Buying a Texas Flood Vehicle | Subaru FXT

Patreon: www.patreon.com/dirtcheapdaily
In this episode of Dirtcheapdaily, Aaron and Seth help Matt get his hurricane victim back on the road!
Matt bought this Forester from the Huston Copart salvage lot.
Music by Dyalla Swain
/ dyallas

[@MissouriOldTimer]

if you guys would put a dehumidifier in the car with the the doors and windows closed, you would be surprised how much water it would draw out ..

[@trustbuster23]

Tip for your carpets/seats, etc. Go to Costco and buy 5 gallons of vinegar. Get everything as dry as you can - run an electric space heater in the car with the windows cracked and a fan to circulate the hot air for a few days straight. Basically you are trying to make the inside of the car about as hot as it is baking in a parking lot in a hot day in August, with a window cracked to let the warm moist air escape. Get it up about 80 degrees or so at least. Once everything seems as dry as you can get it (takes several days), it is going to start to smell from mildew, etc. Now it is time to pull out the vinegar. Soak and I do mean SOAK every bit of fabric remaining in the interior with the vinegar. The critical thing is to make sure that the fabric is as wet with vinegar as it was with the water. The key is making sure the vinegar goes as deep as the water went, so it reaches all of the mildew. Just leave it soaked in vinegar for a day or two to kill everything. Then use a shop vac and mop up the excess vinegar. This will make the whole interior smell unbelievably bad - like somebody spilled a jar of pickles in the back seat x 100. Do not even think about driving the car for a few days after you do this - you would just die from the fumes even with all the windows down. It will be just gross smelling and you will regret listening to me because it is so nasty. But here is the thing - you've killed the mold and the vinegar smell will eventually just evaporate away. Your car will smell like pickles for a month or two and you will doubt it will ever go away - but it eventually does. And then the car won't smell anymore. How do I know this - wife left the sunroof open and it rained - a lot. We had 3 inches of water in the car. This trick saved me having to replace both front seats and all the carpet. We had the car another 5 years and it was fine, no issues.

[@1marcelfilms]

just spill some gasoline inside the car and it will smell of gas

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

looking for a wrecked STI to swap the whole interior with. When everything is out we'll clean everything out

[@EvilDeadFan11]

I owned a 2004 Java Black Forester 5 speed XT for about 8 years and loved it. I had it tastefully modded and when I sold it to move onto the next big thing.. it took 35 minutes asking price... with approximately 35 other offers. The first guy to inquire got it and flew down. That was 2.5 years ago.. the demand is there for them!

[@c1poweredeg]

if you've got green Corrosion on any of the plugs or pins or Connectors go to home depot and buy a gallon of CLR calcium line and rust remover... spray it on the the electrical connectors and wait a few and use a compressor to blow it out of the holes. it does wonders.. my shop practically rebuilds flood cars for other shops all the time especially salt water floods.

[@JuanRomero-xk4rv]

Thanks for the tip. I just bought a flood vehicle from Houston and have no idea where to begin. I guess I will find out how bad it is by next week when it gets here. Post a video with some good pointers....looks like you know what to do.

[@FlowtnWitWalden]

oh man i'm glad i watched this - i was thinking of buying a Texas flood but damn so much work. without a garage forget about it !

[@shawnrufus7579]

Brakes are a closed system, there is no way for water to enter as long as the cap is on.

[@D4x4Bronc]

same with ac and cooling

[@bbldrizzaay]

Really enjoyed this video! Especially when you drained out the Diff-mud xD nice job

[@moonlighter6]

WOW that water line mark is halfway up the door. And in Houston it probably sat in the water for at least a few days.

[@morecarstuff]

I have absolutely no idea when i subscribed but it must have been a long time ago. I havent been notified at all of videos but im glad i navigated my way back here. good vid man.

[@MyIronman8]

That's how the immobilizer works you put the key in and then it sends power to the ECU then it's okay when they match is the ECU turns on .

[@CarAndMechanical]

Dude, glad to see the channel is going strong and looking forward to the follow up to this. Good video, fun project.

[@justindrumm8]

Cant wait to see what you guys do with it. I also have a 04 fxt auto

[@torreVs]

Install a dehumidifier inside the car for 7 days and replace again all fluids (fuel included if not do before) after the first 500 miles. Zorte ona izan,

[@bobwarren3898]

With a salvage title, it is almost impossible to get insurance for flood vehicles, as most insurance companies will only provide liability insurance and not comprehensive or collision and there is definitely no warranty from the manufacturer due to the water incursion. Still, if you need a cheap vehicle and can pay cash, it will get you around for a few years.

[@AJRestoration]

ALWAYS clean electronics with 99% alcohol before trying to use it after water damage.

[@nigelorion]

It's not starting because the 05 fxt has an immobilizer. So it's not recognizing the key thus no fuel.

[@jeremyclose705]

nigelorion the immobilizer it's in the ecu. If the ecu is trashed then it's not going to start... if he uses an older wrx ecu then he can use the existing key. Even though there is no immobilizer.

[@cousinharry2.0]

you're not going to be able to hookup an older wrx 16 bit ecu to a fxt 32 bit ecu wiring

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

It wasn't starting because the ECU pinout in the service manual was incorrect. Once we figured that out, we threw in an 04 STI ECU that was modified for the correct pinout and reflashed it as an 05 Auto FXT

[@bigw8549]

That one guy ain't even dirty.

[@CWJGARAGE]

Hitachi ECU is for N/A vehicles. Denso ECU is Turbo.

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

that makes more sense. Thanks!

[@tonycarter6509]

would not thought you needed to drain dif as should be sealed. though if electric seats check out the power connecters as could cause a fire due to the power needed

[@T25Accent]

My wifes 94 mustang GT just got flooded. Pretty bummed, the car was mint, zero rust or anything wrong with it. Depending on how much insurance gives us will determine if we keep it and restore it or let it go.... I just picked up a 99 Legacy that she loves to drive. Maybe we can find her one of those to turbocharge. ;) (like mine)

[@kentonmiles]

It's river and sewage water depending what area it was from in Texas. East Houston we have brackish water in the river up to lake Houston. Also it's really polluted so hit or miss on which type of water.

[@TheMojojames]

Hope you guys a read for a world of electrical gremlins. Sure if a manual trans goes in this thing that will tackle a good check but I would be pulling apart the whole harness and replacing the wires.

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+TheMojojames if it comes to that we'll just swap the harness. Easy enough if not work time intensive.

[@TheMojojames]

Dirtcheapdaily I would plan for it because if the wires aren't sealed at the ends, the water will travel inside the insulation especially salt water. It may be only a matter of time type situation. Hope you guys get lucky. Im sure you've gotten lots of suggestions but for the interior, you can buy bulk DampRid by like the gallon and just buy one of the individual cups to keep in the car and refill with new crystals. Stuff worked for me in a couple of vehicles I left the windows open on wet days.

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+TheMojojames we just swapped the interior out for new stuff. Makes it easier👍🏻

[@TheMojojames]

Dirtcheapdaily hell yeah it does.

[@jamescooper2110]

you guys should do like four BG diff flushes or something to clean those diffs out

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

We might be doing a 6speed conversion in the next few months, so we didn't completely flush everything just yet. Otherwise Matt was just planning on changing out the fluid every couple months for the next while.

[@garyugarek7489]

How did you not drain the fuel first? That should have been on the list with fluids

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Gary Ugarek it was. We were trying to get the fuel pump running to drain the tank when we figured out the ecu wasn't powering up.

[@edweigman9683]

You guys are funny to listen too, good video!

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

thanks!

[@BoxerTechGarage]

Jealous he picked it up for $250 plus fees. That's a steal!

[@BoxerTechGarage]

Mik Wri I'd want it for the motor.

[@nigelorion]

Sick someone already upgraded it to 4pots

[@BoxerTechGarage]

That was my first thought was "Holy crap! 4 pots! Those are worth about as much as he paid for the car (before fees and shipping of course)"

[@forgoteness2]

Boxer Tech $300?

[@BoxerTechGarage]

All Impact Garage Yeah, look them up from places like rock auto, they're about $125 a piece reman. Even more new.

[@paulsalzer584]

nigelorion First thing Matt did. Even before draining all the water.

[@addamoliver]

IMHO, part it out bro. You got a lot more than a g sitting there.

[@MichaelSchneiderTexas]

That water was a toxic stew, stay away from it! lol

[@thatsubieguy2233]

I wanna see a rusted-out aluminum block :)

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

the cylinders are pressed in steel, so they could rust

[@Astinsan]

Honestly the computer should still work. You need to clean it and remove any corrosion. Soak it in alcohol for a week. They have good masking on cars.

[@volvowagon70]

If the ecu numbers are different it doesn’t matter if it fits or not, wrong ecu is wrong ecu.

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

we just reflashed it with a FXT map

[@Moelube]

My Subaru Forester SG5 was flooded in India. The battery was connected so the ECU short itself... The car has an immobilizer. If I just swap out the ECU, fuses boxes and immobilizer from one car to mine, would that make it run? Both my car and the parts care are manual but 2 years apart... ECU part numbers are different but essentially everything about the model is the same as India had these imported under the Chevrolet badge for 3 years only... Please help!

[@irishmurf1799]

I was going bid on it glad you got it

[@pepedrat2982]

Shame you can't dip the whole thing in isopropyl alcohol. That's what you rescue flood damaged electrical goods with. You'd lose some grease I suppose.

[@Dripaholic]

Ears perked up when i heard MNSubiez cool to see a MN channel! Consider me subbed

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

thanks!

[@garybentleysr7929]

Never get running to much clowning around

[@GEMC98]

THAT`S A LOT OF DAMAGE!

[@ShopTown]

We have a salvage title wrx lol! Good luck with it!

[@mariopic]

if i find a doner i can walk u threw how to program it and the immob system u need the security id number u can get from dealer u need a tatrix to i got the program to

[@PaycoTsunami]

I always thought of buying a flooded vehicle lol its O latta work

[@bobbystubblefield6723]

Damn got it to run and drive, best 1,000 spent!

[@MrBizket12]

CHR reppin! Nice!

[@scottfirman]

I was told at the dealer I needed the vin number because they made 5 different model Subaru Forester in 2010, who knows how many models they made so no you got the wrong ECU, you cannot jerry rig electronics on any vehicle. The brake system should have been sealed on your brakes. You got a severly drown car dude. I would have used that for parts only. You could mabe soak the engine in ATF, mabe turn the motor over, let it soak, do the same several times as many times as possible, depending on how long it sat, that cars engine is scrap, as is the tranny and differentials. Bad, bad bad.

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+RC Hobbyist Extreme just drove it out to Utah yesterday. It's doing just fine!

[@VandiHD]

Welcome to the fozzy gang🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@kornpop4887]

this job is a nightmare without a lift

[@sjmedia5610]

I’m jealous. I want a foz XT so bad.

[@tomhe2100]

New sub here. Nice project.

[@beobe99]

Worse case you could easily get your money back selling those Calipers and the Long Block, then Profit off the Scrap.. OR, just sell the Scrap and start funding a cheap GC8 Chassis to swap the goodies in!!

[@jeremyclose705]

You have a 16 bit ecu. (5 plug) sti is 32. Totally different. Get an ecu from an 02-04 wrx plug it in and drive the car. Lol

[@chacelarsen50]

Jeremy Close wrong. the forester xt is 32 bit... hence the drive by wire

[@jeremyclose705]

chacelarsen50 my apologies I didn't realize it was drive by wire. So it's a 32bit with 5 plugs? So if he swapped the throttle body and pedal would he then be able to use 16 bit ecu? Thanks for the correction. Don't want to spread bad info on the internet.

[@chacelarsen50]

the 04 fxt and 04 sti ecu are 32 bit but different than the 05+ for example you can use an 04 sti ecu in an 04 FXT. the change in 05 was they went to an immobilizer. I'm guessing they probably changed a few other things at the same time. I don't think swapping over throttle setups will make a 16 bit ecu work. just because the first 32 bit ecus have the same number of plugs the actual plugs could be different or their pinouts. it might be possible but I'm not sure.

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

We used a modified 04 STI ECU reflashed as an FXT and it worked just fine

[@DShorb20]

Wait.... 20:51 You unlocked the WRX with the key without the alarm going off... How do you disable the alarm?

[@samuelseidel6148]

Instead of using vinegar, may I suggest pool chlorine.

[@claytonp5118]

Lol my dad bought this car without any water or other major damage for 1400 at auction in saint Louis

[@nikond90]

How about another update on the Forester from Huston

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+nikond90 Will do once more gets done. Right now it's just getting used as a daily. Matt took it out to Utah and back the other month and it did great! There will be some forged bits going into it in the next couple months. 👍🏻

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+nikond90 Will do once more gets done. Right now it's just getting used as a daily. Matt took it out to Utah and back the other month and it did great! There will be some forged bits going into it in the next couple months. 👍🏻

[@Welcome2It]

PLEASE do a manual swap on the fxt

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

how about a 6 speed swap?

[@inmotion81]

It won't start let's Jerry rig the ecu ha just wait bro get a new o e

[@adrianvictoria8674]

Haha I got the same crazy deal I bought a 200$ flooded Toyota supra and it runs grate just switched out the oil a couple times and changed the fuel pump

[@adrianvictoria8674]

I'm in Houston

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Youth Kills nice!!

[@FudgeCakeShanker]

I subbed cause the channel name lol, good vid!

[@AdamSmith-gs2dv]

Problem is aren't all Harvey flood cars being issued junk titles there by making it almost impossible to get them road worthy ever again?

[@Starman998]

Adam Smith about 1/3 are rest just have normal salvage titles

[@MyIronman8]

Plus you can't put an sti computer on an auto . It won't shift right . The ECU does that .

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

If you Reflash the ECU to be an Auto it works just fine

[@MyIronman8]

Dirtcheapdaily no it doesn't . If you think that you think that . It will never drive right .

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Colin Stienke check out the new video, it drives great

[@Moist_Handshakes]

That's either a project track car or a parts car.

[@kodyhardman672]

that car is going to rust from the inside out

[@Darkipod]

When are we gettting a build break down of the Subie Swapped mustang???

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

I want the video to do it justice, so we're taking out time. It'll come though

[@Darkipod]

Ha, I expected you to never reply, hope it comes through soon!

[@MyIronman8]

Just put the old ECU in it and change it back and it will start .

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

The old ECU had pins falling out of it because of the corrosion

[@SirVr6rio]

automatic with a flywheel? you mean flex plate?

[@NathanFrench]

SirVr6rio automatics can still have flywheel, how else so you think the crank connects to the torque converter?

[@Cam-lv4cl]

A flexplate (or flex plate) is a metal disk that connects the output from an engine to the input of a torque converter in a car equipped with an automatic transmission. It takes the place of the flywheel found in a conventional manual transmission setup.

[@Icr125riderI]

You can tell we're not used to dealing with autos...

[@Cam-lv4cl]

@Seth Miller Autos?! I thought this was an aviation forum!

[@SirVr6rio]

Flex tape i mean Flex plate!

[@sandman4897]

Is that a Mac book with win10 lol

[@maksn5751]

And that is why you always inspect cars. :). Surprised you did not simply borrow a brake bleeder for free from auto zone or advance auto.

[@MyIronman8]

It will crank but not fire over

[@MyIronman8]

That's any easy fix . Sort of did you reprogram the key too the new ecu . immobilizer chip in the key doesn't match the ecu

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

It wasn't starting because the ECU pinout in the service manual was incorrect. Once we figured that out, we threw in an 04 STI ECU that was modified for the correct pinout and reflashed it as an 05 Auto FXT

[@GRUDGEPERFORMANCE]

just remembered this and don't remember seeing any update about it.... Whats up with the eaton m62 supercharged build?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Hooptie Just waiting on cnc flanges to get shipped! I'll be building a custom intake manifold that I can bolt the supercharger straight to. Just had my first baby in September, so my car plans this last year were put on hold to help my wife out with everything. But things are back up and running at full chooch to build a supercharged h6 to take to the track this summer!

[@GRUDGEPERFORMANCE]

Dirtcheapdaily congratulations! And hell yeah, should be a fun project for you to work on and us to watch over the winter.

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Hooptie that's the plan!

[@Johnny-km3jl]

I’m not a hater anything I buy salvage title car all day long but I would never buy a flooded car all your electrical will start filling if not soon in the near future I’m not a mechanic or anything but it’s common sense

[@bigw8549]

So which one of you owns the Rubasu?

[@pgtmr2713]

15:54 Corntact

[@theejoeylee]

I would of sprayed that cess pool down with disinfectant in a pump sprayer. That flood water contained flesh eating bacteria. No thanks...Especially for a GRAND

[@enosal]

You need an ECU with auto transmission pins to communicate with the TCU. The STi one wont work. edit: Sure you figured that out :P

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Eric Nosal the sti ecu actually worked just fine after a reflash

[@enosal]

Good to know! I know the auto ecu needs some pins shorted out in order to avoid a cel on a manual conversion. Cant wait to see the next vid.

[@takiraparker925]

Is your Ej25 still running. If so how is it performing with the stock ecu?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Takira Parker still running strong!

[@transdimensionalist]

stick clear hose on brake nipples when bleeding

[@SamSam-ih6nt]

what a tease

[@Trippy_Hippy89]

did u happen to have to go through a broker. i was looking up some flooded vehicles but not sure if i can buy without a auction license. can u buy flooded title with no auctions license or do i need a broker to handle that part?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+rutter brothers Rutter depends on the state the car is in. Some states like Texas, you don't need to go through a broker

[@Trippy_Hippy89]

thanks for the response. the one i am looking at is in texas. that's helps me out alot.

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+rutter brothers Rutter good luck with it!

[@bmw-e30]

Entertaining when you have a couple of lads pretending to know what they are talking about.

[@CMKshadow]

put in paint drying booth-24 hours...all water evaporated

[@spacecowboy776]

even when the corrosive salt gets into all of the wiring? thats the real problem with buying flood vehicles, you get salt into the wiring and its all kinds of fucked

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

but nothing a new wiring harness won't cure!

[@pr7606]

Question, where did you guys get the car Manuel?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+P R copart

[@pr7606]

Dirtcheapdaily you got the car manuel that you were looking up online at Copart?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+P R oh the factory service manual? I thought you were asking Manuel where he bought the car! You can google Subaru fsm and there's a couple forums with links to the place that you can download them from.

[@shotguncolin]

So hows it going with the car is it running good still?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+shotguncolin yup! Runs great! I have another episode uploaded and a third in the works to be released next Tuesday!

[@danielimbriaco3917]

next flood i am buying a car

[@mr.beaman5054]

I know I'm late but how did you go by getting it registered?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Mr. Beaman took the title to the DMV like any other car. Salvage title vehicles are driving all over the country

[@mr.beaman5054]

Dirtcheapdaily I'm asking because I have a car with a salvage title and I'm trying to get it registered. They say it needs to go through inspection in order to get a rebuilt title. Before and after pics blah blah. Any pointers?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Mr. Beaman never dealt with that. Sorry. Call the DMV and ask a bunch of questions. Every state is different

[@shotguncolin]

Hey How did you guys get it home from texas?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+shotguncolin we found a car freight service. Copart has a bunch you can contact

[@gb1810]

I'd say screw that. But $250, eh why not. All else fails just launch her over the pond. Go for the longest hydroplane on record...

[@scottfirman]

George B They said a grand including fees. Now add fluids, parts, electronics, you would be suprised what its going to cost to fix that. Lots of $$. Should have been crushed, period.

[@justin1980mcallise]

Completely irrelevant question. What kind of wheels are on you impreza wagon. I have an 04 outback sport. What should I go with. I want deep dish but can't seem to find an offset pair or at least 10 inch wide

[@atom31b]

How does water get in the diffs?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Adam Bleech there are vents in them. On the rear diff, there's a little plastic vent cap on the top side that you can't really see unless you pull the whole diff out.

[@atom31b]

Dirtcheapdaily forgive my rookieness on this matter I thought they were sealed.

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Adam Bleech no worries!

[@transdimensionalist]

if they were sealed the pressure increase when they heat up in use would blow the seal so needs a vent to vent pressure where you want and not blow oil seal out

[@D4x4Bronc]

yep trans and axle is breather hose; oil is intake.

[@DJ-yp4oq]

Dude you should just strip the whole inside of the car and clean up then clean the seats and dry them

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

Currently looking for a wrecked STI to interior swap

[@emeraldages]

NOt fixed. Still flood title. Still flood damage..

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+No the title is fixing. Present tense. It'll continue to get fixed until matt decides to get rid of the. No one ever said it was fixed. He did drive it across the country last weekend with no issues.

[@D4x4Bronc]

might get away with spraying all the relays out with wd40

[@dizzybeats9808]

How long did shipping take?

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Dizzy Beats 3 days in transit. It showed up at his house 9 days after the auction because he had some issues with the guy who was going to ship it. Otherwise it would have been sooner

[@tarasilchuk167]

not worth it, plus the interior will always smell bad.

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

+Taras Ilchuk not of you swap out the whole interior

[@vinha916]

why not strip out the whole interior to bare metal and clean out of the car?

[@dj4monie]

Use a dehumidifier. See one of the problems is you live in the middle of the US where it's cold this time of year. Removing most of the interior panels and just letting the sun dry everything out is low cost way to not only dry it out but remove smells. You can remove the smell easily too.

[@cheesegromit9423]

yeah keep it bare and bed line the floor

[@tmos540]

Ooh, that'd be neat. Wonder if there's a difference in the sound dampening and heat transfer?

[@flexiranger]

SWAMP THING!!!! 4 pots whaaaattt jk

[@battz99]

Jeez, you guys don't know how to bleed brakes do you! Ask your dad!

[@garybentleysr7929]

Gut the interior squeeze the worst out and let i sun bake

[@justin6604]

Sweeet!

[@Astinsan]

F the computer.. slap a msd in there

[@Starman998]

Shipping and fees kill the deal

[@Dirtcheapdaily]

they make it a little less sweet, but where else are you going to get a clean body FXT for $1200?