Prepping for deep water crossings

[grand_wag_85]

So what all needs to be done on an FSJ to get it ready for deep water crossings? Got a snorkel and want to get everything else ready so I can do some deep water crossings...eventually

I know the electrical needs to be waterproofed, what about the IGN module? Can it be moved inside the cab w/no negative effects or is it a sealed unit? Any vacuum lines or other electrical components in particular I need to be concerned with? Probably should upgrade to an electric fan, right? I've heard that in deep water the fan can propel itself thru the radiator, anyone else ever hear of this?

[beigebomber]

3 words
silicone, silicone, silicone. The electric fan helps to.

[gmarblestone]

Hey you can move the fan infront of the radiator and it can pull you thru the water!

[Geeeep]

Make sure all your vent lines still exist and haven't rotted off
MAke sure they are properly routed.

How high a crossing, might want to ditch the carpet in advance of the trip. If your doing this alot, I get rid of the carpet and pad and roll on some bedliner.

[J10Mike]

Originally Posted by Geeeep

Make sure all your vent lines still exist and haven't rotted off
MAke sure they are properly routed.

How high a crossing, might want to ditch the carpet in advance of the trip. If your doing this alot, I get rid of the carpet and pad and roll on some bedliner.

Right...Like Dave said. Check those vent hoses for both the front and rear axles and transfer case. Also something else to take into consideration is the vent for your th400. Heat and or water are the biggest killers of auto trannies.

[grand_wag_85]

Originally Posted by J10Mike

Right...Like Dave said. Check those vent hoses for both the front and rear axles and transfer case. Also something else to take into consideration is the vent for your th400. Heat and or water are the biggest killers of auto trannies.

I NEVER realized my TJ's vent was inside of the bellhousing until AFTER I sank it....Did a trans flush on the spot


Will be extending the vent lines, probably to one central spot then routed into the cab. There is one line running along the passenger side of the frame that I have no clue what it's for, the end in the engine bay smells like gas but it's on the opposite side of the truck as the fuel tank....Speaking of which, any tricks to water proofing the fuel system?

Me& everyone in my club has this near fatal attraction to driving thru deep water, we go to Paragon just for the play area. If we make it past that's an added bonus

Some vids of my most frequent crossings are here:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.showvids&friendID=165317 51&n=16531751&MyToken=c79579c2-b0e5-46ee-8fdd-c6b366ca37cc

Please disregard the snomobile antics

[JeepinPete]

Keep in mind, any place your rig is leaking oil is a place for water to get it...

[grand_wag_85]

Originally Posted by JeepinPete

Keep in mind, any place your rig is leaking oil is a place for water to get it...

I'll add that to the list, thanks.

[Don S]

..
grand_wag_85;

Usually when on the trail all the gear boxes and wheel bearings are hot.
... When we make the water crossings the water is cold. Some of these ‘sealed’ areas are designed to keep lubrications in rather than the cold water out. Also when these areas are suddenly cooled off the air in them contracts creating a negative pressure that helps draw in the water. It is advisable to re-lubricate all grease-able fittings and repack bearings after deep water crossings.

... One year I crossed Pole Creek (a rushing torrent of white water) on The Lost Trail. Several months later I had a catastrophic wheel bearing failure. Lucky for me I heard the noise and slowed a bit before the thing broke. It was obvious that water had got into the bearing area from the wheel bearing seal.

Have a good one while you can still laugh about it.. Don S..
If something I’ve posted on the Internet offends you please ignore it.
If you don’t know how to ignore something on the Internet e-mail me … and I’ll demonstrate.

[JeepinPete]

Along the lines of what Don S is saying, synthetic wheel bearing grease is far superior to regular wheel bearing grease when it comes to water. Years ago when I had my M38A1, I repacked the wheel bearing every time I went wheeling since most of it involved stream crossings. The grease was always milky. I tried Mobil 1 synthetic grease and found that it just beaded the water away. Repacks became a thing of the past other than normal maintenance...

[CowKiller]

as soon as i get home from school in august, we are gona have to make a trip to paragon if it is still open then. if not trip to raush creek. hope to have the ford 3 linked by then.

[scotty]

the ignition module itself you wont have to worry about,ive had mine underwater and covered in mud many times

things like alternators and starters wont care about the water as long as its clean and clear. when you get into a silty,murky stream or mudhole,THAT is the stuff to be weary of. ive had starters and alternators stop working after becoming submerged in murky water and cleaning them out will usually get them working again. starters usually have to come off and come apart,alternators sometimes you can just spray with a hose while its running

as has been mentioned,run the vents and engine air intake up high. if your snorkel is hooked to a factory air cleaner,make sure theres a gasket between it and the carb,and make sure the gasket on the lid is in good shape. i used to use 3 small C clamps to help the lid keep a good seal to the base-the 1 wingnut doesnt do such a great job.

the electric fan is a good idea,its very hard for your mechanical fan to spin underwater and your engine has to work alot harder to stay running. a clutch fan is alittle better than a solid fan and spacer,as it may stop spinning when it hits the cold water. if you do run an engine fan,make sure theres a shroud in place to keep splash to minimum in the engine compt.

do not seal the dizzy cap to the bas with silicone.it just makes it a PITA to get off when you do get some moisture trapped in there. use plain old grease or vaseline. it wipes off,and is quite waterproof.

also do not add a vent to the cap. amc dizzy is vented on the bottom,and the resulting air pressure inside the cap will keep water out,unless your upside down if your upside down in the water,your engine running is prolly the least of your worries

unplug everything in the engine compartment and put dialectric grease in the plugs before putting them back together.dont forget the ignition modules plugs.

put the dialectric grease on each prong the the dist cap,and you can put it inside the cap,on the rotor where it contacts the coil prong.

dialectric grease is good stuff. using it with a quality set of plug wires and a high output igintion will keep the sparks going to keep your engine running in the water. the wires are very important- a cheap or worn out set can cross fire in the moisture and shut the motor down in a hurry.

further waterproofing questions?

[grand_wag_85]

Originally Posted by scotty

further waterproofing questions?

What about parascopes?

[arter]

I've also heard of guys running a SMALL amount of air pressure into the axle tubes to create positive pressure for water crossings.

[grand_wag_85]

Originally Posted by arter

I've also heard of guys running a SMALL amount of air pressure into the axle tubes to create positive pressure for water crossings.

One guy over on one of the S10 boards has a modified PCV system that once the truck gets in deep enough it's designed to send all the crankcase gases to the axles, trans& transfer case. I think the air pressure idea is better, and simpler.

[FSJ-Earl]

Make sur ethat you do something with your tranny. I sunk my rig up to the headlights in the "Frog Hole" at Rausch Creek and the only serious damage I did, other than electric seat motors, power window motors, door lock, amp, carpet was I totally destroyed the tranny. Apparenty the 727 breather is in the belhousing and the belhousing is vented. You will NEED to address that if you are going in deep.

[Stu]

as for the air pressure idea, the military did it waaaaaaay back. i'm guessing most of you have seen the old video of the carrier truck driving under a river. i'd think it'd work out as long as you still have a vent to make sure you don't overpressure your gear boxes. if you over pressure them to the point of blowing seals, you're leaking water. and if you run out of air you're in trouble too. your air compressor can't work if it's intake is underwater either

[Blinkinlights]

I sank my 727 as well so I tapped and plugged that god-awful hole behind the torque-converter and drilled and tapped a new one in the tail piece of the tranny. We checked with the local tranny guru and he said that it should work. The beauty is that you don't have to remove the entire insides of the tranny...just the tail piece. You can then clean it out and make sure that there are no filings in there before you reinstall the tail piece. We weren't worried about the front vent that we plugged because we just tapped an exisiting hole. (sorry no pics)

I went further to tap the vents in the NP208 and the D44's and ran nipples and fuel hose to make sure that they never leak.







Then of course...you need a snorkel...




Greg

[scotty]

hmmm,im not so sure it will work in the tailshaft section. my tranny guy reccomended the top of the case,behind the front pump,and this is how ive other folks do it as well:

stock vent plugged:


new vent:


cant believe i forgot to mention how much auto trannies hate water thats the whole reason i originally switched to a t18- i was tired of swappin out autos. once you get water in an auto fir any period of time,its days are numbered. how quick the end comes depends on how long you run it with how much water. if you dont have a resealed,non-leaking auto tranny with the vent run up high,stay out of the water,period. unless youre into swapping trannies

the other thing i used to do when i had an auto was use a GM locking dipstick. they will all be longer than what you need,so youll have to cut it to length and scribe the fill marks,but the tube is the right diameter and it works well