Hurricane Ian hit us in SW Florida. When I was heading back home to St.Petersburg I got caught in the Interstate 75 flood. I was stuck on the interstate with no where to run and rising water. The water came up to about the bottom of my headlights (stock height truck) and I had about 6" of water in the cab. The engine did not suck any water and did not flood out. Once I was able to make my way out of traffic and the Myakka River I took back roads and got home to St.Pete, about a 90-mile-ish trip.
I knew I had all of the running gear underwater for over 30 minutes. I had the oil in the differentials changed (water was evident in front diff only). Oil in the transmission and transfer case were clear of any water but I had them changed (they were due anyway). No evidence of water in the engine, had the oil, air and fuel filter changed. Dipped my fuel tank, it was clear of water. Brake fluid was OK, above the waterline. Radiator was past due for a flush & fill, had it done, too. My power steering pump looks like the only fatality on the drive train. It is pretty screwed, it's location on the bottom of the engine and was totally submerged (STUPID place for it, ****-poor engine design). It was howling like a banshee at Halloween. I had the pump drained, flushed, refilled and crossed my fingers. It's still blowing oil at a ridiculous rate. Am just going to have it replaced.
After all the fluids were changed, everything was fine. Drove it back and forth from St.Pete to Port Charlotte many times, both straight and pulling a heavily loaded flatbed trailer. No problem, everything worked as it should. Just kept the power steering pump topped off and ran with it. Cab was a bit stinky while drying out but the truck was running, everything worked OK. By the way, it cost me $1350 to have every liquid other than the brake fluid drained, flushed, and refilled.
A few weeks later Hurricane Nicole blows through. I was up in St.Pete, we just got some light wind and a LOT of rain. Here's where things went to crap... My truck was outside in the rain <gasp>. When I went to drive it I noticed a lot of water in the driver's floorboard. Figured I had a leaky windshield, sucks but whatever... I drove it about a block and the power steering pump started SCREAMING... Turned around and headed back home. The engine started and ran fine, the transmission shifted fine. The dashboard seemed OK, all the usual warning/operational lights on. Then I noticed that I had no turn signals. Emergency flashers OK but no turns. Uh oh... So far I have found that none of the remotes on my steering wheel work. EVIC is showing it's last display but no input from the wheel. Headlights work but no high-beams. Overhead cab lights OK. Interior lights OK. Electric brake dead. Compression brake dead. Tow/haul dead. Radio works. Power points work. Tail lights work but no brake lights.
I looked under the hood and it seems the battery, fuse block (power control?), and computer modules were all above the water. The fuse box seemed OK, no evidence of water pooling, no evidence of corrosion in the fuse block or on the batteries. Since the engine didn't suck any water I used the air filter box as my reference.
I'm mostly disabled and on a fixed income so was hoping to do a little exploratory poking around before dropping a couple of thousand at a shop. Anyone have any idea of where I should start looking? Is there an under-the-dash junction block that could have gotten rained on and needs a good shot of contact cleaner? Any other ideas?
Thanks for the help, guys!
PTG
