hussar1

Carpet out. Shampooed and dried. Seats too. New (used but running) ECM arrived today. I still need to get the over cranked gassy oil out - put in some new plugs. The weekend will do wonders for time. It should get a crankin onSunday Bob

Good ideas to start. Thanks for the input. Yes the young man will provide the labor. I would like to dry it out good. It's cold here - but I do have an insulated garage - have it up to 45 degrees already. I will put a fan on low, blow air through it. Take the carpet out. I would like to get to the point where it fires and runs. Do you think it would hurt to focus on the engine - then if it fires and runs, drain the trans and differentials before I move it out of the garage? I think I will give it my best shot to clean it all up, dry the contacts and use the new ECM. I look at it this way....if I took my laptop and dropped it in the bathtub when plugged in....I would not expect it to run when I dried it. Bob

I let my son take my 1999 Forester - L (automatic) back to college after Thanksgiving. It was only 2 weeks to end of semester and I thought I would save myself the return trip of 51/2 hours each way. I have to add it has 180,000 but I kept it in tip top running condition - I loved that car. Long story short.....he took it "baja ing" in the forest in northern Michigan. I will never know the details but it no longer runs. I found that he ran it through an overly deep puddle (and got stuck there) and water ran in the car putting the ECM under water. That was bad enough but it went below 0 within a few hours after that. The water turned to a rock, and only now thawing out in my garage back home. I will get some low drying heat on it later this week. He tried drying ECM out but I won't waste my time. I just purchased an exact model ECM off ebay from a running used model. I am thinking plug and play but want to be cautious to not blow my one shot. I am thinking I need to dry everything out really well - connectors etc. Even though no water appears to have sucked in the intake I will probably drain the oil and start new there too.....I think there was excessive tries at starting and guessing gas mixed in the oil. Should I take the plugs out and clean them up? A bit hard to get a a couple, but if it means success...I will do it. Any prechecks or precautions suggested? Any other advice is greatly appreciated. I would really like to keep this on the road for a few more years. Bob