Waterproofing

Here where I live and play, we have several water crossings. I know I need to waterproof my distributor cap ... I've already had problems with it. I've never done this, so I'm not sure about a couple of things.

• Is there a certain type of silicone I should use?
• Do I seal the breather vent on the top of the cap?
• Is there anything I should be careful about when doing this?

I'd appreciate any comments about this and any other things on my truck that should be waterproofed.

Thanks ... Les

I'd like to hear more on this too. I bought some spray that coats the entire distributor on mine and sprayed it over the cap and wires. It was called ignition sealer or something like that. Haven't had a problem with it since, but there might be better ways to do it too, since I'm not in the water every day here.

ive seen a nifty little trick done on 4 cyl's. Since there are 5 total wires coming off the dist, they used a rubber glove, cut holes in the fingers, ran the wires through all the fingers, and put the bottom of the glove over the dist itself. Then they used multiple rubber bands to tightly seal the fingers over the wires. You might be able to do this with a 6 cyl, but you would have to use 2 gloves......

Two wires in one finger Wabbit.

Jeep Write Ups by Daless2 - Frank D.

detailed MS Word doc with piccies, haven't tried any of it but it all looks like darn good info

:sunshine:

I filled the vent with RTV, got a can of sylicone spray/water sealer from the auto store and sprayed the crap out of the wires/dist cap and even the plug ends. I've had mine under water over the hood and it still ran, I had a snorkel as well, once you get that deep anyhow you need to let the interior fill up so you don't float.

Happy boating

Don't forget to run the vents from your diffs, tranny and anything else up above whatever level makes you feel safe.

Also, keep in mind where other electronics are under your hood. Waterproofing the comp and fuses and such would also be good, if you plan on going that deep.

Fergie

Thanks everyone .....

There are several good ideas in here plus several things I did not think to check. The article link from TEK is a good one. The use of rubber gloves (don't forget finger cots aka baby rubbers) is a good idea too. It is good to hear someone else has plugged that dang vent on top of the Dist. cap. It's hard to believe they put that thing on there.

I do not plan on "deep water". However, one never knows what you may get yourself into. I'll check all my vent hoses to make sure they are high enough. I will eventually gut the carpet from the interior and cover the floor with some kind of coating. It will let me get to drain holes. Yea, XJ's don't float very well.

One thing I'm very dilligent about is pushing water out of all the U-joints with fresh grease.

Les

Pull the dist cap and put a small bead of silicone on the mating surface and reinstall. You can run the cap vent higher with some air tubing for aquiriums.

Relocate your air intake as far back in the engine compartment as you can. I used a small round K&N and tucked it up by the brake booster.

The TC has a vent as well as the tranny. Get them raised up too.

One last thing. After doing a bunch of water running, pull your diff covers and check for water. It always seems to get in there; as much as you try to keep it out.

BTW, the deepest I've been is to the body line over the flairs. I had water inside over the trans tunnel. It shorted out my seatbelt buzzer and made a royal mess out of my fuse box and my ass was wet the rest of the day. Other guys in our group filled crankcases and fuel tanks with water. I was lucky. We all drove back to camp though after two on the trail oil changes and a jerry can converted to a fuel cell. Deep water sucks... I mean, is cool. :laugh3:

I've checked my differentials by just looking at the lube ... it did not show any "snotty" looking sludge so I assumed it was OK as in "no water". I know where the vent tubes are for them and they are up plenty high enough. I was not really aware of the vent tubes for the Tranny (auto) and the differential. Those will be located and checked.

I've not yet relocated the air for the air filter box but plan to ... just have not made a decision as to where.

Waterproofing the distributor and plug wires is on the agenda this weekend or over Christmas (I'm off several days so I'll use them to get some projects done). The vent on the distributor cap is the item that I'm not certain about. This is the first distributor I've seen with a vent (I've owned vehicles since 1972). I know this was put on there for a reason but is it really necessary to keep it open?

I really do not plan on doing any "deep sea driving" ... just wanting to prevent any potential problems ...