I heard that episode, and it made me laugh to hear Tom and Ray asking what all went on at the Burning Man festival.

./ note to self and others: When going to Burning man, RENT a car! (the same also applies to everyone proposing to drive on or through salt ridden surfaces...

While truck is running you'll get more at auction. Later a non-runner might bring $400 - $900... Some people would consider this an insurance claim. But if you leave it, the salt keeps eating away at connectors and such 24/7, while truck is parked or running, while you are at work, while you are asleep.....

Wow you guys are shooting in the dark. Red Bull? Shiny rims? Vapor lock?

A little on my back ground and maby you will get the stupid kid idea out of your head.
15 years commercial fisherman, the last 5 captain. Every where from the mexican border to the Bering Straights in Alaska incase you dont know where that is. I've swallowed more salt water than I'm sure you have ever seen. So ya I have an idea how it effects machinery.

A quick dip in a brackish 3ft puddle (with maby a salt content of 20 ppt max) will not have enough salt content, or exposure for long enough, to instantly erode a frame or make my truck dissapear from under me while I drive it.

Now the effect of a little salt water on the connections of an o2 sensor (counting salt is conductive), ya that I believe, and will be rewiring and eliminating the connectors in the next few days. Oh ya btw, I do electronics and marine wiring too. Ever wired a radar dome in 15 foot sea's? Ya didn't think so. I'm pretty sure I can handle correctly eliminating the connector on an o2. So you can keep your snide comments to yourself on me doing that one.

As far as vapor lock and water in my air box, your Rover must be a lowrider. Cause my freakin intake to the airbox is just shy of 4 feet off the ground. Btw is also bone dry with the dust still intact so it never had any water in it. And if your buddy cracked a block after getting a little water in the engine I'd venture to say it was just coincidence and bad timing.

I doubt someone that spends all their time sh*t talking in an online forum truly knows how internal combustion works. A little moisture in a cylinder is not going to crack a block. Maby you forget fire causes moisture to evaporate, therfore sending it out the exaust pipe. Therefore..... not enough water to cause a vapor lock. Stick a vaccume line from your intake in a bucket of water and see what happens. Lots steam but oh my god, No Boom.

Oh and for the guy who suggested I clean and grease all my electrical connections. Thanks, I hadnt thought about doing all of them. But will deff start when I do the O2.

Oh and did you guys forget that some states use salt on their roads for snow and ice control? Im pretty freakin sure that a winter of driving on those roads is alot more salt than me dipping my truck for 20 seconds or so. Or can a Rover not handle that kind of salt either? Maby Savannah you are right, I should sell my Rover, and get a real truck that can handle being used and not polished and kept in a garage. If they truly are as fragile as you say they are.

Immersion in a 3 foot deep tank is far different than being sprayed. Difference between a swimming pool and just playing with the garden hose. And yes, the guys up north have all sorts of problems with frame rot, rear lights corrosion, etc. if not dealt with to begin with.

You may well get more money for your truck now than when it has more problems. And if you keep driving thru three foot deep salt water, in an un-prepared truck, with no care afterwards; you will have the same result with Chevy, Ford, Dodge, Jeep, etc. I don't use new vehicles for salt water boat operations, I get old ones and fix them up. It is a very harsh environment. Many government sites on the water will have special wash down racks for their vehicles.

If you look at the connectors that can get wet, if they are not sealed, or the seals are dry rotted and old, salt water gets in, and starts turning all the copper stuff green, changing the resistance, making connection bad over time. Modern vehicles have lots of sensors and connectors. Salt water wicks up the stranded copper wire itself and attacks, you will notice than marine grade wire is normally "tinned" and is not raw copper under the insulation. And thats just to deal with salt air.

Talk to your pals with boat trailers that launch in salt water about trailer lights, brakes, etc.

So lets see, its over a week now. My truck has not rusted out from under me, cracked the block, started having gremlins, or shown any sign of issues. Hrm must be the hand of God saving my truck from the certain perils you guys said were going to start happening.

Oh and Savannah, BTW, the boats I'm reffering to aren't your little Zodiak type toy boats that you trailer to the beach on nice sunny days. Think..... Deadliest Catch.

And thanks for the lesson on what corrosion looks like on wires, gee I've never seen that. Though just for your refference, we use plain old wiring on our boats. No "tinning". Only morons would pay for "marine grade wire". Every salty dog under the sun knows how to properly seal their connections. Or would you like me to give you a lesson in how to keep water out of your wires?

re: making connection bad over time

Corrosion takes time. Wire insulation can degrade with pin hole leaks, and that's why marine wire is worth the difference, if you don't have Seal Tite or other electrical raceway. Some applications require 100% reliability under all conditions. A Dodge or other truck driven on the barrier islands near me for two years by student workers (aka less than responsible) without wash out, will suffer all sorts of issues, including transmission pan turned into angel food cake. And most people with pickups don't tow a big boat that has it's own TV show to the beach and launch it. The captain drives to the port and parks.

RE: Every salty dog under the sun knows how to properly seal their connections

Yes, and Rovers as well as other vehicles are not designed and built by them. So where I mentioned prepping a vehicle, you know how, but have decided not to use your experience and knowledge. Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.


BTW, the FC-470 is not a toy. Ask SEALS. But they carry much cooler toys than the laptops in my pix. I put the pix in to show an application where water-tite connections are required. I bought four of those Zodiacs for $25 each federal surplus.

Everyone here has an opinion. And you pay the same, for ones you like and ones you don't. Can't wait until you don't listen to people about that chirp from the front prop shaft....

I just realized from this thread that I have been doing things wrong, this must be the "real truck" method of boat launch - and less than three feet deep at the hitch....

Just so we are clear Terry, I did not mean to imply by my statement about the episode of CarTalk that your truck would rot away infront of your eyes.
I live in MI, they use so much salt on the roads during the winter that they turn white, I rinse the under side of my truck every spring in fresh water and no huge rust holes or anything like that.

Down by the river - YouTube

I honestly think you got water somewhere is should not have gotten.

Wow u are very toutchy, you ask for our sugestions u dont like them, then you tell us about rewiring boats and what not, if you know what your doing why would u ask us. The bottom line is you drove your truck through water now it dosnt work.Its not a boat, salt water or reg water will distroy electric components.A factory truck does not belong in the water.;If you want to go through 3 ft of water you must water proof everything. Any one who knows about an engine will tell u that water in your engine will cause vapor lock and blow your block.Dont tell me I'm wrong if so the T.V show trucks is wrong whitch is where I learned that from.The bottom line if you know all about motors and wiring dont ask for advice, if you are not willing to take any of these sugestions, yes we all will break bulls, grow a pair and stop being so toutchy.