How to survive Hydro-locking in the woods

Decided to go out today and get some trails. Well its been raining here so there were lots of puddles I guess you could call them all over the trails. I made it all the way out and was literally on my second to last water crossing when I did it. The jeep sucked in water engine started to sputter and I shut it off as fast as I could. Not sure if I shut it off or it died but DAM! second time this has happen to me. Now my guide to surviving hydro lock in the middle of freeking nowhere.

1. First rule is do not under any circumstances take your XK threw even the smallest puddle. In fact if it rains outside then stay home not worth the risk LMAO. If you like me are an idiot and find your self going threw some water then proceed to step number two.

2. First thing as soon as you feel the power struggle or here the engine sputter just shut it off as fast as possible and come off the gas don't hesitate. Under no circumstances should you try to start the jeep again without completing all the steps. It's not worth it really your not special GOD did not come to earth and remove all the water from your engine really he didn't.

3. Time to get out and dismantle your Jeep. First thing you need to do is pull the entire air intake system apart. Pull the filter out and if you don't have a spare like I did not you will need to dry it.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i..._5703JPG-1.jpg

This is how I dried my filter. Its the first thing I did so it was drying the entire time I was working on everything else. Heat on full blast and all the vents closed except the ones needed for the filter.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i..._5711JPG-1.jpg

3. Now before continuing build a fire. To all that snicker at all the stuff I carry well :p I had my magnesium bar and some cardboard and tissue and built a fire. My intake was full of water and also everything else and it all needed to be dried out.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i..._5702JPG-1.jpg

So I built a fire to set all the pieces next to so they could begin to dry out while I kept working
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i..._5708JPG-1.jpg

Drying out some parts!
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i..._5709JPG-1.jpg

4. Pull all your spark plugs out. Once that is done turn your engine over this will blow all the remaining water out of the engine. If you have not caused any damage sucking the water in this will get rid of the rest of it so you won't cause any when you restart it.

5. Once the plugs are back in you can start your engine before installing any of the air intake parts. I let the XK idle while I dried all the other parts out. Once its started don't hit the gas just let it idle, it will smoke a lot once first started.

A shot of the smoke you will get while it idles.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i..._5704JPG-1.jpg

6. Once all your parts a dry you can put it on the Jeep. The upper plenum part the part that plugs into the throttle body make sure you shake the living crap out of it and make sure there is no water trapped inside of it. I left my XK running while I put all the parts back on to me it was worth the risk considering where I was and had no phone signal so it was going to be a long walk out.

7. Ok its idling and all back together you put the fire out with water of course and your all buttoned up sitting in your jeep. Now if you just hit the gas it will die out were not done. What you need to do is try to hold about 2k RPM's sitting still. You will notice a lot of smoke\Steam and I mean a lot and the engine running a little rough. Now after about a minuet you should feel the engine smooth out and the RPM's climbing. Reduce throttle to hold about 3k RPM's at this point and watch the smoke it should start to tapper off by now. Once it tappers off and you can blurp your throttle without the Jeep stalling you're ready to go. But take it easy your Jeep has been threw hell so don't go crazy just limp it home and change the oil as soon as you can.

8. Ok if your sill reading this then your as stupid as I am so the next step is to go to the steel armadillo web site and order yourself a snorkle.

9 because you are no doubt still just as dumb as me you will procrastinate in purchasing a snorkel so print this thread out and store in the glove box and reffer to it the next time this happens.

:p LMFAO

How deep were these " puddles " ? I assume they were deep enough for the water to enter your air intake in the grille or do you have your air intake modified where water can get in elsewhere ?

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Originally Posted by NeilSmith

How deep were these " puddles " ? I assume they were deep enough for the water to enter your air intake in the grille or do you have your air intake modified where water can get in elsewhere ?

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They were less then 2' deep for sure. I don't have my stock intake system in because I did the same thing with that installed as well. I really do need to get a snorkle system ordered or built. If they weren't like 5 bills I'd have one already.

Do you still have your fender liners in ?

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Originally Posted by NeilSmith

Do you still have your fender liners in ?

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Yes but remember I trimmed mine a lot to fit the tires and when I chopped my bumper up. But I did this with the full stock setup as well the first weekend I owned the Jeep :( So I got two strikes now I'm not going for a third LOL

The last time I visited you Sal, I took a look at ur intake and I told you removing that plastic block for the intake was an accident WAITING to happen.. I know you remember me telling you this, lol... Please tell me you remember because it will make my day 10x better, than it already has been. Hopefully the engine will be alright. Looks like a snorkel is in ur very near future!

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Originally Posted by AJeepZJ

The last time I visited you Sal, I took a look at ur intake and I told you removing that plastic block for the intake was an accident WAITING to happen.. I know you remember me telling you this, lol... Please tell me you remember because it will make my day 10x better, than it already has been. Hopefully the engine will be alright. Looks like a snorkel is in ur very near future!

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Yes but you also remember me telling you that I had did this with the stock setup as well and once in a bad rain storm my XK spuddered like I took water in all with the stock setup. So the stock setup is just as bad on the 4.7

Yeah, I remember you saying you had a water issue when you first got the Jeep. The thing is, Romeo had the same problem and its almost a guarantee that the water came up through a big hole he had cut into the fender liner. He also didnt have his K&N filter enclosed in an airbox. I can't comment on the first experiance you had but now with your fender liners cut out you're increasing the chances of getting water to the intake. I would see if I could find some plastic sheeting from Lowes that you can cut and fit below the airbox to cap off the area that would normally be sealed by the fender liner. It should be fairly easy, cut and fit it, pop rivet the piece in and then use some caulk to seal the seams. When Romeo went into the water the tires just slung all that water right up to his filter as there is/was about a 10" hole cut into the fender liner. The water wasn't deep enough to cause any problems to the rest of us.

Ya I did make it worse for sure. But I'm not going to mess with sealing off just yet. I'm going to either buy or make a snorkel and just not have to worry about it. Then when I get my next set of tires I can seal things off since I'm going bigger next time I don't want to have to redo the job.

Back to the " top secret snorkel " drawing board. :)

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Originally Posted by NeilSmith

Back to the " top secret snorkel " drawing board. :)

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hahahah ya maybe. I'm going to look at some options I just might have to buy one because I don't want it to look stupid. :)

thats nuts man I have had water well over the front bumper and had no trouble.

I was going to make the same comment Neil did about the wheel well liners.

Sal I think you could use PCV pipe or perhaps downspout to structure your intake.
I think at any rate, I will put a block of sorts under my intake to reduce the possibility of flooding mine.

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Originally Posted by cico7

I was going to make the same comment Neil did about the wheel well liners.

Sal I think you could use PCV pipe or perhaps downspout to structure your intake.
I think at any rate, I will put a block of sorts under my intake to reduce the possibility of flooding mine.

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As soon as I get my garage back this will be the first thing I tackle. I think a simple 3" pipe bent to run up the A pillar will be the first thing I try.

One good benefit was it gave my setup a good shake down. I will add a magnet bowl to the list of things I carry with me so I have somewhere to put bolts and stuff when working on the jeep. I had just about everything I needed with me except paper towels I could of used or a towel. But all things considered I was pretty happy with my supplies I carry.