Hydro-Locked the Motor

[Sal-XK]

So, the word so far is... motor sucked up water, and blew the rear main. The block is junk and will have to be replaced. Sounds like insurance is going to cover it Better news is (so far) the insurance company hasn't been able to find a used Hemi with less milage than mine, so they'll be ordering a new long block from Chrysler to replace it with. Seats and carpet and padding have been removed to dry out. I'll be avoiding any future water crossings (at least until the snorkel is in place)

Lucky! That's good new man.

[Matt]

Glad to hear its all working out!!

Just curious..... Did the service manager look at you funny when you brought it in? Lol I bet they don't get too many commanders like that!

[XK N00b]

Just curious..... Did the service manager look at you funny when you brought it in? Lol I bet they don't get too many commanders like that!

He said they really don't see any with even mud tires on them, let alone mud.... and full skids, and sliders

[LWM]

He said they really don't see any with even mud tires on them, let alone mud.... and full skids, and sliders

Where did you take it? I used to take mine to Avondale Jeep and they would all come out to look at it every time I was there.

[XK N00b]

It's over at Airpark Chrysler Jeep in north Scottsdale. It drowned in the Verde River by Bartlett Lake. Airpark was the closest dealer. I usually take it to Avondale for it's service but, it would've been $300 extra in towing to get there.

[LWM]

It's over at Airpark Chrysler Jeep in north Scottsdale. It drowned in the Verde River by Bartlett Lake. Airpark was the closest dealer. I usually take it to Avondale for it's service but, it would've been $300 extra in towing to get there.

From everything I have heard Airpark is one of the best so you should be in good hands.

[Adondo]

Wow! That sucks! (No pun intended)

The photo where your grill is under is what did it. Moving too fast creates a wave front even in 18" deep water, and of course, the intake is right behind the grill on the passenger side. Slurp!

After 30+ years of 4x4'ing, I know that you get pretty much ONE (single, uno, ein) chance when going too deep. The air gets blocked off and the engine stalls out pretty fast, and if it's not doing red-line, the water won't get that far. That's the time to STOP EVERYTHING and get rid of the water - the first time it stalls. And NEVER try to restart until it's dealt with. In the Commander's stock air cleaner housing, there's a small drain hole in the bottom of the bucket. Just getting pulled out of the water and waiting for 60 or 90 seconds should clear the bucket, and in the meantime, you pull the lid and element to check it and/or replace the wet element. If you even so much as see ANY water up in the intake piping, then it's time for a spark plug pull.

I'm sure you know now that your too-soon restart moved a slug of water up the intake piping and into the engine. It doesn't take much water either, people think it takes gallons, it doesn't. Water does not compress, not even a little bit, and the clearances are pretty small in the combustion chamber space when the piston's at TDC. Half a coffee cup worth will break a rod because the piston just ends up with no place to go. Even if a piston's stroke gets stopped only a few thousandths of an inch short, it's still a disaster. A big slug of water (maybe in several cylinders) will try to push the crankshaft down and away from the block mountings, (assuming the rods don't give out first) and that sounds like what happened here.

As for insurance, isn't having insurance for recovering from doing something stupid? You know, you leave boiling oil on the stove and go to the store, and the burning kitchen takes the rest of the house with it? Texting while driving and run a light? Hydrolocking your engine? That's what those endless premiums payments are for. Of course, you don't want to make a habit of it.