First, @everyone, appreciate the tips, suggestions, and general positive support.
@mikracer, def appreciate that offer. I was able to finally get it home to my usual mechanic for a trusted inspection.
@arctictraveler, gulp!!
@brianw, I was super clear multiple times with my insurance agent that this “rv” was designed to be used off road. They understood, though it did take a couple of conversations before they really understood what they were insuring. So far, there has been no hesitation from my claims agent that this isn’t covered.
More on insurance...many here are correct in assuming the lack of urgency. I told them today that their process of estimate-review-decide-authorize is making a bad situation worse. Again, many don’t exactly know what a SMB is. They know a ‘ford e350’, but when they google “sportsmobile” they all say something like “oh, is that really a RV?”. They think I can just drop it at any RV shop and get a full estimate. I’m saying no, it needs to go to my diesel mechanic, it needs to go somewhere else to get power washed ASAP while you review the mechanic estimate, then it needs to get seen by someone who knows RV interiors, and on top of that you’re going to get some estimates from Espar, Aluminess, ARB, etc for all those little things that the previous three don’t deal with. They finally got it, and agreed to work with me in sorting it out. We’ll see what means. Unfortunately, I have to get to all these places somehow for estimates.
On status, after evaluating the fuel, oil, filters, etc my mechanic felt comfortable enough to fire it up. It started, idled nicely, and sounded good. Thinking it just needed more dry time. Regardless, we’re submitting a healthy estimate to flush/replace all fluids, engine flush, complete brake overhaul, all diff seals, electrical diagnosis, lube, fuel dump and replace, might be missing something. He’s thinking the exhaust is not a concern, no water blew out at start up (the inclined towing ops may have drained it), the heat would evaporate anything left in there. Idk on that one, there must be sand in it. Other than that, I emptied all the contents near floor level.
What I hope to know at some point is what happened, so I can modify it, if that opportunity is presented. The immediate thoughts are the two batteries under the side door or the fuel pump. I’ve seen SMB photos in much deeper water, of course I can’t see what going on underneath.
Stay tuned...
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2002 E350 7.3L
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