wheeling thru rivers and streams

[Sacredgroove]

in my lengthy 3 whole months of being a jeep owner and going offroad i had the best time yet yesterday,but want to ask a few questions to insure it stays fun lol.
was out wheeling down power line trails with a friend of mine and decided to take a cutoff into the woods since the nuese river was cutting the trail off in front of us. soon as i entered the woods low and behold i saw a cj coming my way.
now,mine is basically stock cj7 with 31" a/t's and this one coming at me was a monster! of course we stopped and talked it up,he has a cj5 with chevy one ton axles and 38" super swampers,283 v8 sounded and ran like a beast. well he talked me into driving down into the river after watching him do it lol. it was nice smooth rock bed more or less and wasnt too deep,but was the most fun ive had as of yet in the jeep
i stayed away from the deeper water,and my questions are:
can i run the cj in water up to the air intake level?(considering a snorkel to at least raise it to top of hood)
anything i should look to waterproof if i decide to do more river runnin?
i assume distributor would need some sort of proofing...
i also worry about hydrolock,what can i do to prevent or at least really deter that from happening?
i'll have pics soon of the jeep in the river(its in raleigh,nc if anyone ever wants to go) im going back this weekend with a camera,and i got dudes phone number says he is willing to go whenever on the weekends so im out for some fun and some good pics to share. well,enough rambling...im still on a high from the experience lol

 

[Craig]

It's a little harder to seal off a carburated motor than a fuel injected one because of the difference in air intakes. As for the distributor, I sealed my cap down with silicone and ran a hose from the vent tube in the top of the cap to my airbox which is sealed up and snorkeled. I did the same for both my front and rear diffs and transfercase. I don't have an external breather line for my transmission so if I sink it, I have to change the fluid. I have my pcv valves siliconed down. For my computer, I just put a plastic bag over it if I'm going through anything real deep. It's hard to do the computer because it has to get air circulation to stay cool but I'm working on something. I also have two 12 volt bilge pumps from a boat on the front floorboards to pump out any water that comes inside (otherwise I have to listen to my girlfriend complaining "my feet are getting wet") If you are doing any deep water crossings, be careful. Jeeps are very light and it doesn't take much for the current to catch the jeep and take it downstream...I've seen it happen. If for some reason you do get stuck in a moving river with the current hitting you sideways, your best bet is to open the doors and let the current run through the jeep instead of it hitting the side of it and possibly flipping it over or taking it downstream. If for some reason you do hydro lock the motor, or you're not sure, don't try to start it! Pull it out. Pull out your spark plugs and turn over the motor without them in until all the water shoots out of the cylinders.

 

[avyoung]

Also remember that when you are going through water it is higher in the front because you are pushing it. Sou you have to take that into account. Also water will wash the grease out of your bearings. They are not sealed like on a boat so you have to re-pack them often.

 

[Jeepster05]

which trail are you talking about??? I know of a few around here that have rivers in the middle.

 

[wm69]

uuuuh, don't you also have to worry about the fan (if you have a mechanical fan instead of electric) pulling itself up into your radiator if you get in deep water? I've heard that. I try and stay out of water over hub height because I've seen what happens when you get water in your bearings/ transmission, diffs, xfer case. Not pretty if water gets in there and you don't change the fluid/ repack bearings.

 

[BakedAlaskan]

All perfect advice. I have been in water over the front fenders and made it through about 35 yards. You know a crossing I have never done, middle of the night no other rigs in sight. :roll: Can you say DUMBA$$.

I made it with no problems even with a non fan clutch fan. I was amazed how much water was still on the top of my airfilter even after wheeling and getting home. I was baffled how it stayed on there. But needless to say my intake is still the stock carb aircleaner which points way below the "top" of the unit.

1) Lenghtened vent tubes maybe into a pvc tube w/cap (like an upside down glass)
2) Air intake needs some sort of snorkle even if it is minnor.
3) With a new cap and wires I have never had a problem with flooding. as long as it can handle no venting and a tight seal?? I have never messed with this.
4) Fan clutch minimum electric with a manual "OFF" is best.
5) Die-electrical grease in your wire connection works great. You should this anyways water or not. Anything in the engine compartment should already be sealed.
6) Computors under the seat or low in the interior should be moved :shock:
7).............next??

None of these I have done yet, but damn it I know what "SHOULD BE DONE" :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Sacredgroove]

cool,thanks for the advice everyone!
jeepster-i went off new hope rd between poole and new bern ave
they are cutting highway in,i turned off there to the left going towards poole rd and went down maybe a few hundred yards and went up the incline on the left to the power line trails.
follow trail down to where it turns left into the woods...go maybe 75 yards and you will see a deep cut into the embankment to enter the river.
the bed is all flat smooth rock more or less and maybe 2 feet deep on average.....far side is a little deeper and you dont want to go too far right of where you enter. from what i understand it gets 4-6 feet deep to the right kinda quick...but you will see rapids going over the rocks to mark as far as you want to go to the right. to the left you can go maybe 40 yards with a stock jeep...beyond that it gets a little deeper though.
enjoy! maybe ill see you out there sometime

 

[Nymisus]

well all this talk is kinda starting to make me think.....I have only gone through one "water/mud" crossing and it was up to the bottom of my body basically.....I don't have anything water proofed yet....could this cause problems.....I plan on going to my friends ranch soon and doing some rivers up there.....could this cause any real damage???

 

[64Jeeper]

Good old fasion Pine Barren MUD!!!!!

 

[Craig]

well all this talk is kinda starting to make me think.....I have only gone through one "water/mud" crossing and it was up to the bottom of my body basically.....I don't have anything water proofed yet....could this cause problems.....I plan on going to my friends ranch soon and doing some rivers up there.....could this cause any real damage???

You most likely have muddy water in your diffs and possibly your transmission and transfercase. You should check and replace any fluids that have water in them. Mabye think about running the breather lines for your diffs a little higher up like into your engine compartment or something.

 

[Craig]

One other thing. I don't know what the CJ's are like but on the YJ's, the air intake goes to the airbox from a tube that is positioned right near the driver's side bottom corner of the front grill. You can pull this tube off which will raise your air intake up a little bit and you'll be less likely to hydo lock your motor. You should also bring some tools to pull out your spark plugs just in case. I found this out the hard way back when I first got my jeep. I hydro locked the motor about 200 kms out on a trail in the Rockies...good thing I had my tools.
Oh ya, don't forget about making sure your gas cap is sealed water tight and has a raised breather line.

 

[Nymisus]

so what are these breather lines yall are talking about?? is there some kind of write up or diagram on these that shows what they look like?? i am pretty new at the whole jeep thing and don't know much about this kinda stuff

 

[Snitty]

it would simply be a rubber or plastic line running from the axles/trans

 

[Craig]

Ya, it's just a rubber line like a rubber fuel line. I used rubber fuel lines to extend my breathers for my diffs and transfercase up into my engine compartment. I've seen people install small fuel filters on the ends of the lines to keep dust out.