TheSamba.com :: View topic - My van has been sitting under 2 feet of water

Mon Dec 30, 2013 1:13 pm

I had a wonderful Christmas but just returned home to find out that my '67 Split Screen had been sitting in water (as have many other vehicles in the UK) over Christmas.

I've taken a look at it but not yet attempted to start it. I can see from lines of dirt that the water reached the top of my wheels. My question - what do I do about the engine? Do I just start it and see what happens or do I need to sort it out some how?

I can see that there appears to be a large-ish oil (or potentially water) stain/puddle where I normally see one or two oil drips on the ground. Should I be worried? I will check the oil levels tomorrow and see if it could be oil that I have lost...

In addition, I think I might get the insurance company involved given that the wood interior is clearly showing signs of the floods...if anyone has any advice or is going through the same thing at the moment I'd be interested to know!

Finally, this is my first post here but have been a regular visitor of this site for a fair while, so hi everyone :)

Mon Dec 30, 2013 1:41 pm

Welcome and sorry to hear about your bus.

DON'T TRY TO START IT!!, if there's water in a cylinder the hydraulic lock will bend a rod. Drain the engine, transmission, reduction boxes and the steering box if it got high enough and remove the spark plugs, then turn the engine by hand a number of strokes to confirm it's not full in the cylinders, if you can get some heat below the sump and let it air out a few hours even better. Then refill all the fluids and crank it a minute with the plugs out before reinstalling them and starting it, run it ~1/2 hour and change the engine oil again, repeat as necessary until it doesn't get milky anymore.
You'll likely have to flush the brakes a few times as well if the reservoir was submerged.
Keep an eye on the rest of the fluids and change them if they get milky.

Thu Jan 02, 2014 2:50 pm

Thanks busdaddy!

Really helpful advice. I am clueless about the mechanics but would love to get up to speed. Nevertheless it's now at a VW specialist and they have got the engine running. Plus insurance are involved, turns out the water was sewage water so my interior is coming out, and may well need replacing.

Thanks again!

Thu Jan 02, 2014 4:20 pm

Be - careful of insurance claims on cherished VWs. UK insurances have a habit of scrapping flood damaged cars and giving you less than the real value unless you have Agreed value. And dont think the companies they use to repair your car/van will be able to put things right.

If they want to write it off get more than one quote. And ask to buy the bus back

Sat Jan 04, 2014 7:13 am

Thanks for your reply vwrobert - no worries though (hopefully) there. I do have an agreed value and didn't let the insurance company choose the garage, it's with my local VW specialist :)

But it's all been a massive hassle though :(