LX570 buried in mud, lost alternator and electrical bugs. (1 Viewer)

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I’ve been contemplating this all day…and I think you’re right, everything seems straightforward except around the console, how much of that did you have to remove?
Whole thing - typical Toyota fashion the carpet is secured underneath the center console. So you gotta remove the leather around the center console and the ashtray as well.
 
As @tbisaacs mentioned I had a similar debacle last fall. Take it all out, hose out the carpet, let the carpet bake in the sun for a few days. The connectors on the kick panels are likely culprits. The problem when cleaning these is those pins are BRITTLE. @Zjohnsonua can chime in as it eventually ended up at his shop. I replaced the alternator and lost the starter a week later. The amp damage was unfortunately fatal.

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As @TN LX570 mentioned, the biggest watch out is those tiny pins. Do not use anything but spray solvents and air to clean them. Most of them are 1mm and they bend scarily easily, followed up by being very difficult to straighten without breaking.

When you reinsert those blocks be CAREFUL to have them aligned. If something feels off, it probably is, and it's probably one of those tiny pins blocking the install.

The sooner you can get those blocks clean and dry the better off you are. Once the green death sets in you've got a fight on your hands.
 
Ammonia in a spray bottle on carpet and upholstery will stop mildew and help remove smell

Also put a shop vac with the hose off inside the truck, it generates heat and ozone at the same time.
 
Thanks for the tips, I’m gonna be using all of them.
I’ve got the connectors disconnected and almost clean I will work on them again tomorrow with more spray clean solvent and air the front seats and carpet will come out this weekend, until then I’ve shop vaccd as much water and mud out as I could in between work today.
 
Ammonia in a spray bottle on carpet and upholstery will stop mildew and help remove smell

Also put a shop vac with the hose off inside the truck, it generates heat and ozone at the same time.
Watch the Detail Geek on YouTube for some great pointers on cleaning absolutely nasty carpets. Really a great watch.
 
For the terminals, spray liberally with to flush out the grit

Hosa D5S-6 CAIG DeoxIT 5% Spray Contact Cleaner, 5 oz.

and if they can be opened then coat them very lightly with

NO-OX-ID A-Special- Electrical Contact Grease- Keeps Metals Free of Rust and Corrosion- Part# 10203

 
For the terminals, spray liberally with to flush out the grit

Hosa D5S-6 CAIG DeoxIT 5% Spray Contact Cleaner, 5 oz.

and if they can be opened then coat them very lightly with

NO-OX-ID A-Special- Electrical Contact Grease- Keeps Metals Free of Rust and Corrosion- Part# 10203

Thanks! I actually bought the Deoxit today, so good to know. there’s very little if any debris coming out now when spraying with the other contact cleaner from hardware store but I’m still working on them and plan to spray with Deoxit tomorrow. I will add the contact grease to my shopping list.
 
Sorry time and help needed-
We were in Arkansas, Ozark National Forest over the weekend, 5.5 hours from home when I misjudged a hole, I didn’t think I could fit in the bypass without getting body damage on trees so we went for it and that a mistake…made it 3/4 way through and then found ourselves leaning to drivers side completely buried, battery light almost immediately came on so we lost the alternator quickly, luckily I was able to crawl out through the passenger side and winch our selves out. After another 30mins on the trail, multiple more mud holes and two river crossings we were back to a main road the Odyssey Extreme AGM Battery was now reading 11.5v and I couldn’t get 4lo to disengage. We limped to the closest mechanic I found (shoutout to Tim’s Auto Repair in Hagarville, AR) and he hooked us up on a charger and couldn’t have been more accommodating for the hour we were there deciding what to do next. Finally got it out of 4lo after turning engine off and restarting. Decided to book it to Toyota in Russellville to have the alternator replaced because no one local had one in stock. We then waited 24hours for a repair…got back on the road and immediately the electrical issues started, weird shifting patterns on the highway, interior lights flashing, no audio, door locks clicking and a blinking 4lo light. But the LX570 kept going 5.5hours straight home. I’ve got to strip it today and clean 30lbs of mud and silt out of the entire drivers side interior front to back.

Has any one replaced a carpet in these?

Any tips on electrical cleanup? Drivers rocker panel was under water so I’m going to start there.

And when we got home I noticed a slight whirring noise coming from the belt, so I’ll need to diagnose that as well.

Lesson learned, I will always turn around when faced with a mud hole in the future.

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Not that it’s much consolation, but I would nominate you for poster boy of this forum. Now I really hate mud. Curious to know if you contacted your insurance company?
 
For anybody wondering, stripped it and scrubbed everything, I’m sort of OCD about cleaning things so it’s taking me awhile but no one should ever know this happened by just looking at it after I’m done. Carpets are coming cleaner than ever, waiting on everything to fully dry but will put it back together over the next weeks, also almost all of the electrical gremlins are gone, will likely have to replace the amp but I’ve got it apart and drying we will see what happens with that. The LX will be better than ever, this gives me an opportunity to rewire all the house overlanding things in a better way.

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With the mud that is / was under the carpet, you must be happy that you didn't skip the "remove carpet" step.

If you have any small pins that are bent, use a mechanical pencil to CAREFULLY straighten them out. Take the lead out of the pencil, slide the tip of the pencil over the pin, and straighten as needed. I've used this method on aviation cannon plugs more times than I'd like to admit. Mostly due to other people being too rough on the equipment and not paying attention.

Dow Corning DC-4 is another good contact insulator. New name apparently.
 
You're tackling it head on for sure. Keep going.

To pile on what others have said, you're going to want some mild/moderate heat and air moving all around your interior. Now. Think what companies like Servpro, etc do when you have a water leak at your house.

One of your harnesses has a bit of green I can see. Get after that one asap for sure. Keep it up!

EDIT: If you have the garage/covered space, put some sort of closed element (no fire risk) heating element inside your rig and get some BIG TIME air movement going through it too. Do this for several days. I'm talking keep this step going until you feel stupid for doing it, then do it some more.
 
Time to dynamat to cut down on road noise while you have that carpet out
 
Time to dynamat to cut down on road noise while you have that carpet out
If you're going to do it, now's the PERFECT time. Good idea for sure.
 
Yikes. Mud sucks. But like you say it’ll be cleaner than ever before. Keep at it and keep us posted.
 
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That sucks, but good job on the cleanup. I have been hitting mudholes too, but its been dry for the most part here, so most are pretty shallow and the ones that aren't already have the reputation of swallowing vehicles and taking names so those are avoided.

When it gets wet again, which will be soon, I will definitely be more conservative because that is a task I do not want to be a part of.
 
Good recovery. People ask me how deep i go with my snorkel. I say never a high as the rocker to avoid bad things.
 
Good recovery. People ask me how deep i go with my snorkel. I say never a high as the rocker to avoid bad things.
I get the snorkel for snorkeling responses often and they always look at me weird when I tell them it’s mostly for dust, a lot for cooler intake air temps, and the rest is for looking cool.

I’d never ever ever never get in anything deeper than my hubs. Unless I had to rescue my wife or kids there’s nothing on the other side of deep standing water I need to drive to that bad.
 

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