KJ + Water = Power Loss?! WTF!

Bundu Boy · **Joined:** Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:31 pm **Posts:** 35

Hey all

I did a local trail here in Gauteng, South Africa, on Sunday just passed and my KJ lost power while driving through a pool about a foot and a half deep....

This is the second time this has happened...

The first was when I went driving through a muddy puddle and just as I left the pool I lost power to the wheels, almost like a KJ was stopping for a breather! after a second or 2 power returned and I continued on my way.

Now after this splash around the engine was helluva dirty

You can see that mud splashed all the way up to the bonnet (u guys called it a hood I think :wink:

)

The second time was at an obstacle course that had a pool to drive through. No sweat, the water just 3 quarters the way up the tyres and I drove through gently. Just as I was about to exit the pool I lost power and ended half in/half out the pool with my rear-end submerged. As the exhaust was under water I switched off the engine and made a plan to get towed out. After being towed out I turned the engine over and she started and powered up no problem.

On neither of these occasion did the engine stall (automatic).

So what gives? Any ideas from you learned gentlemen?

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:03 am

With that amount of splash - I'd be looking for water getting into a fuse box or electrical connection - it runs off and it's okay - you might have some mud traces - so look around and see if there's anything electrical that needs to be sealed

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:08 am

Is your air filter getting wet?

Any check engine lights coming on? With that much mud in the engine I would think water is getting somewhere it shouldnt. Check all the noticeable connections. The coils being one of the first.

If it were me I would leave the engine running while using a slow steady stream of water and get certain parts of the engine wet. I wouldnt spray everything at once but one section at a time so I could locate a possible loose connection. Im not recommending this, just saying what I would do. :wink:

Also, if the drivetrain is going completely under water then I would check for water in the diff's, tcase, and tranny. This doesnt have anything to do with the stalling, just something you should do.

Jeepman56 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:25 am

Sounds exactly like what happens to me on ice when the ESP kicks in, it cuts power to prevent wheel spin. I didn't think '05s had that though. Just a thought.

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:39 am

I would slow down for one thing, steady power not all you can muster, GOD knows where that water and mud is going. Besides from the look of the spray, you hit that puddle at a pretty good clip. That can also lead to a loss of control and we don't want that. Hitting an obstacle fast wont guarantee you will get through it. It looks like fun but as you are finding out, either the puddle is deeper than you thought or it screws up your KJ.

"Tread Lightly" means not throwing mud and water on everybody within 200 feet of the puddle. and also means that your rig MIGHT make it oput in one piece.

BeepBeepJeepJeep · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:44 am

Check your coils. Quite often water gets in there and causes a miss. If you have an air compressor, use that to blow out the water (and dirt), and then put some dielectric grease around the seals before putting the coils back in.

Edit: Also, it is okay for your exhaust to be under water as long as the truck is running. Water will not get into the engine unless the water is all the way up to the headers... But by that time you probably have other things to worry about.

Bundu Boy · **Joined:** Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:31 pm **Posts:** 35

Thanks for the comments guys

Yup, I hit that puddle the one time like that. It is not my usual driving style I'm glad to say

I knew that there were not any rocks/logs to strike while doing that, so I decided to follow the guys in front and give it a little bit of welly.
I did have the engine light come on the next day and the KJ seemed to jiggle about when idling. I took to the DC garage and they plugged in their 'puta and said that cylinder 1 was misfiring... they cleared the fault and told me to bring it back if the light came back on, it did not but I have noticed that my consumption has gone up about 25%. I've got service booked on 19th March so I'll get them to fix that then, I'll also tell them about the power failure and see what they say (good luck to me I know:) , when dealing with the DC dealerships, or stealerships as we call them down here:wink: )

It was when I did the second pool slowly that I got concerned when the power went....

Remember, the KJ did not stall, it just did not go anywhere when I gave it some gas....

indynewfie · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:13 pm

With not much throttle on and entering water above the exhaust pipe you could have temorarily reduced the back pressure, ... then when you hit the throttle harder it produced enough pressure to blow out the water and attain the pressure release you needed to "move" again.

Just my 2 cents worth hypothesis.

KJ04 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:21 pm

I took the time one day to pull every electrical connection I could find on mine and coated them good with dielectric grease.

As Jeepster suggested, take a hose and carefully spray sections of the engine while it's running to try and isolate the problem. In the meantime, stay out of the puddles. :wink:

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:36 pm

If its throwing a mis-fire code then check the coils for sure. Pull them out and check for water/mud and crap caked down in there.

May be a good time to change the plugs too. They need to be changed every 30k.

Just make sure you blow all the dust and dirt out of the holes before removing the plugs. If you dont then it will fall down in to the piston which is bad.

Bundu Boy · **Joined:** Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:31 pm **Posts:** 35

Stupid question I know

But what are coils and where can I find them in my engine -- noob! :oops:

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:41 pm

Someone else will have to chime in with the coil location but, you might also want to check the oxygen sensors for worn wiring. Especially the ones by the front drive shaft, drivers side.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:48 pm

Bundu Boy wrote:

Stupid question I know

But what are coils and where can I find them in my engine -- noob! :oops:

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34330

Guest · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:20 pm

I'd blame that condition on a cracked coil, not just a wet coil. My coils have been wet a LOT of times and never caused a miss. My Trooper had a miss when it got wet caused by water crossings with a cracked distributor cap...same concept.

LibertyFever · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:21 pm

Even though it seems like fun to drive full throttle through water its not a wise idea. If your engine should "swallow" enough water you will encounter a condition called hydrolocking and destroy your engine.

Recently I experienced a similar problem except I was driving through six to eight inches of snow. I was driving so fast that the snow filled the engine compartment, the fan belt began to slip & the alternator warning lamp came on. I learned to slow down in snow too.

KJ + Water = Power Loss?! WTF!

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