Florida man blames Hurricane Helene for killing in-law’s 2004 Toyota Tundra, but commenters say a simple fix could’ve saved it

This Florida man says Hurricane Helene killed his dad’s 2004 Toyota Tundra with 350,000 miles, but commenters say he was the one who put the last nail in the coffin.

Floridian and Facebook user Brett Herrington is catching a lot of heat after sharing a short video eulogizing his Dad’s high-mileage 2004 Toyota Tundra that Herrington claims was ultimately by Hurricane Helene.

However, Facebook commenters are pointing out that, while Helene was responsible for all the flooding, what Herrington did shortly after was what ultimately killed his Dad’s Tundra.

Check out his Facebook reel sharing the last moments of one tough Tundra below.

” My father-in-law bought this truck new in 2004 and had 350,000 miles on it. Storm surge from Hurricane Helene was the only thing that could take it out. What a battle horse this truck has been RIP #Toyota,” Harrington captioned his video.

In the video, we can see the Tundra, its engine now filled with water, the exhaust sputtering and spitting out water as it tries to stay alive.

But, with water coursing through all eight cylinders, it’s causing irreparable damage that can’t be fixed without an extensive overhaul, not worth it for a truck with such high mileage.

While a few Facebook commenters empathized with Harrington, a lot of them are calling him out for his hare-brained action, mainly starting the Tundra knowing that there might be water in the intake.

If Harrington had done this simple procedure they are suggesting before he started the Tundra, at the very least, he could’ve avoided catastrophically engine damage.

“All you needed to do was drain the oil fill with new oil pull spark plugs and crank then new spark plugs in and crank it right up,” Blaine Montgomery commented.

“First things first after flood damage is to pull all the plugs and crank it to shoot the water out of the cylinders, looks like you threw it away instead of doing actual research first,” Roy Cessna concurred.

“The storm didn’t kill the truck, you did. Should have just drained it, refilled, removed all the plugs, and cranked it. Let that oil circulate through and drain and refill again, Cletus Judd Hughes added.

After some Googling, what everyone is saying seems to be the consensus on what to do following any type of flood damage when you fear your engine might’ve sucked in some water.

While this might save the engine, ultimately, you can expect flooded cars to never be 100 percent right despite all the drying, cleaning, and repairs you might do.

Salty ocean water can do a number on cars’ electronics, wreaking havoc on the wiring harness, electrical connectors, and ECU, all components not meant to handle water immersion for any amount of time.

So, while in the long run, Hurricane Helene probably would’ve been responsible for this Tundra’s untimely demise, cranking it over with water in the intake/engine killed it then and there.