Water in distributor?

The problems on a 98 TJ but OEM Jeep nonetheless...I took the TJ wheelin about a week ago and got stuck up to the bottom of the doors in water. I drove it 80ish miles home and it ran fine BUT on the way home the alternator died so I drove it till the battery died and right before the battery died the check engine light came on.


Anyways I get it back from the mechanic and the Check Engine light is still on and it runs funny now, upon start-up it'll revv up to 2k rpm's and drop down to about 200 at idle after 30 seconds. It runs rough at idle and stalls from time to time when going from reverse to forward or forward to reverse.

Are these symptoms of water under the distributor cap? How do I cure this? Pull the cap and shoot WD-40 in, let dry and restart?

98 TJ 2.5L

Thanks

Pull the cap and check for condensation on the inside of it. WD-40 is the perfect solution. Should take all of 5 minutes to do.
Spray it, shake it out and reinstall.

That is of course if water is in it.

Let's say it's not water, what would cause those symptoms?

Zoro said:

Let's say it's not water, what would cause those symptoms?

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Water in the oil, CCV not working.

The oil looks good, not milky at all. The CCV is what?

Can I pull the trouble codes w/a paperclip, or is this too new to do that?

CCV/PCV all are Crank Case Ventlation systems.

I think I have it figured out now, the vent at the back of the valve cover was clogged so when I removed it it runs fine now...

Zoro said:

I think I have it figured out now, the vent at the back of the valve cover was clogged so when I removed it it runs fine now...

Click to expand...

Great thats the CCV

langer1 said:

Great thats the CCV

Click to expand...

Only thing is I can still see thru it and it doesn't restrict any airflow when blown thru yet when it's on the Jeep it runs like crap...

Air Cleaner? They are fairly fine and a little moisture shuts off the air flow pretty quick, when water mixes with a little dust it turns to putty and when it dries to near cement. A restriction in the air cleaner will cause all sorts of problems and can cause out of the envelope, sensor values.
It's pretty common to get muddy water inside the alternator, that dries and causes poor brush contact.
Next best guess for the poor motor performance, would be water in a connector, which can mess with sensor values.
I mud a lot, checking, drying and cleaning connectors is a regular thing with me. A connector bath in cup of hot water and a little squirt with compressed air works better than a contact spray to remove mud from a connector, the connector dries fast when the water is hot. a Good contact spray can help remove oxidation and/or oil from the connector. No matter how good the seal, water and/or mud seems to find it's way in the connectors with regularity. WD40 is not rcommended for sensor connectors, it messes with the resistance.