Tractor in river

We pulled the tractor out. Front axle and wheels broken off, but the damage I'm worried about is water in the engine through both the submerged air cleaner and muffler.

Anybody had any experience with this? Suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

One Lucky Guy

Mark

Hurst

Method we used was to drain all ports exposed to water including gear train if applicable.

On the engine, you remove the carb if it has one, drain oil, remove spark plugs,distributor (mark dist for timing position), rocker cover. If vertical muffler, probably should remove exhaust manifold and reinstall with fresh gasket prior to starting engine.

Fill crankcase and spark plug holes with diesel.

Slowly rotate the engine to force the diesel out the plug holes.

Wash valve train lavishly with diesel.

Rotate engine for 5 minutes slowly and drain crankcase. Refill to normal level with motor oil and a new filter.

Clean valve train (see next para) and lavishly oil.

Clean and dry carb and dist and reinstall. Berryman's brake cleaner spray is a superb product for this. It removes water and oil but leaves no film and doesn't attack paint like Berryman's Chem tool does.

Install ign wiring with new plugs and set timing to mark made at removal.

Remove and flush the fuel tank if there are any signs of water in it. If not open fuel line and let some fuel drain out before reconnecting to carb.

Install new fuel filter if applicable.

Might need a squirt of starting fluid to get it running.

Once running check gauges and check rocker assy for proper operation and oiling. If ok, shut off and reinstall Rocker cover.

On diesel do the same (injector removal rather than plugs) and install new fuel filters.

Inspect tank for water and let run prior to reconnection to filters. Bleed fuel system prior to attempting to start.

On gear train, I'd just go ahead and dump all fluids and refill with fresh.

Grease all zerks.
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The sooner you can do all this, the less the chance of ANY damage.

We used to retrieve outboard motors from salt water and you had to be fast on them as that salt attacks that aluminum fast.

The Guadalupe River is one of the most beautiful rivers I ever saw. Played in it lots of times growing up.
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Speed is the essence. Flushing out any sand is second. No reason for you to have any damage if you get after it.

Wouldn't hurt to change the oil and filter again after a couple of hours of operation.

May have missed something, but you get the idea.

Good luck.

Mark

Drain all the lubricants out and refill.

I'm not familiar with the Mahindra, but if the injectors are easily removed, do so.

Take apart the air cleaner and intake ducts and get all the water you can out of them.

Dry out the electrical components. You'll probably need to remove the starter to clean it out. If there's mud in the starter or alternator, just flush them out with fresh water, then let them dry.

If you've got a vertical exhaust, you'll probably want to take off the exhaust manifold.

Roll the engine over by hand to work the water out of the engine. It should come out the injector holes or exhaust ports. You can also use compressed air to dry out the combustion chambers, valve ports, etc.

If you're lucky, the engine didn't ingest enough water to cause any serious damage. If you find a lot of water in the cylinders it's a bad sign. You won't know for sure until you get it started whether there's major damage.

Once you get it running, try to get it up to operating temperature and cycle the transmission and hydraulics. Shut it down and change the oil and fluids again.

Good luck.