My truck was stolen on Tuesday the 5th from a Costco parking lot here in Bakersfield Ca. It was recovered that Friday evening in an obsolete orchard about 50 miles away. The truck stands out quite a bit, with a cowl hood and SS logos. Engine is a 383 stroker that puts down 330 hp and 380 tq to the wheels.
Vehicle was stripped of some minor things with the most important being a valve cover. Both were unbolted, yet they only were able to remove one. This left the engine suseptable to major dirt and dust while it was in the orchard and in impound. I immediatly covered the rockers etc. with some towels when I picked it up.
My question is, what do I do? I have no idea how the theives abused my engine, although there is still a full pan of oil for a UOA. So we'll see if there is a difference when driving something "like you stole it." I was thinking of draining, then flushing the engine with oil via an oil exchange. (I have an oil cooler) Then run extremely small intervals with an Auto RX treatment. But I have no idea what to do about any large particles that possibly fell into the lifter valley. Any advice would be appreciated, including insurance issues as well. Thanks!
Vehicle was stripped of some minor things with the most important being a valve cover. Both were unbolted, yet they only were able to remove one. This left the engine suseptable to major dirt and dust while it was in the orchard and in impound. I immediatly covered the rockers etc. with some towels when I picked it up.
My question is, what do I do? I have no idea how the theives abused my engine, although there is still a full pan of oil for a UOA. So we'll see if there is a difference when driving something "like you stole it." I was thinking of draining, then flushing the engine with oil via an oil exchange. (I have an oil cooler) Then run extremely small intervals with an Auto RX treatment. But I have no idea what to do about any large particles that possibly fell into the lifter valley. Any advice would be appreciated, including insurance issues as well. Thanks!