dunked my xj, now no start:(

89 xj wagoneer limited, 4.0/aw4/242/d30-35 290k on the dash:

hey guys, i went messing around in the woods near my house, and got in a spot where there is always a few inches of water, but this time, it looked the same as always, and i ended up nipples deep in an icy swamp.
i got my buddy to pull my jeep out, and he towed me home. i pulled my spark plugs out, poured some heet in each hole, and some heet in the intake. turned the key, and moisture came out. i did this for a bit, then cleaned off the plugs, put them back in, and still no start. i sprayed some ether in the intake, and it started for a bit, and sounded good, so i don't think i bent or broke a rod or anything. as soon as the ether was gone, it died, though. i haven't messed with the distributor yet, because it's really cold outside. i did notice that if my lights won't go off, neither will my door buzzer, and that i didn't hear my fuel pump turn on. i'm assuming that my fuse box got wet, and will need some hair dryer attention, and that may be why the engine won't fire, and the fuel pump isn't kickin.
anybody got some ideas? what should i look for when it gets warm enough to mess with it again? i like this jeep alot, and i'd love to get it back on the road and on the trails, just maybe not wet ones anymore.

It sounds like a few possibilities exist, water on fuse block resulting in a few popped fuses, water in ecm connector resulting in very bad things, or water damaged the IAC, TPS, or CPS. I'd start with checking all fuses under hood and dash to make sure they're dry and none of them are blown. Then move onto checking the iac, tps, and cps connections and sensors to see if one of them crapped out. Doubt the dist has any problems since you said it will run with ether sprayed in the TB.

how can i check the sensors? just with a meter and measure resistance?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Irbys19

That looks like a frozen swamp. I'm really struggling to see how you thought to yourself, "self, this looks like a good idea"! That looks like hydrolock waiting to happen, or possibly even worse.


same place?:eeks1::eeks1:


I'd say that before you start checking sensors, you'd be dollars-to-doughnuts ahead to pull the battery, unplug and dry everything you can reach, and inspect all the fuses and relays for water intrusion. The fuel pump not running sounds like a relay might be full of water and if it runs with ether, it should at least start with fuel.

best of luck, I know what a P.I.T.A. it can be getting things dry when it's freezing out!!

ha! you got me.... exact same place, but deeper than last time. i have never once gone through this spot and been like, dang, that's too deep. but this time my radio was under water. might be the beginning of a dd turned trail rig
either way, yeah, i have the battery disconnected, because i couldn't get the headlights and the door buzzer to go off. i think i'll go to o'reilly's tomorrow and grab a handful of relays and fuses, some more ether and some more heet.
the relays on the pass. inner fender include the fuel pump, right? thanks for not calling me a moron over this, i already feel it everytime i look at my jeep, and then back at my wife's pink corolla that i'll be driving instead, until i fix it or get my fullsize wag back.

we eat our own in the SEC, but we don't do it on the national forum-- don't be surprised if the "I told ya so's" start rolling in in the SEC chapter though:moon:

a drop-light near the relay sockets will help dry/melt the ice-- just don't melt the sockets too.

ha! thanks. i'm pretty sure the guy down the road in a yota on tons and 40's is the reason it went from 12 inches deep to 4 feet. last week, it was only about halfway up the rims with my 30's. i went off the little drop off, and by the time i could get it in reverse it was too late. cold balls.

Another XJ submarine!

If you want to keep having problems down the road, then don't do the following:

Locate all electrical connections. Dry them, clean the contacts, and use dielectric grease. Pay extra attention to the sensors and the fuse block. Keep notes of what sensors/connectors you have worked on. Don't forget the big stuff, like the distributor. You should also clean and renew all of your grounds--dipstick tube, head to firewall, etc.

Good luck.

BTW: old saying--still waters run deep.

your distributor cap might just be wet

ha, thanks guys. i've been looking through the OEM tech section, and there are more
'no start' threads than anything else! i'ts about 23 degrees F in my driveway right now, so i'll prolly hold off on messin with the jeep too much till it gets a bit warmer. i will pull the dizzy cap and clean it up and start pullin fuses and relays, but it's too cold to go through everything today. i do have dielectric grease, and some free time on thursday.

yes there is a relay for the fuel pump under the hood. Ill bet my money that your TPS is the number one cause. They hateeeeeeee water! as do anything electrical.



also, i would start making a good habit of bringing a yard stick with you. So you can check how deep the water is before jumping in! haha

Jeepcherokeeboy97 said:

also, i would start making a good habit of bringing a yard stick with you. So you can check how deep the water is before jumping in! haha

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tell that story to my 2007 f150 stx... rip...

It's not going to warm up around here any time soon so I'd suggest taking a sharpie with you and pulling all the relays and fuses then just number them where they went. Then you can bring the relay's inside with you and let them warm up inside on top of a paper towel to see if any water leaks out.

so i let the relays dry for a few hours inside, and put them back in. i know now that i'm gonna hafta replace the one for the fuel pump, because it buzzes, and the fuel pump won't turn off with the keys out. the iac also buzzes, along with the other relays on the passenger fender. i'm gonna replace all the underhood relays, and the iac and tps, and see what we get. i might be able to get an ecm for cheap...

I'd start by replacing all the relays first and see what that does, then continue from there.

yeah, so now i'm really screwed. it's like 19 degrees outside, so everything that's wet on my jeep is now frozen, which includes my starter, so i can't even turn the motor over to see if swapping out the relays helped anything. maybe it'll warm up in march or april...
cold weather is total bullcrap, i'm moving to costa rica.

thechief86 said:

yeah, so now i'm really screwed. it's like 19 degrees outside, so everything that's wet on my jeep is now frozen, which includes my starter, so i can't even turn the motor over to see if swapping out the relays helped anything. maybe it'll warm up in march or april...
cold weather is total bullcrap, i'm moving to costa rica.

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I live in New England and i've never had a "frozen starter". It should turn for you with a goo dbattery. Your battery is most likely the issue with that.

yeah, it should, but i know what this one is, unfortunately. it turned over after 20 minutes with a hair dryer, so i'm pretty sure it's full of water. i've had this same issue with my old jeep, too. you might not have been in deep enough water.... my steering wheel was under water.

Remove and disassemble the starter, dry it out same as the other stuff.

Also - unless the water managed to short something out that overvoltaged a sensitive sensor input on the ECU (the only ones that come to mind are the CPS and O2 sensors, and maybe the knock sensor, not familiar with that one), your ECU should be fine. Most of the outputs on the ECU can likely handle the current a swamp-water short will draw.

thechief86 said:

yeah, so now i'm really screwed. it's like 19 degrees outside, so everything that's wet on my jeep is now frozen, which includes my starter, so i can't even turn the motor over to see if swapping out the relays helped anything. maybe it'll warm up in march or april...
cold weather is total bullcrap, i'm moving to costa rica.

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you dont have a garage?