FrankDV1 said:
I've taken my stock 97 XJ(235/75R15 mud tires) on 3 water trips with no harm done. 2 times the water(creek) was well above bumper and I only took a small amount of water in airbox. There was a decent amount of water in the engine compartment. Needless to say I was pretty lucky. I'm looking at a snorkle or other mod so it doesn't happen again.
I'm in the same boat (no pun intended), less looking into snorkels for now. Yesterday, though, there was some weirdness I'd never seen before after doing a few water hole / stream crossings: the volt meter on the instrument cluster pegged at zero and the 'CHECK GAUGES' light came on - but the engine was still running, the V-belt was fine, and there were no secondary indications from the alternator (grinding / whining) that mud or other debris had damaged it. FWIW, I have the stock 124-amp alternator.
Pulled out to the parking lot (hey, if it was dead, there's a $100 difference between being towed from the road and being towed from inside), killed the ignition, popped the hood to let things air out a bit and performed the gauge self-check (hold in trip reset button while switching key to the '2' position). All gauges checked out fine. Started up: voltmeter went back to its usual spot around 13.8V. Didn't have a meter with me, but switching on the A/C, radio, and lights (on high beams) produced the expected effect: a slight dip in voltage followed by recovery as the alternator compensated. Idled the engine for another 10 minutes or so to make sure things really were working as they should be, then went back about my business fooling around the OHV area for another couple of hours.
Still not sure what caused it - I'm guessing a momentary lapse of contact or possible bridging from moisture. Didn't see the problem again on the 22-mile drive home, so it appears to have been intermittent. Having submerged or seriously dampened alternators in several different vehicles before, I've never had one quit out on me solely because of water getting into it - mud's a different story - but there are other things that could happen, like moisture under the distributor cap, damp plug wires affecting conductivity or arcing back to the block (usually if they're worn out), or water in the plug holes (a recurring problem with my Peugeot 405 due to the slant design of the engine sluicing water into them when driving through deep puddles at speed).
This article has some good tips on waterproofing; he's using an FSJ as the example, but the basic theories should be the same on most vehicles.
Remember to take it slow and steady in the water...don't go bashing thru or you will get in trouble. Save the power for when you feel like you may be getting stuck.
Yup. It's probably worth mentioning that the stuff I was fooling around in ranged from ankle-deep to just above the bumper depending on which part of the creek I was at, so the alternator was likely spending a good amount of time submerged in the more interesting stuff. No problems so far after another 50 miles or so of road use, but it is worth being careful.
On a related note: when I hit the water hole the first time, there was a brand-new Exploder with four people in it debating whether or not they could make it through. I hit it, made a really nice bow wave (got a good single slosh across the hood), and ploughed through. Turned around, went back through, and told them, 'hey, if you don't make it, I'll tow you out'. They declined and exited the OHV area
