flooded

[David Edwards]

Sorry to hear about all the damage from sandy, and hope that everyone can return to normal very soon? If that was my bike i would take it into the shop and let them check it out. I think were talking about salt water? if so you dont want to turn the motor over if that has gotten into your motor oil, beside your wheel bearing if they were under water for any length of time. It might save your bike by taking it to the shop and let them go through the whole bike? It will cost, but it might be worth it?

[harpomatic]

Yeah. no insurance (flood and such).. It was flooded for few hours, as the water receded it was standing there as if nothing ever happened.

[harpomatic]

Changed oil, filter, cleaned solenoid contacts, around the fuse area - that was visibly affected so WD40 & tooth brush for initial cleaning, checked fuel line, air filter - all dry, never flooded... IT FIRED UP! I had it run with a steady usual sound to the whole process for a minute and I turned it off. Did not want to press my luck further, before I report here. I remember previous advise on bearings, connections, frame but I wonder about best immediately NEXT right step to make. Let it run around the block, or few miles? Rear brake - how much water can be in the drum after some brake usage? Cobra drag pipes are dry by now (it ran for a mile at first pipes got hot and evaporated all remaining water), but what's the consequence of having salt water there?

[Rock]

How did the drained oil look?

[harpomatic]

it had "caramel" color, not dirty dark brown like when its just old, and also not clear amber like I remember it last time I checked ( about 100 miles back - I check often, though not religiously before every single ride), It was not transparent, and similar to "peanut butter" color (but usual oily viscosity) Also I did not spot any water separate from oil as it was uniformly "mixed". I think all your assumptions about some contamination may be true - apart from "mild cleaning" of solenoid contacts, oil change was more substantial "act" here..

[Rock]

I would run it up to full temperature and do a hot oil and filter change to eliminate any water or salt that remains in the case. (not warm, not idling for a few minutes, heat it up and change it while still hot!)

[harpomatic]

Got it. If you suggest a final change, I better wait for good filter and oil to come in. As it is now, shops are all out of whack, it was a challenge to find oil and filter, gas etc... Unless this is an intermediate oil change - then the generic filter (did not look exactly the same, nowhere to grab with a wrench, but as a suggested substitute it fit, and looked the same on the inside as the one I had before), oil was last bottles I took off the shelf in a local pharmacy (non energy conserving), so those "lower grade" supplies are somewhat available.

[adlowe]

Originally Posted by Rock

Note: I would be changing all fluids, oil, radiator, final drive, brake fluid (it loves to absorb water), and getting the bike into a heated situation to dry it out. Probably put heat sources under the bike (100 watt light bulb works pretty well) or a block heater on the block.

Then work on separating all the electrical terminals, cleaning them and applying dielectric grease before re-connecting each one. Even do the bulb sockets. Be sure to do the plug wires and the coil connections (both ends).

Then work on all the grease points, open them up get them dry and re-grease. axles, hubs, brakes (there will be water under the rubber boots), flex boot on the final drive, pull soak and lube the chain, and the swing arm pivot.

That is completely correct and should have been done before any attempt to start the bike. No matter how high the water got. And "all fluids" includes the gas.

If it were my bike, I'd find a place for wrenching over the winter -- even if I had to rent a storage locker -- and strip the bike down to a bare frame. I'd soak the frame in clean water (to "freshen" the dried salt) then find a way to wash it with WD40 once I knew which closed sections had taken in water. I might do the WD40 3 or 4 times. (Yeah, I know it's overkill.) Then I'd replace every seal as I rebuilt the bike. I would not be looking for insurance money unless I wanted to replace the bike.

[1996shadow]

Adlowe is right. Anything that you can do to rinse out that salt should be done as soon as possible. Salt will rust that frame away in no time. You will have no warning. It will fail on you at the least convenient time.

I worked as an insurance adjuster for a few years. I covered a section of NC along the coast. I was always amazed at how people treated their vehicles by driving them thru salt water. When we got flooding there, I would total most all of the assignments I had, as there is really no way, without complete disassembly, to stop them from rusting away.

Good Luck.

[harpomatic]

Thank you for all the pointers! I think My goal is to do all the things that will get me safely running myself, so that things I cannot do I will do at a local repair shop. My next priority is coolant flush. I do not doubt that it needs to be done, just wonder about how could it possibly get contaminated, what are the possible entrance points - for additional inspection and my general understanding. I now understand how the oil got contaminated, though it was not apparent to me at first. It still seems that there was no way to get to the tank as it was about a foot or more above the water line. Better understanding helps me prioritize my tasks - say I flush gas now, there is just no way to get gasoline in my neighborhood, so I just checked little sample from the petcock, looks good, works - it may be just more practical to do coolant flush first... Stuff that needs lift and time (winter is coming & I don't have a place to wrench), professional skills and tools - I better leave to professionals. It seems that my electrical system is intact - the area under the right cover was entirely dry, with untouched "healthy" road dust, the left side - different story. Solenoid was wet, connections started oxidizing. I tried to open/pop up the fuse - it beats me still. How is it done? I mean separating the red connector from the green/black solenoid box. In any case, I cleaned it with WD40 and a toothbrush for now, but will go over it again. so it seems that at least electrics are ok, but the bearings of all kinds - that's a different category of challenges...