Hey guys, Last week I sank my XJ in a good size water crossing at Tuttle Creek Orv park in Kansas. I was able to get it going after about an hour of cleaning everything. My only mistake (other than not having a snorkel) seems to be I didn't drain the oil immediately. I did drain it as soon as I arrived home (165 miles) I now seem to have lower oil pressure and some kind of wierd noise is coming from the engine compartment. I wouldn't be suprised if it was the main bearings are shot because the previous owners did nothing as far as maintenance and it has had a 20-40 operating psi for oil since I have owned it. It now is running 10-20 psi and I'm running 20-50 weight oil. Anyone run into this problem? Can I keep running it on the trail and make the 330 mile roundtrip to do it with no worries?
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water crossing woes
- Thread starter 89 XJer
- Start date
RichP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Effort, Pa
Boy, talk about back to basics, I normally carry a closed case of 10w30 and two oil filters whenever I go off road. Kind of standard procedure after a dunking/stall is remove plugs and drop oil and refill before ever touching the key again. Yea, the damage is done, mains are a given, just a matter of time, specially if it's knocking already. Start lining up either a short block or long block drop in motor and get ready for a long weekend and a close relationship with an engine hoist. Restore won't help this one. One of the guys on BMJA did his 318 in his ZJ last week. Good luck, might be time to start reading about strokers 
Personally I'd go the long block route and rebuild the water damaged one. I'd not drive it either or you may end up with a rod thru the block..
Personally I'd go the long block route and rebuild the water damaged one. I'd not drive it either or you may end up with a rod thru the block..
- Location
- Terra Firma
I pretty much agree with RichP on this one. The damage has been done.
You could try dropping the pan and replacing both main and rod bearings in situ. If the damage is mostly to the bearings that should get your oil pressure back. But if there was much abrasive stuff in the water the crank journals may be scored, and if that's the case the new bearings won't last very long. It's probably worth dropping the pan to do a visual inspection.
You could try dropping the pan and replacing both main and rod bearings in situ. If the damage is mostly to the bearings that should get your oil pressure back. But if there was much abrasive stuff in the water the crank journals may be scored, and if that's the case the new bearings won't last very long. It's probably worth dropping the pan to do a visual inspection.
RichP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Effort, Pa
Main bearings are not too bad, scored crank is another story, the problem is that if you put new bearings in it's a time bomb waiting to happen with no warning. You could pull the crank and replace it or have it turned but thats just a halfassed bottom end rebuild. You also need to get a good look at the bores and the rod bearings too.
Much better to either drop in a new block or do yours, depends on how much downtime you can live with.
Right now you have a probably good block, re-machineable crank, rods, etc. Replace the mains and run it and you have a good chance of putting a rod thru the block at 60mph and having nothing but scrap left. Your choice. Flip a coin.
New long block in, take the old one and build a basic stroker for the future would be the way I would want to go, if I had a place to do it.
Much better to either drop in a new block or do yours, depends on how much downtime you can live with.
Right now you have a probably good block, re-machineable crank, rods, etc. Replace the mains and run it and you have a good chance of putting a rod thru the block at 60mph and having nothing but scrap left. Your choice. Flip a coin.
New long block in, take the old one and build a basic stroker for the future would be the way I would want to go, if I had a place to do it.
- Location
- Terra Firma
89 XJer said:
Mains are easier than rods. The hard part is getting the oil pan off.
To each his own, I understand where RichP is coming from but being a swamp Yankee I think it's worth a couple of hours to drop the pan and take a look at the crank journals and old bearings. If you don't see any large or deep score marks in the journals, it's probably worth the money to toss in a full set of new bearings and fire it up.
One caution, however: Did you hydrolock the engine? If so, you might have bent or otherwise damaged a rod and/or a piston or two, and that would make it more of a "time bomb" than rod bearings being a bit abraded.
not sure about the hydro lock eagle. I was crossing the water and she up and stalled on me. I knew enough not to turn the key again until i had pulled the plugs and then removed the water from the compression chamber. She still has plenty of power just as before the incident, although my oil pressure has been affected by the water damage.