water damage

I'm about to lift a cherokee 4 inches on 31's and down here in southwest florida someplaces that's not enough... in the event that i get in up over my head (literally almost) is there anything i can invest in to keep my under hood electronics protected, or at least somewhat protected, i dont want a snorkel, just something to help from splashing mud and other gross offroad debris.

Harry_f said:

I'm about to lift a cherokee 4 inches on 31's and down here in southwest florida someplaces that's not enough... in the event that i get in up over my head (literally almost) is there anything i can invest in to keep my under hood electronics protected, or at least somewhat protected, i dont want a snorkel, just something to help from splashing mud and other gross offroad debris.

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If you are going swimming there really isnt much to protect the underhood stuff. Only real way is to know the area and lines to take so you do not go swimming. A snorkel would help in those cases but you do not want to go that way. If you are worried about splashing mud and other(as you say) gross offroad debris you really need to think about what you want to use the Jeep for. Skid plates up front might help but not stop it all from getting up into the engine bay. In the same qustion you ask about deep water then about trying to stop the mud and stuff from splashing up. They kinda go hand and hand. If you play around water and dirt at the same time you get filthy and need a wash. No real way around it that I've seen. Besides getting it dirty is half the fun, for some of us.

Get some marine grade silicone sealant, and just go to town. My experiences with water have been lucky so far. Had my speaker and fuse block fully submerged in silty water, speaker still works and nothing shorted.

nice thanks.


and i know the jeep is going to get muddy and dirty as hell, i'm just wondering about damage prevention, i dont care about a messy engine bay.

Get some dialectric grease and pack it into every electonic conection you have. Do your plug wires and take or distributor cap off (or loosen it) and pack grease all around the lip of it.
The grease conducts electricity but since its grease it'll repel water and keep it outta your distributor.

Dielectric grease is BAD in large amounts.
Trust me.

You don't want to cake things with it and make sure to get a good quality product if you use it. The cheap ones at the counter at the parts store is not pure and has been known to CAUSE corrosion.

I had a brand new ignition module and coil for my 87' back in the day...
Figured the more the merrier.... well... 6 months later the truck would not start.

Turns out the cheap 99 cent dielectric grease corroded all of the terminals on the ignition unit turning it into a nice paper weight.

After I noticed that, I cleaned every other connection that I put the grease on. I was glad it was a small packet. I was able to save the other connections. Talked to some people about it and they had similar experiences.

One guy had a new set of plugs and wires, the wires corroded themselves to the plugs in less then 4 months!!

I have experienced this myself the grease that is supposed to keep everything clean and dry, actually causes corrosion!!!

I used the packet that came with the plug wires on a friends car, 8 months later they had a SES light. The wires got so bad so quick, it was causing misfires!

So I figured out the hard way, if you are going to use it, buy the name brand good stuff.

Since I have been using the name brand, I have had zero issues.

Alternator is the only thing I worry about. No way to protect it.
Otherwise, everything other then the cap and rotor is pretty sealed up from the factory.

The factory connectors on newer vehicles do a very good job keeping out moisture.

What year is your rig?


XJR

I wouldn't go deeper than the rockers. There are wires that run along the trim at the bottom of the door.

get some WD-40 and spray your alternator and cap. raise you vent hoses (diff, tranny...)

its a 2000. and keep the info comin guys thanks.

NSW Sparky said:

I wouldn't go deeper than the rockers. There are wires that run along the trim at the bottom of the door.

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It would be better if you didn't, but its not the end of the world. The coated wires in water isn't going to do anything, its the connector ends that are what will cause the problem in water.

Just because I like showing pictures, here is my worst stuck I was telling you about Harry_f

The red line is the eventual water level.

Extend all the breather and vent lines (tranny, axles, etc) to a safe height.

Begster said:

It would be better if you didn't, but its not the end of the world. The coated wires in water isn't going to do anything, its the connector ends that are what will cause the problem in water.

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Just raise all your wire connectors up.
I'm kidding. Quality DE grease and WD-40.

Begster said:

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Looks kinda familiar...

JEONLYEP said:

Looks kinda familiar...

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I would be sick if that were me.


Well as with most aspects of life, all things in moderation. Light coatings of grease will work better in most applications. Using thick globs of grease will actually trap water allow corrosion to go unnoticed as mentioned earlier.

I've had a July 2007 Four Wheeler magazine in my bathroom well since July. The article is EXTREME WATERPROOFING. They ask the experts down in Florida (also known as the last place in the world I would like to live) at the swamp buggy races how they water proof. Most things covered you would probably not like to do. They do things like move the electronics to the cabin, switch from distributors to direct ignition. Wrap everything in thick plastic, zip tie it, silcone it, then duct tape the hell out of it. One thing they use is a marine style oil dipstick which will not let water enter your engine oil through the dipstick. They also use silicone on everything. It gives alot of other ideas that are useless for our application.

In the end though this is one of those, the best offence is a solid defence, situations. It is essential that you check or change your fluids anytime you are in deep water and sand (let's face it there isn't mud in Florida only sand and old people) Anyways sorry for droning I was bored.

You could relocate the Alt, by removing the A/C compressor, and putting the alt in it's place. You would have to make a bracket. I think there are some on here that have done this.

Having some sort of water sprayer with you to clean out the alt, and a hammer to tap out the dry stuff. If your doing a lot of mud, and dding the XJ, then carry an extra alt, and a battery jump box, or a second battery.

I would seriously consider a snorkel. Even a home-made job. Some have relocated their intake into the fire-walls fresh air intake. You wouldn't even see the snorkel, and then you would have some protection.

Put some pool noodles in the doors if you take the plastic liners out of the front fenders. will keep mud out of the door hinges.

Take the carpet out, and use some sort of painted liner. Or cut the carpet so you have the front section to protect your legs from the floor board heat. Then if the carpet gets dirty, just pull it out and wash it.

Change you fluids after every deep water, and or mud crossing.

Make sure you have good solid tow points on the Jeep. A winch would be nice to have as well. If you go winch route, keep it covered or get a winch cradle and use temporary mounts front and rear for it. Then strap it tightly to the inside of the Jeep where it's clean and dry... and it won't bounce up and knock you in the head.

xtend diff breathers inside of the jeep.

TSL's, boggers, or some sort of tire that will clean out well. Some sort of way to air up and down your tires.

remove excess wait... if you don't need the rear seats, take them out, etc.

If I wanne Herculine my interior is there anything I can spray down on the trans hump and firewall area befor the liner to keep heat down?
Thanks
PS: Crawl Magazine did a review of some guys YJ who extended all his breather lines to a bracket on the firewall, than topped em all off wth a little breather filte. Thought that was slick

SketchyXJ said:

If I wanne Herculine my interior is there anything I can spray down on the trans hump and firewall area befor the liner to keep heat down?
Thanks

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You could use the stuff that the audio guys put in their trunks and stuff. Forget what it's called. It should have some insulating properties and be solid enough to Herculine over.

what is herculine?

Herculiner is like the spray on truck beds. Its a tacky and grippy kinda paint that prevents the truck bed from rusting. LineX and Rhinoliner are some popular examples. The difference with Herculiner is it comes as a DIY roll on kit that can be purchases at pepboys and other popular auto stores.
Hope this helps.

Here's some pics of mine after I got done a couple weeks ago




And some before pics

coastie124 said:

You could use the stuff that the audio guys put in their trunks and stuff. Forget what it's called. It should have some insulating properties and be solid enough to Herculine over.

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Dyn-o-mat?