How difficult to repair a flooded bike?

[marc]

I've been asked to make a *big* repair for a Yamaha TDM850.

Bike was in a parking, then a weather disaster happened: rained a lot, water made its way to the parking and the bike ended for 3 days under 3 metres of water.

Engine is still full of water. Counters have mud inside. Lights and blinkers still hold dirty water in them.

Don't know if water has ruined CDI, fuel pump (if any), and can't figure out if the electric cabling and connectors may get damage in such conditions.

Plastics, body, wheels, all is in good shape.

I know this conditions will require disassembling everything, but I've had a recent experience with a bike requiring to disassemble everything to parts, even to bits of their parts, to clean, polish, paint and re-assemble it. And I survived, and the bike is running flawlessly after laying abandoned for 15 years.

Do you think it is worth the time?
Any tips and tricks?

[GeeP]

For something that has been totally submerged, total disassembly is the only way.  Ideally, the bike would be kept under water until it was possible to disassemble. 

Sinc it sounds like it's been high and dry for a few days, completely disassemble the engine and transmission as soon as possible.  Coat the parts with WD40 immediately after removal.  Do not allow the parts to air dry or they will flash rust. 

You may still end up with corrosion on the engine internals.  It depends on how long it was under water, condition when it was flooded, and how long since it flooded.

Expect the electrical system to be a total loss.

As far as worth, offer to haul it off.  It's worth nothing in it's current condition.

[werase643]

lets assume fresh water         if salt.....crush it
do the following as soon as possible!!!!!!
drain tank
pull plug
drain engine
flush engine with kerosene or diesel
fresh oil
hand crank the engine slowly
CDI should be ok
wd the connections
clean the carbs
new plugs
clean/drain all lights
clean out airbox
remove the starter and bench test it
install starter
try to start bike.....without plugs and check for spark
install plugs
add gas
try to start again
if it runs.....flush brakes....clean out inst cluster....

it boils down to a full service....clean and LUBE everything

[Cal Price]

Like werase643 said, if it's salt water forget it it. If its fresh then it may be savagable.

All the previous advice is good. If you are not in a position to start right away because of time or money, and it will need both, then get the water out of the engine by removing plugs and turning the engine via the back wheel and get something in there, WD40, oil, kerosene whatever you have. Wash everything you can with clean water and  a derergent and WD40 again. Dry as well as you can with a leaf blower or hair-dryer and keep the bike under cover if possible until you can start the project. If you can't start soon check frequently and be liberal with the WD40 or whatever. The best thing would be a full Haynes or Clymers stripdown service.

Expect to replace a lot of small parts especially electricals but you might get lucky. Luck and the initial damage will determine if this is a financially viable project but it should be doable.  You have experience, do you have the time ? what else could you do with the time ? only you can answer that. If you take a mathemetically clinical view of what this will cost in time and cash you probably would not do it but if you don't you may well regret not giving it a go. Good luck.

[Trwhouse]

Hi there,
My gut feeling is yes, it is possible to fix this, but it may not be worth the time and expense.
The damage is likely massive from water sitting in the engine and bearings, etc.
And whatever parts list you come up with, there will likely be many more parts that it needs that you haven't even thought about.
If you want to do it for the fun and excitement of it, then do it.
But if you expect to get a bike for cheap out it, you are probably kidding yourself.
Let us know what you do.
And good luck,
Todd

[sledge]

My concerns mainly regard the high-tolerance parts and electrical system. The machined faces of high tolerance parts such as the crank and balance shaft journals, little end  gudgeon pin and con rods, the camshafts and valvegear, timing chain, piston rings and bores and all the ball bearings and races in the engine, wheels and headrace and g/box will have started to rust and develop pitting almost immediately. Particularly the parts above the oil level. All the braking system components such as cylinders and pistons will start to corrode and the generator windings, ignition coils, starter motor and solenoid will have lost insulation resistance and will require specialist attention to rectify as will the ignition parts. All the connections in the loom will have corroded as will the switchgear. Water will have got into the forks and the suspension linkage bearings so they will also have to be rebuilt if you want reliability. Its all possible to repair but I think its a question of cost and economics as you could easily spend more than the bike was worth before it was flooded. I think if i was in your position I would be looking for a totaled bike and making a good one up out of the two.

[marc]

Thank you guys for the advice.

This poor bike got flooded 5 months ago, and nobody even took care of removing the tank and drain it.
So engine is totaled for sure, as I expect lots of water getting into it through the breather hole, and rusting everything. Water had 5 months to rust everything!

I was planning to find a working engine for a replacement, but since this model is quite rare, very few parts are available, and they are expensive.

Of course I'm not doing this to get a cheap bike, rebuilding is always expensive. I do it for fun. I had a big time with last bike I rebuilt.
The "not so fun" part of the job is seeking for parts that are no longer available from the "stealer". This bike is a 1994 model, and there is still plenty of parts.

Hummm....
I'll look at the bike closely...

Thankyou guys.

Marc.
(that's been recently operated near the butt and can't sit on the GS)

[3imo]

x

good luck

[onefastgs500]

as a liscenced rebiulder we usually shy away from flood vehicles except as parts donors however we did purchase a brand new dodge 2500 desiel that was on dealers lot on lake ponchatrain during katrina so far much corrosion has been dicovered and it still is not running(2months later) no telling what will have a shortened life span or fail down the road parting it out may be best bet