Almost blew up motor today - need advise for mud/water

[gone postal]

Well, my brother called me today to say that he was taking out his '00 XJ to try and find some mud. I said I'd tag along in mine in case he had any problems. Well, turns out I had the problems.

We were just riding through the woods on some fire trails and there were random mud holes along the way. Being that both vehicles were stock, we kind of hung toward the outside of the holes b/c the bubbas out here plow through the middle w/ 38"+ tires, militaries, etc, so the middles are deep and soft. Well, my driver's side slide in on one hole and it was pretty bad. Water was coming in the door and was over the driver's rear taillight (brother was behind me and I could see the water line). I kept rocking it back and forth and at one point the Jeep stalled on me. I got it restarted (took a lil while) and eventually got it out. I was revving the crap out of it (4LO) which I'm sure the 167k old motor didn't like. The motor had a knock (how many 167k motors don't?), but when I came out of the hole, it sounded like a Cummins diesel. I checked the air filter and it was soaked and muddy, but it didn't appear that much got through to the other side (only 1/2 of "engine-side" was wet). There was about 3" of water standing in the box. I apparently don't have drain holes.

Well, I got out of the woods and probably scared every animal in them. When I got to the main road, the Jeep shut off. Tried to restart, ran for 2secs. and shut down again. So, I figured I blew it and we unloaded all my tools, etc into my brother's XJ. We sat around for 5min. and decided to try and restart one last time. Took a good 10secs. of cranking, but it started and continued to run and surprisingly enough, it was quiet again - actually seems quieter than when we started. We sat another 5mins. to see if it was going to shut off and when it didn't we decided to head home. Made the 5mile trek successfully.

So, what can be done to "mud/water-proof" XJ's? I have a 4" ready to go on and will run 32" tires, so I know that'll help get the vitals out of the mud/water, but is there anything else to help? Guess I should look into a snorkel. I'm going to change my oil, front/rear diffs, tranny fluid and obviously air filter. Anything else I should look into? Also, what do you think caused the two shutdowns? Light case of hydrolock? Electrical short?

I'll admit that it held up well for a $650 vehicle - these things are pretty impressive.

 

[Kittrell]

Advice?

DON'T DRIVE THROUGH IT!

There, I did it, I'm a miracle worker.

 

[dgrigorenko]

the only real thing to increase water level fording is a snorkel. theres a nice one available from dpg, and the arb safari snorkel

 

[gone postal]

Advice?

DON'T DRIVE THROUGH IT!

There, I did it, I'm a miracle worker.

WOW. Why didn't I think of that?!?

Guess you bought your XJ to haul the kids to soccer and run to the grocery store huh? Do us a favor and sell your Cherokee to someone that'll use it and buy a Compass...

Mud is what I have in FL. There are no rocks or even remotely cool trails here. Just random dirt roads through the woods w/ mud. Oh, and the beach. Stay posted for my "how to saltwater proof my XJ" thread... :spin1:

 

[LilRhodyXJ]

and it starts...

 

[Sabalon Glitz]

When you change your fluids also be sure to wash the mud out of the starter. i have had to change mine a couple of times because of muddin'. That was because i didn't wash it out. Since i started hosing everything down when i'm through playing i've had no more starter problems. Mud is the most prevalent thing here in south Alabama also. Wheeling Logging trails is about all there is to do where i live. :cheers:

 

[redrider]

silicone the distributor and use a nice amount of delectric grease in spark plug boots. run your axle breather hoses high. go slow through water. and as soon as your done playing in the swamp, spray all that mud off your brakes. oh and clean your altinator. last but not least dont follow the boys on 44's lead the way.

 

[Begster]

If you go the snorkel route, go to DPG and get the Airflow one, don't get the ARB. The ARB has to snake around to go into the engine compartment, the Airflow just goes straight in throught hte fenders. Airflow is also cheaper, I just installed one on mine too.

 

[whatevah]

fwiw, most exhausts will sound a bit louder when they've got water in the muffler. I know my stock exhaust sounds a lot louder (and better) until I rev it hard enough to blow the water out of the muffler.

 

[cjovertj]

did u really need to be i 4-lo if u were in hi you probably wouldn't of had this problem

 

[Starscream]

Not necessarily.

My advice - get a snorkel. It's cheap hydrolock insurance.

 

[gone postal]

I appreciate the suggestions. I was thinking of doing the homemade snorkel route, but will look into the Airflow. I saw someone on here did one into the firewall - seemed high enough - took air in through the vents in the cowl. When I did my last tune-up - about 1000 miles ago, I did put a good amount of dielectric grease on the rotor/cap and plugs. What else would cause the diesel sound and following shut-downs?

 

[xjtrailrider]

This is why I don't do mud/water crossings unless I absolutley have too, 20+ years of wheelin and having close calls myself and helping fix plenty of my friends screw ups. I will go through if the rig in front of me does o.k. and is of similar set-up.

I've learned that if you don't know how deep it is go around it if you can, or turn and go home. Forget your pride and save your money and your rig for another day.

 

[CommandoXJ96]

I saw someone on here did one into the firewall - seemed high enough - took air in through the vents in the cowl.

thats something I've been considering lately due to my mud+jeep habits... In my opinion its better then nothing and probably all you would need for a stock/close to stock XJ thats not going to be doing insane amounts of the wet stuff. I do wonder if the A/C and heat works alright with that mod though becuase both the engine and blower motor then share that vent area.

 

[Overdriven]

I appreciate the suggestions. I was thinking of doing the homemade snorkel route, but will look into the Airflow. I saw someone on here did one into the firewall - seemed high enough - took air in through the vents in the cowl. When I did my last tune-up - about 1000 miles ago, I did put a good amount of dielectric grease on the rotor/cap and plugs. What else would cause the diesel sound and following shut-downs?

My snorkle failed on me once and the same thing happened. Although I took on much more muddy water when I did it. The oil came out light brown (same color as the mud I went through).

I never got mine started again. I pulled the plugs, shot out some water from the spark plug holes while cranking. Put it all together and nothing.

After a few days, an oil change, and trying to dry it all out, I was able to fire it. It diseled (sp) for a few minutes and then died. That was the end of it. I swapped in another engine I had sitting in the garage as my fix.

 

[outlander]

I appreciate the suggestions. I was thinking of doing the homemade snorkel route, but will look into the Airflow. I saw someone on here did one into the firewall - seemed high enough - took air in through the vents in the cowl. When I did my last tune-up - about 1000 miles ago, I did put a good amount of dielectric grease on the rotor/cap and plugs. What else would cause the diesel sound and following shut-downs?

I have that homemade cowl snorkle on mine and love it.CHEAP and effective.I can go through water almost up to the wipers(although I don't for obvious reasons)Let me know if you want pics/advice...

 

[ponyracer1]

I have that homemade cowl snorkle on mine and love it.CHEAP and effective.I can go through water almost up to the wipers(although I don't for obvious reasons)Let me know if you want pics/advice...

I've done that also, pvc gutter tubing, 1 90 degr, 2 45 degree bends. Best $12 I ever spent.

 

[Tenament]

Do you guys know of a compatible snorkel system with Rusty's air intake? I don't like the idea of the ARB snorkel... stock airbox? =(

 

[gone postal]

I have that homemade cowl snorkle on mine and love it.CHEAP and effective.I can go through water almost up to the wipers(although I don't for obvious reasons)Let me know if you want pics/advice...

Yes, please. Either post them here, a link to them or you can e-mail them to me at [email protected]. I think this will be the route I'll go.

Overdriven - I checked my oil right after it happened and it looked great. Has less than 1000 miles on it, but it didn't appear to have water/mud in it, but that's through the dipstick, so I guess I'll find out when I change it this week. Definetely won't be going back until the snorkel, lift, tires, etc are done though. If I blow the motor then, well, at least I tried. Motors are found easily enough on Ebay...

 

[redrider]

one thing ive learned from living in florida is that i almost have to change my air filter every other trip. its all that sand that gets kicked up.i personal wouldnt run the air filter into the cab it would make alot of noise. another way to waterproof is to fix all leaking gaskets. and get rid of your stock headers.