Outer Limits 4x4 Board

well guys... i tackled a pretty deep water crossing today. not only did i attempt to cross it.. i hit the water going atleast 15 mph ... but i noticed something strange an i'm a bit concerned. first thing i noticed: when i hit the water, going in wasnt bad at all... but about half way across... i was going about 10 an my engine revs dropped like a bomb. i floored it but noticed nothing! why didnt my rpms jump up or have the engine atleast attempt to speed up? also, after i got out of the water, my clutch was acting weird.. i nearly killed the engine a few times when i tried to engage the clutch unless i was reving to about 25-3500 rpm... is this normal?! like i said, a bit concerned. no i was not in 4 wheel drive or had my hubs lucked. etc etc. l looked under the hood... everything was ok from what i could tell. an yes i have done water crossings before... jus not as deep as this or with how fast i hit the water.

Did you maybe get some water into the air filter???? Fuel needs air in order to burn and that could be why you got the loss in power....

i doubt it paul. i mean.. the air intake is sealed. besides, after i got out of the water, i was fine.. engine ran fine... although it was like hitting a brick wall when i hit that water. lol

Yeah but how deep was the water? If it was to your headlights it could have got some water in the air intake pipe... or when you went as hard as you did...

Well there is one way to fix it... dont do it again!!!!

The air inlet is just behind the front left headlight on right hand drive Ferozas, I think the US Rocky is the same? It wouldn't be too hard to get water in there....

Sounds more like water in your electrics (eg high tension leads). That would cause miss firing and loss of power.

hmm.. well... water was ohi dont know.... bout half way up the door maybe? it was a pretty nice sized puddle! about 15 ft accross...jus couldnt resist... lol. i tell u what though, my exhaust sounded like a big outboard though..

Yeah that happened to me last trip out... stuck in a pit with mud to the bonnet..... this is how it ended up....

i have YET to get my rig to look like that... i'm still trying though. lol.. looking for a mud hole i can really dive into.

dont get too excited... it took me 18 hours to clean it all and everytime it rains I still get mud pouring out from all sorts of places....

well if u had fun.. thats the whole point! if ya had fun.. was worth it! fun........ i mean.. isnt that why we go fourby in the first place?

Like David said more than likely you got water on/in the distributor, plug wires or down in the tops of the plugs. I get this when I wash the engine bay even though iI cover the distributor. You push the gas and not much happens..no increase in revs. The wires or plugs are grounding out instead of igniting fuel. I bought new plug wires and hopefully the seals are better than the 11-12 year old wires.

Water in the intake will make the engine cough and sputter with irregular throttle control. Been there... when you get to the other side and open the doors the water comes rushing out...close to shorting the computer. this was with a two inch body lift, two inch suspension lift and 31's.

PS:

the reason for all of the water on the inside was that I was sitting in the middle of the river trying to keep the engine going. I finally got winched out after 20-30 minutes. Took the US Rocky another 20-30 minutes to recover coughing and sputtering.

A tip that may help the 4 cylinder blokes... Rubber Gloves...
I used to have one fitted over my distributor cap in my F10, with the 5 leads exiting the finger holes... It did an amazing job at keepin water out.

Silly me forgot to make a drain plug for my Datsu...


Randal

well guys..... i decided to go check it out again yesterday.... it seems, from what i found out, that the rocky was doing the same thing in second gear like it did before. but i had a thought.... i tried it in first... wow what a difference. she plowed right through an then some! guess i was jus luggin the engine the whole time in the water... lol live and learn. that first gear'll do anything!