| Author | Message | ||||||
     Ivan C. (Disco94) New Member Username: Disco94 Post Number: 7 Registered: 11-2003 |
Ok, I don't know how much news this has made, but here in Houston, it's been raining like crazy, and flooding everywhere, even around my neighborhood, which actually never floods. We get some puddles and stuff most of teh time, but right now it's so bad that it's actually up to everyone's lawn, and on some houses almost up to their doors. Well, I decided to go for a drive around the 'hood to see how bad the water was, and decided to drive through the "shallower" parts. Well, the water came up to maybe the top of the bumper, if not a little lower or a little bit higher, and after maybe 3 minutes of this, I decided to pull into a neighbors driveway to watch the other cars going by and it stalled! So what should I water proof and work on? Cuz it was kinda embarrasing seing the Disco there just stalled and then seeing a 4x4 TJ, a 4x2 Grand Cherokee, and even a freaking 4x2 Izusu just driving by with no problems whatsoever. I'm going to go look up info on this stuff, but any replies will be appreciated. Oh, and yeah, I made it back home but it freaking stalled again as soon as I pulled into the driveway, and in case y'all are wondering, we've been having an average of 3" of rain per hour since about 10 or 11 this morning. | ||||||
| Victor Biro (Vabiro) New Member Username: Vabiro Post Number: 15 Registered: 10-2003 |
Ivan, I would suggest to keep moving if the water is suddenly over 20". This is the maximum wading height that LR specifies, and is a safe depth. When you are moving you will keep a bow wave which keeps a pocket of air at the front of the truck. Stopping allows the water to flow into the air intake. Stalling may have been the result of water hitting the Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF), which is the electronic bit between the air filter box and the motor intake. This has saved many people from ruining their engine, where those other truck owners might not been so lucky if they had stopped moving. Check out the thread at ../2/36197.html"#333333"> | Rick Neff (Lostinboston) Member Username: Lostinboston Post Number: 170 Registered: 06-2003 |
2 things could have happened, both happened to me at different times. Every now and them my street floods, weve gotten up to 4 ft of water. When it was about 3 ft and my truck was stock i went through it fine for a few minutes. Eventuall my air filter got soaked and stopped letting air though. I stalled out. I took it out, took the cover off the intake and drove home slowly. On another occaision after i installed my snorkel, i was going to fast and some water got into the intake after a few big splashes and stalled, twice. When the MAF senses water, it cuts out, or so im told. I am surprised a Jeep went through it. I just recently pulled a jeep out of a puddle about 3' deep. His engine was pretty much shot. | ||||
| Rick Neff (Lostinboston) Member Username: Lostinboston Post Number: 171 Registered: 06-2003 |
Also if water gets into your cabin, your Trans ECU can be fried, as well as your CD player. The air intake for D2's is about the front right tire. | ||||||
| Ivan C. (Disco94) New Member Username: Disco94 Post Number: 8 Registered: 11-2003 |
Oh, ok. Yeah, no water got into the cabin, and quite frankly, if I can, I'm going to try to stay away from water deep enough to get into the cabin. lol, funny thing is, as soon as I posted this, I noticed a thread about "deepest water" and yeah, that pretty much sums alot of it up. But yeah, I was pretty surprised the Jeep went through with no problems, and I think it was a bit deeper than I thought because on the way back, some of the water went over the hood as another Jeep went by. Grrr, so many Jeeps. But wait, ok, so the MAF senses water, and it cuts off. But is that from moisture going THROUGH the MAF, or splashing on the outside of the MAF? cuz I was thinking about the snorkel (well, more like dreaming, cuz that's not going to happen for a long, long time), but if the problem is the water splashing on the outside, the what good would it be? | ||||||
| Rick Neff (Lostinboston) Member Username: Lostinboston Post Number: 176 Registered: 06-2003 |
the maf sensor cuts out from water going through it. I have been through water up to my hood with no problems. the MAF sensor cuts out to prevent the engine from sucking in water and destroying itself. I am surprised Dean "the submarine" Brown hasnt chimed in here, he usually likes to flaunt his sump pump and his uncanning ability to get through lots of water. If you want to know how to waterproof your rig, check out his pics and posts. A snorkel is a great mod, one of the best i've done. You also have to watch your radiator if you go to fast, mine sprung a leak. | ||||||
| Ivan C. (Disco94) New Member Username: Disco94 Post Number: 9 Registered: 11-2003 |
Yeah, I think I am going to go ahead and search for his posts because even though I really don't plan to go wading through rivers or anything, I don't want the Disco stalling on the way home if we get rain this bad again. I didn't think it would actually die on me, considering some of the stuff that I've read here and seen in the gallery... but oh well, at least I learned something out of it. The hardway, but still. Thanks for y'alls quick responses. | ||||||
| Micky_dee (Micky_dee) New Member Username: Micky_dee Post Number: 24 Registered: 11-2003 |
smear everthing with dielectric grease. take the connectors apart and put it in there. keep a wd-40 aresol at hand if it does stall. spray every where with the wd and that should help with the stalling. | ||||||
| Victor Biro (Vabiro) New Member Username: Vabiro Post Number: 16 Registered: 10-2003 |
Ivan, I had a bad experience with water on my first ever trip off road this spring (http://www.landroveradventure.com/mod.php?mod=gallery&op=media&media_id=915 ). You can get a better idea of the depth of the water (about 3 to 4 feet) by paging through the images. The engine stalled due to water ingress. The air filter box was soaked and so was the air filter. I pulled apart the air hose and water poured out from both sides of the MAF sensor, and I'm told that water squirted from the rear two cylinders when I cranked it with the plugs removed. After letting things dry out, by putting the air filter on the roof to dry out and pulling the plugs, it started and I drove it home (~60 miles). The next day, Monday, I called in sick and had a trusted mechanic change all the diff fluids, engine oil and transfer box fluid. I also discovered that the vents for the differentials needed cleaning. The water crept upto the bottom of my dash on the drivers side. Overall, no damage was done and I have made several better planned (not accidental like this one) water crossings. Last weekend the water was above the top of my tires. The bottom was a rocky surface and I was able to maintain a constant speed with consistant bow wave. Most important of all, this time I let a guy in a Lexus LX450 (a dressed up Toyota Land Cruiser) go through before me. Better his leather interior than mine. Victor | ||||||
| Robert Sublett (Rubisco98) Senior Member Username: Rubisco98 Post Number: 1075 Registered: 04-2002 |
Being that you own a '94 model *assuming from your name* I would guess your rotor/distributor took on some water, which is never nice to a vechicle. Do as someone above suggested with the di-electric grease, it will save you in the future when splashing... | ||||||
| Jaime Crusellas (Jaime) Member Username: Jaime Post Number: 162 Registered: 05-2003 |
when you drive through water, go slow and steady. Splashing is fun and exiting, but it pushes water at high pressure all over so its more likely to get into electrical connections | ||||||
| Peter J Blatt (Peteb) Senior Member Username: Peteb Post Number: 289 Registered: 10-2002 |
If you have a d1, look closely near the rear of the driver side rear tire, just above the frame you will see a mullex connector, this is all the elec for your fuel pump, i had my 97 shut down due to a good splash in 12" of water, use plenty of dielec grease, this may help! Good luck! Peter. | ||||||
| Chris Browne (Chris_browne) Senior Member Username: Chris_browne Post Number: 434 Registered: 02-2003 |
I once had real terrible trouble with the disco refusing to work after splashing through a 6 inch stream...and then refusing to start one day after heavy rain.... Replacing plug wires worked wonders | ||||||
| James (Jimmyg) Senior Member Username: Jimmyg Post Number: 420 Registered: 10-2002 |
Peter has a good point. I often run through deep water with an air-tight snorkle and have been told that the O2 sensors could have a part in stalling when submersed, but the fuel pump electronics getting wet seem to be a better bet. My truck always seems to "sputter" for a few seconds before dying. I'll give that a shot. Peter, what does a mullex connector look like? | ||||||
| Ivan C. (Disco94) New Member Username: Disco94 Post Number: 10 Registered: 11-2003 |
Thanks y'all, I'm going to take these sugestions to heart. Especially the fuel pump bit, cuz mine sputters before it dies too. Oh, and instead of starting a new thread, I thought I might as this here: on a Disco w/o all the extra weight of aftermarket bumpers and stuff, just stock, how many inches do you really get out of the OME HD springs? Because I want to get as much lift as I want w/o causing vibration, and I know that once you're past the 2" mark, it's supposed to make the front driveshaft vibrate, and that's one can of worms I don't want to open just yet. | ||||||
| Peter J Blatt (Peteb) Senior Member Username: Peteb Post Number: 290 Registered: 10-2002 |
A mullex connector is a multi plug plastic connector which is no means water tight! and the one i speak of is right in a dumb place! also, when you get a chance, take a peak under the cargo floor Hatch cover for the fuel pump and you will find another non water tight connector which is atop the fuel tank which loves to well with water! Dean and i have both cleaned and dielectric greased just about every connector that we could find, in engine compartment, on trans, on cdl, well everywhere, and i have been stuck in water to the middle of my headlights for 5 min or so, and not even a sputter! 97 D1 with over 100k miles. | ||||||
| DiscoDon (Discodon) New Member Username: Discodon Post Number: 31 Registered: 08-2003 |
Hi all, Lots of talk about water 'up to headlights', '20" deep" etc etc. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned what happens to your axles and 'boxes etc in these conditions!!!! It is worth checking your oils as any water ingress is a BAD thing to have. Check diff level etc - any grey / brown oil means water has got mixed in and will limit the life of the unit. Yes, Discos can wade quite high but theoretically this recommended depth is way above the axles. CHECK OILS AFTER ANY WADING!!! |
