Hey everyone. Got some bad news, I was out in the snow, last night on my way to my cousin?s house and ended up putting my truck in a ditch on its roof. I am fine and the truck is not too bad. I was wondering if there is anything I should do before trying to start the thing and see if it is worth fixing. By the way, I was trying to avoid running into someone else when this happened. A guy in a truck with a plough on the front of his rig was too far over and I had a choice him or the ditch I picked the ditch. By the way my truck is a 91 22re five speed. Thanks in advance, Steve>

 

One important step would be to pull out all the spark plugs and crank it over good, there could be oil in the cylinders and oil doesn't compress any better than water does Also check all your fluid levels, like engine oil, coolant, tranny & axle gear lube.

 

and check for any fuel leaks. spark+fuel=boom.

 

Search - there's a few threads.

The key thing is making sure nothing is in the cylinders as described above. Personally, I would change ALL the fluids before driving it far at all.

Make sure the battery is OK - still held down and the posts are broken.

 

Do our trucks have a fuel cut-off switch when you roll?

 

i havent heard of this in all the time ive spent around here, but i could just be out of the loop

 

it's a 22r just start it

 

Yeah, now that I think of it they must not - it'd get activated when off-road quite a bit, I'd think. I only thought of it because Alfas are notorious for dying after hitting a pothole and activating the thing. (For those who don't know, it's a little switch that cuts the power to the fuel pumps to keep it from spewing gas in a rollover - a lot of cars have them).

 

an even more pressing issue is the damn seatbelt locks that lock up at certain sideways angles! im always strapped tightly to my seat when at moderate angles and it makes me mad, lol

 

First off I would roll it back onto its tires.

 

first thing. take some pics and show us

 

I 2nd that!

 

how long was it upside down?
my p/u was upside down for about 45min. after it was back on the wheels i checked the fluids, kicked out the windshield and drove it home w/o any issues after.
its really weird to unlatch the belt and hit the roof

 

Wifee says first thing is humbly beg its forgiveness.

 

Thanks for the info everyone. The truck was only on its lid for a few hours. I am going out today to see if I can get it started. Here are a couple of pics that I took when it happened.

 

Definitely pull the plugs and crank the engine over a few times, just to make sure there's no oil in the cylinders. Otherwise, you could do some REAL damage...

 

A few hours is a pretty long time - I'd take every precaution you could.