So, my friend recently took her ’93 Jeep Wrangler swimming—and had to be towed out. Replacing the plugs and plug wires got it back running, but she says it still runs a little rough and feels down on power. Air filter was replaced after the incident. She has a new cap and rotor to install. It has the inline-six engine and ran fine before the dip.
If the cap and rotor doesn't help, where would you look next? Any common issues with these engines when they get wet?
Thanks.
All electrical connections that went under water should be upended and dryer. Does that have an old kid style arm? I took my Porsche swimming and water got in the electrical parts of the afm. Ran much better once I sorted that.
Oh did water get in the oil or the gas tank?
I'm curious how deep it got. Fuel contamination? Not many old fuel systems are actually watertight since usually their vapor hoses/fittings fall apart (#p0440life). If she doesn't find anything ignition related (like water sitting in bottom of distributor) I'd consider pumping out the tank and refilling with fresh fuel.
If it was running when it dunked, it might have swallowed water and hurt a cylinder. I've seen engines bend rods by inhaling water.
Cousin_Eddie said:If it was running when it dunked, it might have swallowed water and hurt a cylinder. I've seen engines bend rods by inhaling water.
Yeah, it doesn't compress well.
Cousin_Eddie said:If it was running when it dunked, it might have swallowed water and hurt a cylinder. I've seen engines bend rods by inhaling water.
It's still running--not 100%, though, as it's now running a little rough. In her words: It now idles like a Harley Road King.
But was it running while swimming? That's when they suck down water and bend rods.
idles like a harley? I bet she is down a cylinder or two
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Consider this an excuse for a complete tune up and go from there if that doesn’t fix it.
Keith Tanner said:But was it running while swimming? That's when they suck down water and bend rods.
Yep. Need to know if it was running when it went swimming. If so a compression check could be useful.
we know the rods could be bent , but any chance the valves , pushrods , timing chains could have bent or damaged from the hydralic pressure ?
Compression test will tell the tale. It is kind of amazing how one rod an eighth of an inch shorter lowers the static compression. Quite a bit less horsepower on those cylinders.
Valves and such survive quite nicely. I bought a hydrolocked Integra once, borrowed a rod and piston, cleaned and lubed it and ran a 14 hour chump race. My friend bought it six or eight years ago and has raced it quite a bit. I really need to get the rod and piston back out to return it some day...
yes, I think you would need to lift the head or completely punch through the piston before valves get ruined by trying to squish water.
Bent rod unless it’s misfiring. If misfiring find the electrical issue.
my buddy did a similar thing with a 351 but it dies shortly after it blasted into the water, motor was locked up, took the plugs out and did everything to try to turn it over with no luck. After a few times being towed and clutch dumping in 4 low it finally broke loose, threw the plugs back in and it ran but really rough and made bad noises, ended up bending the 2 rear rods from water ingestion. hopefully its just wet electronics and not worse.
also if it was in that much water then it'd probably be worth checking the diff fluid and see if any water got in, dont want to have those start going bad down the road.
dean1484 said:Keith Tanner said:But was it running while swimming? That's when they suck down water and bend rods.
Yep. Need to know if it was running when it went swimming. If so a compression check could be useful.
A compression check could catch it early enough to avoid too much damage. The repair could be budget friendly if she’s lucky and can do the repairs herself.
I’ve had a 4.3 in a boat bend a rod due to water and still run well enough to get in to the ramp, even if a little rough.
The repair was cheap for parts, and just took my labor. Diagnosis and inspection showed the block, bearings, and rings were not damaged. I was able to replace just the rod and gaskets, reused the bearings, piston, rings, and wrist pin with no issues for several seasons of saltwater use.
One of my college buddies had a YJ for a while that we took 'swimming' a few times. His had the AMC 4 banger and there were a couple times it came home running rough, but was always ok after drying out for a few days. I would definitely change the oil in the diffs and maybe think about a transmission flush too. There was one occasion when I'm sure the transmission somehow ingested a pretty substantial amount of water and made some of the most horrible noises I've ever heard from a car for several days. We were sure the tranny was nuked, but again it was fine after just driving it for a few days.
93 Jeep. Even if it hadn't been in the drink my first thought would be electricity/ignition related. Give it a couple days to really dry out and I bet it heals itself.
In reply to Furious_E :
its very hard to kill a 4cyl 5 speed or auto YJ.
DOUBLE CHECK THE DISTRIBUTOR CAP!
I've had the exact problem (with a 4.0 jeep, even) and ended up with condensation in the distributor cap causing it to run poorly. Open it up and take a look for any moisture and let it completely dry out before reassembling.
In reply to MrChaos :
Yup, never did kill that thing and it certainly wasn't for lack of effort.
airwerks said:DOUBLE CHECK THE DISTRIBUTOR CAP!
I've had the exact problem (with a 4.0 jeep, even) and ended up with condensation in the distributor cap causing it to run poorly. Open it up and take a look for any moisture and let it completely dry out before reassembling.
This is what WD40 is REALLY for.
Pull the cap and plug wires and put them in the oven to heat fo a few minutes.
My mother did this many, many years ago when moisture was heavy.
i assume my father taught her this.
I remember when I had my 87ish wrangler I got stuck in a deep puddle & left it running. I was amazed to see the distributor was completely under water and the jeep was still running.
Keith Tanner said:airwerks said:DOUBLE CHECK THE DISTRIBUTOR CAP!
I've had the exact problem (with a 4.0 jeep, even) and ended up with condensation in the distributor cap causing it to run poorly. Open it up and take a look for any moisture and let it completely dry out before reassembling.
This is what WD40 is REALLY for.
Water Displacement, Formula 40 works like it was made for this job. 
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