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XJ boggin' down

TimmyA

NAXJA Forum User
Location
New Hampshire
I brought my recently lifted 98' XJ in some water today, wasn't that deep, It didn't even make it to my doors, but for some reason it started bogging down really bad and then shut off and wouldn't start for awhile
I'm sitting on an RE 4.5" kit with 31" super swampers, I didn't expect so much trouble outa so little water. Does anyone have any suggestions how I can prevent this from happening in the future?
 
...sounds like you hydrolocked it. when you say the water didn't make it to your doors, do you mean the window-height, or the bottom of the doors? the problem is something else (probably electrical) if the water was only to your doors. i'd check your grounds.
 
There was space between the bottom of the rid and the water, it just wouldn't give me the power, then once I got on land, if I could make it, I could keep going
 
my guess would be to check your O2 sensor. but if it didnt start back up then its something electrical. CPS maybe?
 
you might have gotten water in the intake maybe? might have caused it to cut off and then it could have drained out. you should probably get a snorkel too if you are going to be in deep water anymore.
 
ChrisRFewell said:
water sucks, it really really sucks!


check distributor cap water inside?
that's what I was thinking. a shot of WD-40 will do that good
 
Yeah, I thought about staying outa the water but a TJ and a YJ had already made it across, I had to try
I am gonna look into snorkel and other water proofing solutions
Thanks for all the replys
 
This all happened yesterday but today for some reason when I started my car up and drove it for about 15 min. then an hour later did the same thing and it started to die, it kept gettin weaker and weaker, then it was ok. Then again at 6pm I got outa work and it wouldn't start, I finally got it to turn over luckily before the battery died... Any reason for this? I know I got to much water, just dunno where
 
Randomly being in lower gears will make it sounds like its sputtering, you can feel it under the car and in reverse it almost loses all power, anyone have a clue whats going on?
 
I would start checking the electronics, in particular the ones closer to the bottom of the Jeep...CPS(Crank position sensor), coil, Alternator, maybe an O2 sensor is loose and water got in the exhaust...is the check engine light on? How are the relays under the hood? Did you check the connections to you ECU module? If you got some water in there you could have some issues...
 
perchance a CPS? Mine does the same thing, it sputters and bogs down and I'm pretty sure it's the crankshaft position sensor. Granted I haven't read the second page yet so the problem may have been fixed/I may be wrong. It would also make sense because when he hit water, if there were bare wires on the CPS it could short out and lose the signal, then when it dried it would stop grounding out.
 
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I had the same exact problem with an old xj I had. I hit a water hole too fast like an idiot and it died out in the middle. After a while I got it to turn over and it ran ok for the rest of the day. Then for about a month it would bog down at low RPMs, like it wanted to die out. I had to drive with one foot on the gas and one on the brake to keep it running while off road.

It would happen on and off, thats why it took me so long to start replacing stuff. I replaced the O2, plugs, wires, Cap and rotor, TPS, and it ran better after that. It was never 100% though. Some people recomended the CPS but I had so many other issues that I never got around to it. I always heard that if the CPS was bad that it would "go out" without warning and leave you stranded. So I doubted it.
I would give the CPS a shot though since it was the only other thing on the list that I didn't replace.
 
cleaning the alternator is easy...most of the time they go out when soaked or mud is involved. take it apart and clean the brushes inside of it. helps a ton and saves money on buying a new one
 
Check your ground wires, particularly the one towards the back of the block on the passenger side - both ends. Unbolt it and clean the contacts, bolting it snuggly back down.

Check your coil and spark plug wires, make sure they are not rubbing up against anything.

Check the wires for both O2 sensors. If one of them is rubbing something and shorting out, it can also behave that way.
 
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