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15000 Cars flooded by Hurricane Sandy...

I just saw that when I was checking the weather this morning. I'm going to keep an eye on this and when the auctions begin. If nothing else, I might be able to find a nice parts vehicle.
 
Speechless. I bet some of those cars, with a few cans of oil, brush, and contact cleaner, will run excellent.

LOL no way.

the salt disintegrates the wiring. i saw it first hand, multiple times after the storm trying to get family's car and their neighbor's cars running again. older, simple cars would work, sometimes for a week, sometimes for an hour but they all pretty much died.
 
If we have the same love for any of those vehicles like we have our Jeeps, title could say "Sucker" and we'll still buy it. :looney:
 
i would never buy a car that was flooded with salt water and expect a reliable vehicle out of it.
 
Speechless. I bet some of those cars, with a few cans of oil, brush, and contact cleaner, will run excellent.

Keep Dreaming!
I work for the utility company that serves NYC; Lots of our stuff went underwater during Sandy, Every piece of electrical equipment that was contaminated with salt water turned green overnight & failed.
We basically had to replace everything that got wet at a cost of over $500,000,000 SO FAR!!

One of my co-workers Jeep XJ's was submerged & totaled by the insurance co.; it sat for around a week after the storm.
I took a look to see if anything was salvaged, the insulation on the wiring looked like it was 50years old. I opened up the rear axle (An XJ Dana 44 fitted with disc), Salt water & oil poured out, the internals were heavily rusted. Under the hood everything was toasted, I guess the shorts created from the salt water fried everything.
Salt water is nasty stuff!
 
I wouldn't even buy many parts off a vehicle that's been flooded with saltwater. Saltwater and sand will destroy basically everything, and quickly.

You really don't want to see what happens when a unibody full of semi rusty spotwelded seams gets filled with saltwater and sand. You could show me a rust free 99 XJ for $300 from that lot and I'd walk away, because it will come apart at the seams in a few years, every part of the drivetrain will have severe issues, and the electrical system will be a lost cause.
 
all I see is the perfect place to hold a charity SUPER-DUPER MONSTER TRUCK RACE THIS SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!!

the pavement could be considered lava and if they stray from the cars = disqualification!
 
I wouldn't even buy many parts off a vehicle that's been flooded with saltwater. Saltwater and sand will destroy basically everything, and quickly.

You really don't want to see what happens when a unibody full of semi rusty spotwelded seams gets filled with saltwater and sand. You could show me a rust free 99 XJ for $300 from that lot and I'd walk away, because it will come apart at the seams in a few years, every part of the drivetrain will have severe issues, and the electrical system will be a lost cause.
So basically you're saying my XJ is toast? She took on water about up to the floor pans (bottom of doors) inside. I don't think it got any higher in there thanks to 7" lift & 33s. Tranny was good. I flushed & drained the engine 5 times soon after; recently did the diffs, washed the underbody, ripped the carpet out (the wiring is still sealed & looks OK). I dunno if the water got up the kick panels but it does have electrical problems - Note: it already had plenty before the flood. Everything sorta seems to work ok. She runs & shifts fine, even into 4WD.

I was beginning to feel optimistic but you're pissing all over my parade ...

Now I'm depressed :(

Guess I should be looking for a "dry" body to swap my goodies to?
 
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I'd start looking for one, but don't swap everything over just yet. It could take a while to rot the seams out - it's not going to be instant, but it will be more of a problem in the future.

As for the electrical stuff... if you are dedicated enough, I'm sure it can be solved, even if it means installing harnesses from a junkyard that haven't been flooded. Shouldn't cost *too* much, especially since it only got to the bottom of the doors and floor pans.

Drivetrain - from what I heard you were flushing everything out repeatedly until the water was gone, and with water only reaching the floor level, I'd only really be afraid of the transfer case and axles. If those are flushed out and don't appear to be corroded inside, you are probably fine.

Basically, I'm saying I wouldn't want anything to do with one that was submerged deeply and not immediately flushed out, nor one that was submerged and then sat on an insurance lot for weeks, went to auction, sat for another few weeks, all the while being eaten from the inside out. If you get right on top of it and clean it out as soon as possible, it should be fine, though it could still have accelerated rust issues down the road. That takes time of course and gives you a while to find a suitable replacement if it starts becoming a problem.
 
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