Tragedy on the largest scale......

[svxter]

Originally posted by Aredubjay


I had a co-worker sink a tank in the Desert. ....

That strikes me as taking real talent, if only for finding water in a desert.

[1994SubaruSVX]

I tell you what it is damn nice to have a lot of friends who genuinely care about your well being. Thanks again for the empathy. I know almost all of you have been there in some way or another.

The car was taking to the shop this morning and the progress will begin. Beav I will have them check the sensors and make sure they flush the oil.

The only good thing to come from this so far is that my insurance company, Progressive, has really handled this situation with efficiency and compassion. Money well spent in my book. Very professional and courteous at all times.

I will keep everyone updated on the progress.

[Beav]

Are they gonna install some pontoons while it's in the shop? Maybe you oughtta carry a rock and a string with some depth marks on it.

This little side street that you crossed didn't have a big, long bridge above it, did it? I mean, you being in Memphis, and all...

You did know someone was gonna take a few shots didn't ya? heheheh

Beav

[ykobayashi]

I'm sorry that this happened to you, let me share a water flood story that might help you feel better.

I had just bought a brand new Eclipse GST in 1992. Six months later I was at a movie with my girlfriend (who is now my wife) and it was raining cats and dogs outside. Even with the Jurassic Park roars of T-Rex dinosaurs and the sound of SUVs being pushed into a ravine could not drown out the thunder outside.

I didn't think much of it. I had parked in a remote corner of the lot just like usual to keep the doors of other cars off of my baby's flanks. Approximately 2 hours later after the movie was over, we walked outside to the car only to find that the area of the parkng lot where I was parked completely flooded to about 3 feet deep.

My heart sank, I waded out to the car and the inside was completely covered in water. I opened the door , I sat down in the water on my seat and fired up the engine (I'm not sure why I did this, I guess I was in shock) which sounded like an outboard boat engine with the water burbling. I shifted and drove the car out of the water.

I had friends drop off my girlfriend and I drove (limped) the car back home. I then sat down in the garage and literally cried. (my Eclipse was everything to me just like my SVX, so I completely sympathize with you). The next morning I went out the garage opened up the hood and let it air out, cleaned the inside of the car, pulled the plugs, and cleaned the wires I then went to the car parts store and got a new air filter, oil filter, and oil. I drained it all, replaced everything and started it up. She started up fine. I then took it to the dealer and had them drain the transmission fluid and replace it (A few thousand miles later I had them do it again).

After that I had no problems, the car ran to 120k until I traded it in for my SVX. So the moral of this long and rambling story is, that I think it takes more than water to really kill a car. I hope that it works out for you like it did for me and my Eclipse. I will keep my fingers crossed and pray to the Patron Saint of Subarus for you. (Is there a patron saint of Subarus? If not there should be! ;-) )

Best of luck to you, Let us know how it goes.

Yoshi

[wawazat??]

I hope the repairs are easy on your wallet!

[DavieGravy]

With Fords, you never know Lwin.

[1994SubaruSVX]

progressive called me yesterday and basically said there is no water in the oil. he said they will try to see if it is electrical and if they can fix it enough to get the engine to turn over. if they can not then they will try to manually turn it over. if they cant the car will be totaled. if the electrical damage is too severe the car will be totaled. i guess i could buy it from the salvage people......

basically if they total Leo will be stripping the car of all that he can: wheels, mufflers, tips, brakes, cd player, etc.

damn this really sucks. what pisses me off is that any other car would not be totalled. they see mine, it is relatively rare, and they immediately give up.

wish me luck. maybe they got her running or it will all work out.

thanks again for all the support. beav......that was evil.

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by 1994SubaruSVX
progressive called me yesterday and basically said there is no water in the oil. he said they will try to see if it is electrical and if they can fix it enough to get the engine to turn over. if they can not then they will try to manually turn it over. if they cant the car will be totaled. if the electrical damage is too severe the car will be totaled. i guess i could buy it from the salvage people......

basically if they total Leo will be stripping the car of all that he can: wheels, mufflers, tips, brakes, cd player, etc.

damn this really sucks. what pisses me off is that any other car would not be totalled. they see mine, it is relatively rare, and they immediately give up.

wish me luck. maybe they got her running or it will all work out.

thanks again for all the support. beav......that was evil.

That sucks MAJOR, Leo. I can only imagine your angst. Hopefully, it will all work out.

You have my best wishes for your car too. My
last vehicle, 15 year old Pathfinder with 283K+
miles got some front end damage (hit a guard rail) and was declared a total loss. I'd talk to your insurance folks, but I was told it is determined by the repairs being more than some percentage of the cars value. Anyway, they offered me a set amount for it ($3560), and also offered that I could then buy it back, from them, for $1000. Anyway, I now have an SVX!!, but it was a tough decision to give up my old faithful SUV too. I
would think your car should be repairable though,
just need to find the right people to get this done. Make sure none of the computer modules got
wet too. They don't like that.

[Beav]

Damn, that sucks. Crossing my fingers for ya.

Every car has a point of no return. Your insurance company's main concern is what will happen a few days to several months from now. If it runs today, how much more can go wrong down the road? They're just trying to limit their exposure.

If they do total it and you want to keep it, try offering them half of their sale price. I've bought several cars in the past for less than $500 this way (not my totals, but acquaintance's.)

Beav

[1994SubaruSVX]

i have not spoken with the progressive rep, but the mechanic said they could not hand turn the engine.

this is not logical to me. there is no water in the oil. i refuse to let them total my car until i see them take out the spark plugs, put the car in neutral, and then try and hand turn it. also i want to hear the whine of the starter. if the engine is locked up then the starter should whine.

what do you think beav? i need some ammunition to fight this with. they have not officially told me they are totalling the car but in case they do i want to be able to put up a fight.

the mechanic told me they have already tried to find a rebuilt engine and none are available. jasper will do it for $4500 and it will take them four weeks. surely my car is worth more than $4500?

There is an SVX engine with 51K miles on Ebay as of today. I'd email the seller and see what the VIN is, so you can find out what year it is. He says he is parting out 11 SVXes, and that it is very clean (looks that way) and ran great. You'll probably want to ask LOTS of questions regarding it's condition etc. Best wishes. and if
they do total it, see what you can buy it back for. You may have
enough to get your car going great again, and have some left over monies. Oh yes, let me know if you are not familiar with Ebay and how to definately win auctions. This one closes at
28-MAR 06:43 PST. Item # 1814855423. No bids yet (not surprising).

[Beav]

If the plugs are out and it still won't turn my guess would be it took a big gulp of water while running fast and bent a rod or two. Just the opposite of what you're expecting from the starter will happen if the engine is locked-up. It will just make a 'clunk' sound as it engages the flex plate and can't turn.

The engine is pretty well sealed so no water in the oil is no big deal. However when the engine is running it can suck in a batch of water that it can't compress and 'hydro-lock'. When that happens the inertia of the rotating parts sends a piston into the water at high speed. The piston can't compress the water so the connecting rod takes the abuse and bends as a result. The bent rod usually hangs up on the crankcase and won't allow the engine to turn. If you were going to tear it apart yourself you might get lucky and not suffer any damage to the crankshaft and just replace a rod or two and some gaskets.

Like I said, they also have to cover themselves for what may happen down the road if they opt to fix the car. If they fix it will there be more to repair in the future, etc.?

I know it isn't easy to hear this, but if they decide to scrap the car, you can buy it back and use the payoff for the repairs. The car will have a 'rebuilt' title then, so your decision also includes whether or not that's a concern for you.

Beav

It's an SVX, it will pull through. Don't worry because it has the genuine Subaru name to back it. It might just need some TLC, but I would think that it will pull through with no more than the $500 dollar deductible.

[1994SubaruSVX]

please see my final post topic on this board.