How much water can I Jeep handle

[GPCDR]

I'm I the first silly Commander owner to wet the interior.

Went camping over easter south of the border, it was a good weekend until I took the wrong line with one of our regular river crossings. On this river crossing we always dog leg the last section but I didn't do that enough this time.

Two vehicles traveled over and we followed, water was centre of the wheels until two thirds the way over when I slipped into a hole and the vehicle stops with water up to the doors. With the engine stopped I didn't want to take the chance so we didn't try a restart (no snorkel). While waiting for the boys to organise a tow we started to fill with water, leveling out with about 6 inches of water on the floor. As we got towed up the hill out of the river this water ran more into the rear.

You see all the photo's and videos and think how silly are they and then a moment of miss judgement and well.....................

To be continued

[timbotrog]

If possible park in a garage with doors and windows open, heater on the raise the temperature and raise the carpet if you can. It may take a few days to dry out like this.

[GPCDR]

More on the recovery.
As the water wet the floor the seat heaters came on and even though the ignition was off dash lights were flashing. To tow the vehicle out of the river we had to turn the ignition on to accessories and select neutral, she wasn't enjoying the bath We were on the wrong side of the river so had to be towed back through back through to camp.

Once at camp it was evident water had entered the intake so the following was carried out:

• Rermoved intercooler pipe to engine
• Removed intake tube to turbo
• Removed all injectors
• cranked engine
• Reinstalled injectors
• Started engine
• Revved engine to use turbo to clear any pipes and intercooler of water
• Reassembled the piping
• Started engine, after a couple of goes to prime ALL GOOD.

Noted: LHS injectors were coated with antiseize, RHS were dry and hard to remove, RHR very hard to remove.

Yes we sponged up the water, third row seats were down so they soaked up the water, second row seats got very wet as we were towed out of the river up a hill. That night we parked the vehicle on a hill nose down and sponged up more water. We continued to air out the vehicle the next morning then closed up the windows to partly open and ran the engine with the heater on.

To be continued: Electrics

[scarps]

I did something similar in my KJ and was advised to lift everything out and replace the carpet. I suspect this is the right thing to do

Instead I went to cheap shop and bought 4 x $10 hairdryers, hired a wet/dry vacuum from local hire shop and sucked as much water out as possible, then lifted off the floor trims at each door, raised the carpet edges and stuck the hairdryers in under the carpet. As the carpet dried I stuck blocks of timber under to lift it up a bit and allow the hairdryers to blow hot air in further.

Not pretty and I certainly don't envy you (been there once and don't want to again), but in the end I got it all dried out by running the hair dryers for 2 hours each day when I got home from work over a 10 day period. (keep a regular eye on the hairdryers to make sure they don't overheat)
In this period, if I drove it I had to be careful as the windows kept fogging up but as timbo said, just run it with the heater on the floor and hot. When parked, leave the windows down a bit.
Kept the car for another 5 years and never had a problem.

Things to watch for/do.

1 - make sure your door seal doesn't have a split or join at the bottom. In my KJ case, the join was positioned at the bottom of each door which is where the water got in. I peeled them of and repositioned them at the top.
2 - go to the supermarket and grab some household carpet deodoriser powder and apply liberally.
3 - Also spray a disinfectant liberally as your biggest issue after any wet electrics will be mould from the damp.

good luck
Scott



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Clarky]

I have a mate who drowned his new Colorado (factory snorkel incorrectly fitted), lights on dash etc, he took it to a local panel beater who removed the carpet and seats and put the car in the heated paint booth over night. That was over a year ago and to date all is good.

[GPCDR]

Electrics:

Error messages:
Service 4WD System,
Service Suspension System.

Lights on dash:

• OBD,
• ABS,
• Air Bag,
• ESP,
• BAS.

Gauges not working:

• Odometer,
• Speedo,
• RPM,
• Temp.

Functions not working:

• LHF Electric window (intermitted),
• Speakers (stereo powers up),
• Headlights flashing on/off when in off position,
• Seat heaters intermitted in operation,
• Indicators/hazards light,
• Transmission low range/traction control.

All floor electrical plugs and modules were disconnected and sprayed with water dispersing fluid, All fuses and relays checked.

Current vehicle condition
As the vehicle was mechanically functioning it was driven home which included 1 hour offroad and 3 hours highway driving. After two hours of driving the following corrected itself:

• Service Suspension System message went out.
• OBD light went out
• All dash gauges starting working.
• Headlights and Indicators/hazards light functioned correctly

The vehicle is now waiting for assessment by the insurance company, which may be the wrong decision if they don't repair it. I only had 48 hours from incident to make a claim and as it may be expensive to replace modules and fix unknown problems I made this decision.

[GPCDR]

Well,
I 'm not getting the Commander back, the insurance company wrote it off today.

The assessor stated mechanical damage was noted with the engine.

He also stated that there is now strict government guidelines to follow with flooded vehicles.