110 submarine [emoji24]

[Colmoore]

Well this is really hard to say but……

I put my 110 into the Myall River at Buladelah last Monday arvo.
A true kookslam……

I’m absolutely gutted; she was the best sorted, fun to drive Defender I’ve owned.

I’d been at Seal Rocks for a few days celebrating my brothers 50th with our 2 families; stayed in a nice holiday place and had a beaut time.
It wasn’t a boys camping weekend so I didn’t swap the at’s for the big wheels though ended up driving on Lighthouse Beach every day as the conditions were lousy at Number 1 Beach.

Monday morning we all packed up and I decided to head to Dungog mtb park for a ride on my way home but wanted to give the 110 a good hose down first, especially to get rid of sand in the running gear.
Unfortunately the power for the whole area outed and the property is only on pump/tank water, so I was unable to use the hose; easy fixed, i’ll just go to Buladelah boat ramp and give her a wash there………

I nosed her into the river, leaving rear wheels on the dry part of the ramp, sat there a few minutes then went to shift into reverse but, being a Defender, she didn’t want to go into gear.
I let her roll forward 4 inches, dropped her in reverse, eased the clutch out and, she never stopped moving forward; locked centre diff, wheels turning traction control working, abs working and, as the water started coming in the window; engine off, in gear, handbrake (in good working order) on, I still went off the end of the ramp [emoji33]

I waited for the cab to fill up as she was diving, flicked off the fridge switch and escaped out the window in about 15’ of water.
Swam passed the gull wing and pulled out a strap, lynched it round the 50mm hitch and swam ashore; as I tried to stand up on the concrete sleepers of the boat ramp, I realised they were covered in slime and so slippery, you could not walk on them without constantly slipping.
I called out to the few onlookers with 4x4’s (mostly grey nomads) for help but nobody wanted to help, so I ran to the contractors working on the car park and asked if they would bring their 20t excavator down - they wouldn’t as it was steel tracked and would rip up the road.
They did help by driving their bogie down and tried to pull me out with a chain attached to my snatch strap (so sketchy [emoji51]) but unfortunately, my car snagged on the 4’ step at the end of the ramp (she was lifting 2 of the 5m concrete sleepers up by 2’ each snatch!) and we just couldn’t get her out.

By now, my 110 is totally underwater except for 4” of white roof above the door and the ends of 2 kayaks sticking up on a 40° nose down angle.

The local copper was passing by on the bridge, so he came down and called a tow mob and they spent some considerable time trying to do the same snatch up the ramp with a tilt tray and winch, then hooked on another 4x4 with winch to drag my car to the right side of the ramp then, after almost 2hrs, they got second 4x4 and dragged it to the left of the ramp (which id asked for as soon as they got there….) and finally skull dragged her up the rocky bank.

At least they didn’t turn her on her side (it was a near thing [emoji51]) and they did work hard, which I’m thankful for.

I had to dive down at least twice my height and swim in the window a few times: to turn the parking lights off (must have flicked the switch upon exiting) then to try to find my phone, release the handbrake and slip tc out of gear so she could be towed out; a very sketchy feeling indeed!

To add much insult to my destroyed pride, I’ve spent the last 6 months working on fixing some battery/electrical issues - worn cables, minor shorts/voltage leaks, fitting extra fuse boards and grommets under the cubby box, a nice big amp and speakers, new reverse camera and lots of other stuff but id left the covers off the seat boxes as I wasn’t quite finished [emoji31][emoji31][emoji31][emoji31][emoji31] - I can still taste the leaking battery acid from my 2 virtually brand new batteries now 🥴[emoji24][emoji24]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231124/5a246d20dbbf9ef78b9722152a9860b4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231124/ae50862282d9558adc47d5c0f9fc7882.jpg

I’m insured but they want to write her off.

Anyone brought one back from 3 hours of fresh water submersion or do I just cut my losses?

[Colmoore]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231124/ca82316c6b0290b36447105f3843e5ea.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231124/65c6572b6bd9c88cea32a6d8d0d1986f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231124/f0ce0f4a5e4785eb2e60f9bd63abeb96.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231124/e9c310f0bbc85054ef66a781617e4b55.jpg
List of kit in pics and she also has ARB air lockers, red arc tow pro, ss water tank w pump, etc etc etc [emoji24][emoji24][emoji24][emoji24]

[shack]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231124/ca82316c6b0290b36447105f3843e5ea.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231124/65c6572b6bd9c88cea32a6d8d0d1986f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231124/f0ce0f4a5e4785eb2e60f9bd63abeb96.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231124/e9c310f0bbc85054ef66a781617e4b55.jpg
List of kit in pics and she also has ARB air lockers, red arc tow pro, ss water tank w pump, etc etc etc [emoji24][emoji24][emoji24][emoji24]That sucks man.. Sorry to hear and see that!

Pm sent...

[cuppabillytea]

Shock horror. Given what you've put into it already, I would say complete the salvage. Might be a life's work though. Good luck.

[austastar]

Tenebris visio nocturna, my darkest nightmare is standing on the brakes and sliding to disaster.
At least it wasn't salt water.

[POD]

Man that really sucks, can't imagine how you must have felt with that horror happening and no doubt onlookers finding it all very amusing. I would definitely buy it back- do your insurers offer a buy-back for a write-off, or would you have to compete at auction? Shannons offer a buy back but I'm not sure that others do.

[3toes]

A small one but the bright spot in this nightmare is that there was no one else in the vehicle at the time

[Colmoore]

Man that really sucks, can't imagine how you must have felt with that horror happening and no doubt onlookers finding it all very amusing. I would definitely buy it back- do your insurers offer a buy-back for a write-off, or would you have to compete at auction? Shannons offer a buy back but I'm not sure that others do.

Gday Pod.
I’m with Shannon’s so yeah, might do that despite my wife’s protests [emoji51][emoji7] (maybe she’s right [emoji848][emoji20])
My 110 ain’t no show pony, most panels have dings, all have deep pin stripes, the bonnet has barbed wire gouges and has been sprayed w matt black from a rattle can, the roof doesn’t have much paint left on top but she drives beautifully, stomps most tracks and is very practically set up.
Every cable, fitting, switch, connector, elec motor is going to have to replaced though; it’s gonna cost some serious [emoji383][emoji389] so it’ll come down to cost I think.
I don’t have a shed either, so if it goes ahead I’ll be in someone’s workshop…..

The worst part was, the recovery vehicles were Nissan and Toyota - sorry crew [emoji31]

[POD]

The worst part was, the recovery vehicles were Nissan and Toyota - sorry crew [emoji31]

Ouch.

I guess it comes down to the difference between the payout and the buy-back. It'll need completely reupholstering, electrically I think you could go a long way with WD40 and compressed air, the ECU I'm pretty sure is completely sealed, I don't think you'd want it to sit very long with the engine, gearbox etc full of water. Not having a shed is a big problem though, you'll need a good mate.

[simonmelb]

If that happed to my Disco 2 I would take the money and walk away.

Got more important things to do with my life than spending hours and hours and hours on a car that do be honest is not pristine or unique.

There are good used alternatives now available that prices have come down a bit post Covid silliness.

Maybe buy the wreck only if there are parts you really want and would actually save money.

Take the emotion out of it, love people and use things, not the other way around.

[jon3950]

Take the emotion out of it, love people and use things, not the other way around.

Much as it pains me to say it, given the emotional attachment I have to my Defender, this is good advice.

Walk away, find another one and enjoy the process of building it up.

[Colmoore]

I know what you mean John, if she was just a disco, I’d have no trouble letting her go but we’re talking about a Defender here…..
Sorry, I couldn’t resist [emoji12]

In all seriousness though, ‘Love people and use things’, is very sound advice.
Thank you!
I just wonder what will use more time and money? Repair or another build up [emoji848]

Had a great chat with Shack the other day, so good to speak with someone with lots of experience and love for Landys (though I’ve had to cast off the green monster of jealousy considering his shed and gear![emoji23])
Thanks Shack and hopefully I’ll get to chat in person sometime [emoji106]

AULRO sure is a great way to connect us all.


Some positives: seats were virtually dry Friday arvo when I visited (the car is at my indie mechanics shop) even though the weather has been wet and humid and there was no rank smell at all either!
The car has no carpet in front & marine carpet with dyna mat under it on floors.
The cabinets are 9mm marine ply covered in same marine carpet and they were also almost dry.

I’ll drop oils from engine, box, tc, diffs, Monday but don’t believe there’s water in the engine (dipstick comes out clean, no noticeable increase in oil volume and no milky oil visible in through oil filler) and one of the first things I did after the recovery was to disconnect snorkel/air box (many litres flowed out) pull the soaking air filter, disconnect turbo intake and inter cooler hoses.

Some negatives: I pulled the ECU out the day after recovery and water dripped out so I’d say, she gone (though I noticed a company called ECU Recover, who check, clean and rebuild ‘any ecu’ the other day. Might contact them) but I might open it up, clean and dry it and see how we go.
Considering the amount of brown muck in every fuse board (I have 5 factory ones - 3 under the dash, 2 under drivers seat, then 2 am ones under cubby box and one in the rear compartment and one under the bonnet also full of relays as well for all lights - in a ‘waterproof case’ [emoji849]) I don’t think wd 40 is going to cut it.
I’m thinking it will require all cable, looms, switches, relays out and all new in [emoji51]
Though I may be able to use some minor looms if the waterproof plugs look ok,as they’re designed to get wet.
It’s possible I’ll be able to clean windscreen wiper, window, washer bottle motors and dry and test them.

As someone mentioned, the only thing to do is crunch the numbers once I know a bit more; it may well be that it’s not economically viable to fix her, given she’ll almost certainly be a stat write off.

[gromit]

Really sorry to hear what happened.
I don't use my Defender that much but it would be sorely missed if something should happen to it.

If it's a total write off it might be worth finding out if you can buy it back and if so what value they want, even if only to part out or remove the accessories.

I found that over 25 years old and you tend to get automatic salvage rights but anything younger and you might be able to get onto the assessor. Otherwise you have to bid for it at auction. This may vary with different insurers.

My son had someone write off an old car he was driving and we got the wreck for $100 but I guess most insurers would see good value in putting your Defender up for auction.

I hope it all works out.


Colin

[POD]

I know what you mean John, if she was just a disco, I’d have no trouble letting her go but we’re talking about a Defender here…..
Sorry, I couldn’t resist [emoji12]

In all seriousness though, ‘Love people and use things’, is very sound advice.
Thank you!
I just wonder what will use more time and money? Repair or another build up [emoji848]

Had a great chat with Shack the other day, so good to speak with someone with lots of experience and love for Landys (though I’ve had to cast off the green monster of jealousy considering his shed and gear![emoji23])
Thanks Shack and hopefully I’ll get to chat in person sometime [emoji106]

AULRO sure is a great way to connect us all.


Some positives: seats were virtually dry Friday arvo when I visited (the car is at my indie mechanics shop) even though the weather has been wet and humid and there was no rank smell at all either!
The car has no carpet in front & marine carpet with dyna mat under it on floors.
The cabinets are 9mm marine ply covered in same marine carpet and they were also almost dry.

I’ll drop oils from engine, box, tc, diffs, Monday but don’t believe there’s water in the engine (dipstick comes out clean, no noticeable increase in oil volume and no milky oil visible in through oil filler) and one of the first things I did after the recovery was to disconnect snorkel/air box (many litres flowed out) pull the soaking air filter, disconnect turbo intake and inter cooler hoses.

Some negatives: I pulled the ECU out the day after recovery and water dripped out so I’d say, she gone (though I noticed a company called ECU Recover, who check, clean and rebuild ‘any ecu’ the other day. Might contact them) but I might open it up, clean and dry it and see how we go.
Considering the amount of brown muck in every fuse board (I have 5 factory ones - 3 under the dash, 2 under drivers seat, then 2 am ones under cubby box and one in the rear compartment and one under the bonnet also full of relays as well for all lights - in a ‘waterproof case’ [emoji849]) I don’t think wd 40 is going to cut it.
I’m thinking it will require all cable, looms, switches, relays out and all new in [emoji51]
Though I may be able to use some minor looms if the waterproof plugs look ok,as they’re designed to get wet.
It’s possible I’ll be able to clean windscreen wiper, window, washer bottle motors and dry and test them.

As someone mentioned, the only thing to do is crunch the numbers once I know a bit more; it may well be that it’s not economically viable to fix her, given she’ll almost certainly be a stat write off.


You've come up with almost the opposite situation that I would have expected- I was sure your upholstery would be nackered and the electricals ok. The ECU surprised me- I thought mine was fully sealed but it's not a td5 and I might be wrong anyway. If it was me I think I'd be stripping all the looms, letting them dry out and then re-wrapping them but being retired, my time is no longer worth money! Also I would think that all the fuse boxes could be cleaned out, although every relay would need replacing. A lot of hours to be spent, it's also a question of what you would replace it with and the cost of that. I've just spent a LOT of time and money rebuilding my 130 for that very reason- nothing out there that would be as suitable for my uses for anything near what it cost me to rebuild. I do have excellent facilities though- in fact I installed a hoist in my shed specifically to facilitate the rebuild. Paying someone else to do this would be out of the question, doing it in someone else's shed would have it's own problems.

[shack]

(though I’ve had to cast off the green monster of jealousy considering his shed and gear![emoji23])


I'm afraid I'm not sure about the shed, it looks like Solihull after a cyclone!

One thing I've learned in life though is you really need the right tools for the job, often the purchase is covered on the first job.

And we still need more...

[Colmoore]

So this is what happens when you let the green smoke out of a nnn ecu underwater [emoji33]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231127/6af19a701602c90d8a30d7c74d5873c8.jpg

[BradC]

That's not particularly pretty, but not at all unexpected even in fresh water. Electrolysis is a bastard.

[Colmoore]

I'm afraid I'm not sure about the shed, it looks like Solihull after a cyclone!

One thing I've learned in life though is you really need the right tools for the job, often the purchase is covered on the first job.

And we still need more...

Solihull after a cyclone, in your backyard; gee whiz, that’s the kind of idea dreams are made of……..

Tool equation
Total tools required is always equal to the number of tools I own +1

[Colmoore]

My Mrs isn’t keen for me to have my 110 repaired, she thinks it might get expensive (she may be correct) and started showing me DMax’s, Yoga’s and Navara’s I could have for $25k (with 200k + kms) [emoji51]🥺[emoji31]

Maybe I’ll take a break from Defender ownership and just buy an old WRX…….
Is it too late at 51, to have a mid life car crisis? 🥴

[Tins]

I know what you mean John, if she was just a disco, I’d have no trouble letting her go but we’re talking about a Defender here…..


This may be your saving grace here.. Deefers are uncomplicated. Nothing is unfixable.... $$$

Bloke I know is 76, has a WRX, loves it. He also has a Navara and a Patrol, but there's no accounting for taste.

[jon3950]

1]
Maybe I’ll take a break from Defender ownership and just buy an old WRX…….
Is it too late at 51, to have a mid life car crisis? 🥴

Personally, I think you need both. Go for an STi though, they are well and truly worth the extra you pay for them. [biggrin]

[BradC]

Go for an STi though

Nothing that can’t be fixed with a shot of penicillin.

[Colmoore]

This may be your saving grace here.. Deefers are uncomplicated. Nothing is unfixable.... $$$

Bloke I know is 76, has a WRX, loves it. He also has a Navara and a Patrol, but there's no accounting for taste.

Hehe, you could let the Patrol go through but a Navara?? [emoji23]

I had a late 90’s Rex up until we had 2 kids, they cant go anywhere, like a defender but wherever they can go, they go very quickly [emoji14]

[Colmoore]

Personally, I think you need both. Go for an STi though, they are well and truly worth the extra you pay for them. [biggrin]

Yes I’m thinking STi or maybe a replica sti; a lot of sti’s get written off and folks drop the engines and running gear into standard Rex’s; as long as it’s got the variable torque bias dial, I’ll be happy

[Colmoore]

Personally, I think you need both. Go for an STi though, they are well and truly worth the extra you pay for them. [biggrin]

Both? Yes, that’s definitely been in my plans (can I put you down as a refereè for my wife? 🤣) just thought I’d be doing this the other way round [emoji848]

I’m thinking that if I do get something else, I’d like to be back in a defender in the next 2 years though, so the Rex will only be sub $15k.

Everything can be fixed but not everything will get approval from the budgeting dept and if the td5 has to come apart, I’d say the repairs will cost more than the insurance payout [emoji20]

They’re definitely not making it a stat write off though, so RTA won’t be notified if I retain ownership.

Anyone here want to buy the 110 if I can’t get approval at home?

[loanrangie]

I would be surprised if the vehicle isn't written off ( a given ) and listed as non repairable fresh water or not.