I hit some ice today and my truck flipped onto the roof. No injuries - not even broken glass. I guess three feet of snow is good for something. I have the truck back home in the driveway. Since it was upside down for about 2 hours, what do I need to do before trying to fire it up?

 

Check your fluid levels to make sure they are good, check motor mounts, transmission mounts, inspect suspension for broken-bent parts--

 

Dude that sucks... though that's a testament to how well built these trucks really are.

I'd also watch for leaks of any kind. That sort of jolt and flipping canisters and tanks upside down might have drained them or cause leaks. Also check to make sure no wires, harnesses, or sensors disconnected in the accident. You don't want loose parts hanging in your engine when it starts up.

 

Wow! that's lucky... good thing the snow was still SOFT... like everyone else had said check all the wires/hoses/fluids... also check the connections on the heater/A/C cores under the dash sometimes they can break/come loose after a sudden jolt like that and trust me vaporized coolant is very very hard to get off the inside of a windshield...

 

Pull the plugs before you try to start it. I'll bet the cylinders are filled with oil. You'll bend the rods trying to start it. With the plugs out, crank the motor over several times with brakes inbetween to keep the starter from burning out.

 

Will letting it site right-side-up for a while allow the oil to drain back down?

 

I'd say pull the plugs. You don't wanna take a chance when it comes to internals. Also, this way you will get some revolutions on your engine which will tell you if you have a problem inside the engine.

 

wow..what a story. You'd better make the calender next year

 

There's a calendar?

 

Take a look here.

Edit: That was last year's calendar... here's the link to the current calendar https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f121...elease-262940/

 

When you first start it, it might smoke for a while, possibly a long while. While upside down all the oil from your crankcase might have drained through the forward crankcase vent on the valvecover into the throttlebody and on into the intake,coating it in oil that will slowly be pulled into the engine from vacuum while running. Happened to a friend's v6 yota that was only on it's side for a while. That thing smoked on and off for weeks!. Might try some seafoam through the intake after you get it fired up to knock down the oil residue faster.

 

1st thing you should always check in these situations is your shorts. Glad you and the truck are ok!

 

Update: I pulled the plugs and intake piping from the throttle body. The throttle body was full of oil, so I'm letting that drain. I turned the truck over a bit and it made a crazy "splooshing / squishing" sound. Got out to see that it had squirted about a quart of oil our of the cylinders. Battery was dead, so it's on the charger now. This afternoon I will turn it over some more to try to get the rest of the oil out. The dipstick shows almost no oil, so it must have all went somewhere!

 

The Batt probably lost some/a lot of it's electrolite [acid]... check the level before you charge it it might explode...
The oil probably leaked out ... clean out your air intake hoses...

That truck looks amazing for something that was on it's roof.

 

I removed the battery. The caps aren't meant to be user-serviced, but I removed one anyway and I could see the fluid. It looked pretty good level-wise. I also turned it upside down to see if it would leak, no leaks. I'm just going to charge it for the day off the truck and see how it does.

 

Update: I ran the starter as much as I could to get the oil out of the cylinders and I put on new plugs (the old ones were beyond their service life). Here is is after starting (note: it is not foggy outside, lol). I let it warm up to operating temp and shut it off. Other than the smoke, it appears to be running just fine.

Next: The rear diff looks like it leaked most or all of the gear oil. The transmission and transfer case look ok, but I will check them anyway. I couldn't tell about the front diff, but I will check that one too.

 

The driveline probably leaked out all or most of the fluids through the breathers check all 4 fer sure... [2diffs/tranny/t-case]... don't forget to check the coolant/rad... probably leaked some out of there too...

 

I checked all of the fluids:

Front diff, 2-6 oz low
Tranny, acceptable level using "finger test"
T-Case, 2-3oz low
Rear Diff, 8-15 oz low
Radiator, full, but over flow res. was below fill
Power Steering fluid, empty
Clutch res., full
Brake res., full
Engine oil, 3qts low

 

The only other thing you need to be careful of, is air in you're lines (rad, clutch, brakes).

Being upside down can allow some air to rise into those lines, just pump you're clutch and brakes a few times to ensure they have good pedal feel, and keep an eye on that temp guage to make sure bubble doesn't block coolant flow.

 

Yeah run it for a while with the rad cap off and rad full [obviously] to burp any air out.