Swimming the CRD

jinstall · **Posted:** Sat Sep 10, 2011 5:46 pm

Took the KJ for aswill yesterday, sorry I have a video but have not uploaded it yet. Everything is fine although the airfilter did get soaked. The only bad part is cleaning the radiator, IC and A/C out. Weeding the rest of it will take some time though. Was very happy that it did not leak into the cabin. This was not by choice, had some very bad flooding and major erosion going on at work that has now cause a 48" forced main break of raw sewage at work. This is in the middle of no where and all other avenues of approach are eroded away. She did good until the filter got water logged so I just yanked it out and went back to the office to get the F350SD. Might look at a snorkle kit now lol.

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/3233/20qp.mp4

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:10 pm

have you extended the breathers?

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=69496#p69496

axles/transmission/transfer cases all have breathers - but they're about 18-24" high -
which is fine for shallow - but if you went deeper - you've probably got water in somewhere.
might look at changing fluids just to be safe. water/oil mix does not lubricate well and oil is cheaper than bearings.......

Ajamant · **Posted:** Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:44 pm

If u went deep enough to get your air filter wet I GUARANTEE you have water in both diffs/t-case/tranny. Even with all breather tubes extended it's possible to suck air/water straight threw your RTV seal on diffs if they were really hot and you plunged into cold water.

Start with the t-case and when you see white/milky stuff come out change everything else. Ask me how I know..... Sometimes I think my TJ is a submarine

)

jinstall · **Posted:** Sat Sep 10, 2011 9:32 pm

yeah I was worried about this. I might end up doing this tomorrow. I took the tapemessure out it looks like it was about 36"

cgass · **Posted:** Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:07 pm

ATXKJ wrote:

have you extended the breathers?

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=69496#p69496

Do you know if the breathers are still in the same (or similar) locations on the KK?

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:02 pm

I haven't looked under a KK - but I'm 90% certain they're the same except for the back end routing. however the KK folks did make their own thread and it's got good photos.

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=479198#p479198

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sun Sep 11, 2011 5:48 pm

I've gone swimming a few times:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeEMyuDnkOI
(just skip to the good part at 1:23)

I was a dumb 16 year old driving through that water way too fast, now I'm a dumb 25 year old driving through that water way too fast:

Glend · **Posted:** Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:27 pm

There are six breathers to extend on the CRD: Auto transmission, Front diff, transfer case, rear diff, and two on the fuel tank (one right on top near the filler hose entry, and one in the fuel filler neck). You could probably forget about extending the one already in the fuel filler neck but the rest should be raised. I do alot of water crossings down here and a snorkel is mandatory equipment. A snorkel install has to be done correctly, as there are alot of bad installs that leak water into the airbox around the snorkel hose. Using a sealant like Sikaflex 227 will close it off nicely. Don't forget to have something to plug your airbox drain holes, we tend to use a product called Blue Tack which is a pliable adhesive putty used to hold posters to walls. Finally, disable your viscous fan before you do a deep crossing, so that your fan doesn't trun into a propeller.

Ajamant · **Posted:** Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:20 pm

Now u r getting there....... Protect your distributor cap(dielectric grease) and every electrical connection under the hood (fill with dielectric grease, wrap with electrical tape, then coat in liquid electrical tape), seal your ECM, and now your ready to be a submarine

). I just love the water!!!

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sun Sep 11, 2011 10:40 pm

distributor cap talk on a diesel forum?

Ajamant · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:31 am

Lol...... I was waiting for someone to jump on that...... Heck I don't even have one on my wrangler!!!!!

Just like a fumoto is part of the CRD tool kite SirSam ( that is a sweeeeeet tool set by the way)

Topan · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 6:53 am

jinstall wrote:

yeah I was worried about this. I might end up doing this tomorrow. I took the tapemessure out it looks like it was about 36"

I got all breathers extended and the 2002 airbox (minisnorkel), but never really got into deep sea.
When going through 36' , don't you have water coming in through the doors' seal ?

Am planning a trip to Iceland and preparing the KJ for this. One of the big challenge there is to survive the river crossings ...

jinstall · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:24 am

No everything stayed nice and dry, but I was pushing through as well and not letting the momentum get away. I do have a 1.5" lift and rather stiff shocks, it is not much but if I was stock I think I would be looking for a new, new engine. I was very happy the CRD made it both passes.

DOC4444 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:19 am

Disable viscous fan? Remove?

DOC

Ajamant · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:10 am

Either one. The fan can actually warp from hitting the water and also throw water up and into your air box. I've been waiting for some more peoples thoughts on replacing with an electric version and then u could just run a switch to disable. I don't know of any way to disable the mechanical fan without removing.

changingtime · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:24 am

not sure if the snorkels are a good idea...a couple of folks have lost their engines who had them. Seems kind of odd, but maybe it was an air flow thing. then again, could have just been a coincidence.

Ajamant · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:18 am

Deep water/mud holes are the problem. Unfortunately water will find its way into any crack, poor seal. A properly installed snorkel is the second best insurance for protecting your engine from water. The best and only protection is not to drive your car like a amphibious assualt vehicle.

I've dipped the fog lights underwater on my CRD and that was enough to scare me away. My CRD is for commuting and the Wrangler takes the abuse of off roading.

geordi · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:52 am

I can understand Jinstall's situation... For me, I prefer to cross deep water using that time-honored option: Bridges.

The only vehicles I've ever taken for a deep swim was a 1990 Lincoln Mark VII that I had, and the 1994 Chrysler Town and Country minivan that I still have. There was a dip in a road (that I didn't really realize was there before) with what I thought was a shallow puddle after a typical Florida frog-drowning rainstorm.

I drove into that puddle figuring to have a bit of fun... And found the water parting across the HOOD like the prow of a boat! I'd guess that was about 28 inches deep or so, the water on the hood was what I was pushing up from my motion through it. Thankfully it kept moving and all was well. I came out of the store I was heading to, there was a guy out of his car in the middle of the puddle. I feel bad for him, it was an older Oldsmobile.

The minivan was not as bad, that was only about 24," but the van had to push through it for about 300 feet or so. Again, I figure I got lucky and there wasn't any damage.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:55 pm

Ajamant wrote:

.............The best and only protection is not to drive your car like a amphibious assualt vehicle.

One day I might learn this.

jinstall · **Posted:** Thu Sep 22, 2011 10:14 pm

OK rear diff juice looked well worn. Transfer case looked, well worn. Front diff looked like chocolate milk, so I guess the front got water in it. Everything is fresh now so all should be well. Still need to check the tranny.

Swimming the CRD

Who is online