40 submerged in saltwater

[txhickdawg]

Hello - great forum thanks to all.

Covesurfer gave me his old 1970 FJ40 that was submerged on Galveston during Hurricane Ike. I drug it home last week and drained about 12 gallons of salt water out of engine and refiled w/ clean oil (several gallons). It has been a while since I turned a wrench so I replaced the starter :whoops:and associated electrical in an effort to circ oir and further clean engine (I have deisel on stanby). Starter works but engine no spin. I will try to pull radiator assembly to put big wrech on front of engine. Thoughts on this or should I just pull and dismantle or other suggestions.

Thanks for any direction.

Cheers

 

[Michael Hanson]

Pour kerosene in cylinders let sit at least one week.Try to start...no start...let sit another week with kerosene in cylinders. Works with tractors. Mike

 

[Trollhole]

Did you try cranking it with the spark plugs out?

If salt water has been sitting in it that long. Plan on finding a donor.

 

[txhickdawg]

Good call Mike. I had forgotten than one. I would have gone straight to disassembly but the water that I drained was crystal clear with no sign of rust and no observable corrosion in cylinders as observed through plug seat. One thing I wonder is there a chance that the clutch assembly is somehow responsible?

 

[BDSeff1fitty]

heres a place with a f or 2f for sale. pasadena 4x4 salvage. im assuming thats pretty close to you since you got the 40 from galveston
281 487 0184
he is not sure if it is an f or 2f but he is asking $850 not sure what all that includes but im sure you can work out some sort of deal. he said its still running. just talked to the guy this morning so he still has it. good luck on getting it running.

 

[Trollhole]

Good call Mike. I had forgotten than one. I would have gone straight to disassembly but the water that I drained was crystal clear with no sign of rust and no observable corrosion in cylinders as observed through plug seat. One thing I wonder is there a chance that the clutch assembly is somehow responsible?

Possible but if it's in neutral it still should crank even if it is stuck.


Pull the distributor and engage the oil pump with a drill and the handle cut off a screw driver. Get it up to pressure and see if that helps.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Salt is bad, count on flushing out anywhere you can. I have started John Deere tractors after sitting 20 plus years with water in the cylinders. If you can let it sit and let the fluid drain around the cylinders.CRANK IT TOO SOON AND SOMETHING IS GOING TO BUST.Take off flywheel inspection plate. Mike

 

[camcruiser13]

get a new engine and dont waste your time.

 

[psreno]

I was going to say to use Marvel Mystery Oil instead of Kerosene.

But I'm thinking that Kerosene followed by Marvel might be best. Allow Kerosene to dissolve any buildup and oil to help coat the rings where the salt was.

But make sure you have oil in the cylinders before roll starting! Otherwise you will be replacing rings.

 

[fj404life]

My dad had an old willy knight touring car that he pulled out of the familys barn. It had sat for at least 25 years. Motor was frozen solid. Poured in some Marvel Mystery and let it sit for a LONG time. Finally went to see if it would spin after sitting a couple more years...fired right up!
Not that ya want to wait a LONG time but thats good stuff!

 

[malcb]

get a new engine and dont waste your time.

That might be the right way but it would be much more fun to get it going wouldn't it?

Which works better kerosene or diesel? I clean parts with diesel, haven't used kero for years, expensive in the UK now.

 

[CHOCODILE]

Hello - great forum thanks to all.

Covesurfer gave me his old 1970 FJ40 that was submerged on Galveston during Hurricane Ike. I drug it home last week and drained about 12 gallons of salt water out of engine and refiled w/ clean oil (several gallons). It has been a while since I turned a wrench so I replaced the starter :whoops:and associated electrical in an effort to circ oir and further clean engine (I have deisel on stanby). Starter works but engine no spin. I will try to pull radiator assembly to put big wrech on front of engine. Thoughts on this or should I just pull and dismantle or other suggestions.

Thanks for any direction.

Cheers

Just replace the engine and everything else. You are going to find a lot of problems.

 

[Michael Hanson]

You can use a 50 -50 mix.

 

[grant5127]

Salt Water....

The damage is done and non reversible........

I tried to recover (bring back from the dead) 2 Katrina salt water victims and it was total waste of effort not to mention $$.....

Even body parts are not worth a s***, the rust just keeps on coming back no mater what you try..........

 

[Stumpalama]

More broke than it already is?

What the hell, I say give it a try... 2F's are tough SOB's. Plus, what are you gonna do? Break it more? If it doesn't work oh well, go find another engine... and if it does, you'll have another "Can't kill a Toyota" story.

Good luck!
-Stump

 

[Hobbs]

I wouldn't drag home a "submerged in saltwater FJ-40" if you paid me!!!

 

[bsmith123]

seized

well it would be hard to completely rid the body of salt ---might be okay for a while with care

on the engine you could pull the oil pan and spray up into the cylinders as well with pd blaster or wd 40 etc

most will run off but some of it will work up through

 

[FJFOOL]

I agree with Cam, but if you just wanna see if you can get it to start, completely fill the engine with diesel and let it sit a week, then drain it, roll it over(after you break it loose with what-ever cheater bar is necessary)with the plugs out, then install them, fill with new oil, and start the b***h !! Plenty of problems will rear their ugly head, electrical especially. And remember, the transmissiom, transfer case and diffs are full of salt water as well. If you're a knucklehead like me, you'll do it anyway, so GOOD LUCK !!Alex

 

[jkl72-40]

I took the spark plugs out and took a crow bar to the flywheel to get mine to turn over after 12 years of sitting, now it runs fine. I know its not salt but go for it

 

[txhickdawg]

Good tips - all

I'm a little stuborn. Brobably work it til I don't hopin' for the "can't kill a Toyo" story even though the whole thing is gonna be frame off or s****. The body forward of the part the firewall is on (late - drinkin') is solid it will at least allow me to justify a new mig unit and a small plasma setup.

Thanks for the input and as soon as I get to the ten post magic line, I'll see about positng some pics. I've got 'em and they are cheer worthy one way or the other.

BTW - My 4 1/2 year old daughter dubbed the 40 in question "Rusty Ike" upon its first appearance in our garage. She and I have already spent some time reviewing Toyo colors from the early 70's to ensure that her color choice is appropriate.

I had a '92 FJ80 that I thought was a dog.........