Would you buy a water damaged 2012 mustang (drivetrain)?

[chatas1]

I really want the coyote engine/trans/computer for my 67 clone. I see the auctions for these "salvaged" cars that have a no start listing. Do you guys think this is a high risk proposition? Should I just pony up and buy a crate? Thanks

[Boom]

Well It would require a complete rebuild IMHO for a water damaged set-up. A full car would be nice as you would have everything needed for operation, plus you can part out the other parts and prolly come out pretty well. Crate motors are nice, but very $$$$ and you will need to source all the odd/end pieces individually.

[Nickm1024]

From my research no do not buy a no start salvage. Even after you get it I believe you need to change the control pack. One that starts and At a fair price for sure. You could be chasing your tail for months even with a good tuner and someone who knows the coyote programming. Good luck.

[graywolf_14]

Shoot buy it strip, clean than reasemble than sell whole car to get what you need. Or just keep it as a dd...

[Explorer]

I would consider that high risk. Water and electronics do not mix. Especially if it happened to be from the NE and Sandy. Saltwater is bad stuff.

[Fordrevhead]

Have you ever seen what salt water does? The connectors for the harnesses will ALL be trash! You are getting a long block with high risk and I wouldnt personally invest the labor to install it without a teardown. It would have to be pretty cheap and I would have to be ready for the project of parting it out if the damage was too bad.

People with ocean going outboards (designed for salt water mind you) hook up a fresh water hose once back on dock and flush out the engines, otherwise the water pump impellers for one, are trash in a season.

[Israel]

Pass,...

[Badass70]

I live in new jeresy and being a plumber & hvac by trade, seeing the distruction of heating & ac units I would tell you to stay far away from that. It only took a week and aluminum on condensers were falling apart from the salt water. Imagine what it did to any electrical components on that car. Plus I've seen alot of cars that were under water not pretty.

[ScottsGT]

Not salt water. No way! Even if you replace the ECM, you don't know how long it has sat letting the salt and corrosion do its damage.

[Husky44]

Add my vote to the NO column. You have no way of knowing what it did to the electronics. Engine is the easy part. The computer and harness you need could have one little bitty bad connector somewhere. You could spend the next 5 years trying to find it. Your health and sanity are worth more than that.

[chatas1]

Well, this helps me with that decision! Thanks for the feedback guys. I didn't even think of the salt water issue.. Great point! Thank you!

[bartl]

If it was cheap enough and had its dip in Lake Michigan or some other fresh water concern, and you have the time and patience to part it out you could probably end up okay, although the electronics would most likely still be junk....ever dunk your cell phone? There's still sheet metal, glass, lamps, etc. Even better, strip off all the sheet metal and drop a vintage car over top of the 2012's chassis!

[Klutch]

If the car was submerged in sea water, I would even wonder if the block and heads were worth saving. Sea water would likely destroy aluminum heads pretty quickly. And it might be pretty tough to completely remove salt deposits from a cast iron block.

Consider if it was worthwhile to buy these cars, the salvage yards would have first crack and we wouldn't even know about them.

[Stanlyf]

I was just searching for salvage title cars (unfortunately I'm a bit short of funds and I can't afford buying a new car) and I came up with these flood cars for sale at auto auction and I'm thinking of buying one, Im not quite sure yet but I guess that if the water level wasn't deep enough to cause problems with the electronics, it might be fine.

[Klutch]

Originally Posted by Stanlyf

I was just searching for salvage title cars (unfortunately I'm a bit short of funds and I can't afford buying a new car) and I came up with these flood cars for sale at auto auction and I'm thinking of buying one, Im not quite sure yet but I guess that if the water level wasn't deep enough to cause problems with the electronics, it might be fine.

While I can certainly understand your need for an inexpensive car, I would strongly discourage you from going anywhere near a flooded car.

Seriously, you'd be better off buying a '91 Honda Civic than any of those newer, flooded cars. A flooded car should be scrapped. End of discussion. Even if the water was only up to the axles, it's toast. Remember, modern anti-lock brake systems have electronic sensors at the wheels. The calipers and rotors would also be shot. And dollars to doughnuts those cars were more "flooded" than the sellers claim.