Where would I look for unobvious flood damage. Looked at a SSB SRT and the engine compartment shows no high water line, interior is bone dry, trunk is bone dry, windows , seats, all lighting works, no water in ash tray or glove box. It was misfiring and there was water gurgling out of the tailpipe when I tried to start it and lots of raw fuel vapor and white smoke. Three days later, after I won the auction and went to pick it up, it was like someone had tuned it. It ran smooth and no smoke, drove it onto the trailer and brought it home today. I'll get a salvaged title to have changed to rebuilt, but I may keep it (it has NAV) and get shed of my black srt with a clean title.

 

Look at the brakes, look at the e-brake top hat. These areas get rusty really quickly. The top hat would collect particles inside it.

 

Thanks, Upon close inspection, it seems that the car may have had water up in the tailtipe and may have been tried to start while it had its exhaust submerged and full of water. We cannot see any evidence where water got in from the air cleaners as they were bone dry. There was no water line or salt line anywhere in the interior and none in the wheel wells. Everything electrical works. Well...kinda...rear speakers..NOT. A railroad crossing with the air on can trigger heated air out of the vents. The exhaust now after polishing the tips and having driven almost 150 miles in it, ...sshhhh!..has stopped spitting wet sooty residue. Runs smooth as silk and tracks nice on the road. Nicer in fact than my black SRT which I renewed all of the suspension and brakes and motor and tranny mounts and ALL fluids only 2 months ago. Did I save receipts?...No.
I did get a crankcase position sensor code on my code scanner, but no chk engine light and she runs smooth so its a mystery I need to sort out.
I want to make a long steady run on the interstate with the salvaged srt for 2 to 300 miles or so then change the oil again to get rid of the moisture that may still be in the crankcase since somehow, some obviously got in. If it was a car I intended for the track or any kind of competition, this might be an option to keep from spinning a crank bearing under hard use, but since this car is going to be a daily driver, I don't think it will be necessary.

 

Sounds like you got one hell of a car for the money. That is what I would do personally, change the oil, drive it a bit gentle, then change oil again, double checking the filter for junk.
I'd pull every thing form the trunk area down to the metal looking for evidence of water that might have got through.

 

Thanks Pioneer. I did lift the rear carpet in the trunk area and looked for any sign of water and found none. The wet soot out of the tailpipes has diminished. All the turn signals and cruise control arms are nice and tight with no slop. I will be pulling the front wheels off to clean and polish as they obviously sat in some acidic mud that did a pitting corrosion job on the wheels. Tires are new with the rubber whiskers. I'll be prepping the black SRT for sale and keeping this one. I am a bit confused on what to ask for it though. I did a lot of refreshing to the suspension, drag link assembly and motor mounts and all fluids and air cleaners and plugs, rotors and brakes too. It rides "stiff" compared to the newest SRT I just got with 77K on it.

 

Inspection day today at the DMV to recertify and deem the Rescue SRT as roadworthy with a (Rebuilt-Flood) title. Perhaps the inspector can show me water damage that I couldn't find. Not a drop other than what was in the tailpipe. I have put around 350 miles on it with the fresh oil, no signs of emulsification or abnormal water vapor at the exhaust. I'll change that out after the inspection on the way home. This will be the keeper SRT as it runs and drives better than the other one. Peace

 

if nothing showed up in 350 miles it is good,,, A friend of mine buys flood cars all the time,, last week he bought 322 of them ,no all under water. if the electronics are good you got a good one, look under the passenger carpet under the dash the tcu is there and if no water got in there u should give yourself a hug ,,lol. at the shop where i drive for ,,we got 39 of those 322 cars and more in the next 5 to 6 weeks none of the 39 would start, last week we got a 2015 chevy impala, that only needed a new ecu,, it has been test driven for 244 miles,, it is now up for sale for $22000.00,,,the window sticker still on the window has $34789.43 on it. flood/rebuild title,,, pm me what u want for your old bad one, that does not driveso good. jim

 

So....how did the inspection go? Are you in good shape? Inquiring minds want to know. At least I do..

 

Oh, it was smoothe as tomato gravy on grits. He looked at the VINs to see if they matched. He had a code scanner around his neck and I asked him if he was going to plug it in. He replied that he was and I asked him to show me the connector, and he did, I pointed out the narrow end from the wide end of the connector and reminded him that the wide end goes towards the firewall and to please handle the connection gingerly and to replace the cover when he was done. He then asked me to please wait in the lobby of the stinkin 1950's built musty building he worked out of which I did. NINETY dollars later, he gives me a new rebuilt-flood title and a new registration and swapped the tag over from the ssb roadster for me. I was outta there in about thirty minutes.

 

Now what do U want for the roadster? pm me please jim

 

In the trunk; did you look under the foam insulation, covering the locking control pump/security module? I'm no expert, just curious.

 

I should do that. I am getting moist air out of the vents and the water reservoir was low yesterday, so I think I have a heater core issue or a water valve issue. It runs too well to be a head gasket issue. Now I must peruse the heater section of the forum to see who else has had this problem and how they fixed it. I'll look under the rear foam today for signs of water. We're changing the oil today, and I want to get her ready for a trip up to Georgia

 

Hello,


I need to know about floor carpets which are used to hide floor damage at our home.