I have been asked to help someone repair his 2006 Ranger XLT 4X4 with a 4.0 SOHC VIN E, after he sunk it, nose down it with the water up to the windshield (to give an idea of the angle, the bed was not in the water). Question is, would this be worth trying to salvage? Sounds like when he pulled the sparkplugs the electrodes were bent over, the engine cranks over, but not able to reinstall the sparkplugs so no idea of the extent of damage to the engine. Chassis issues so far are, door locks, vent fan, turn signals, instrument cluster doesn't illuminate. My thoughts are, this would turn into a money pit. Has anyone had good luck salvaging one after being sunk?

 

Welcome to the forum

Engine should have shutdown when air was cut off(behind grill), but could have got some water into running engine which would stop it instantly with hydro-lock and that can bend a connecting rod, maybe break a piston
If that's the case the engine would need to come out but................I would wait and see, not just pull it

Obviously drain the oil and trans/transfer case fluids
Pull the spark plugs and do a compression test, 4.0l SOHC should be 165+ PSI in all cylinders
Compression test should tell you if engine is usable as is

Fresh water usually doesn't cause long term electrical issues, salt water DOES
Pull the passenger side kick panel off and you will see the SJB(smart junction box) thats the fuse panel and Body Computer
Pull off all its large connectors, these ALWAYS corroded so have a good look and let them dry out
You can pull the SJB and have a look inside, pictures here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...horn_mod.shtml
SJB runs ALL the electrics in the cab, which is why dash doesn't work

Put a dehumidifier in the cab and close it up to see if you can dry it out better
There will be some fuses blown but you want dry out the cab before trying new fuses

Pull the computer in engine bay and open it up, clean it
Open up ALL connectors you can find in the engine bay, let them dry out