[p38rhino]

Ok, so here's where the motor stopped running on me:

... and here is where it got deeper on the winch out, ended up with 4" of water on the passenger side, and the BCM went nuts...

Please, no need to say that we should have just let the truck behind me pull me BACK out rather than winching forward... I know. :?

Anyway, what apparently happened is I went in a little quicker than I intended to, the intake got splashed on entry, and the mass air flow sensor shut the car off. Which, I guess is a good thing. Mind you, I realize this is deep... but am I crazy to think that we should have been able to make a better go of this?

So... if I am crazy... has anyone successfully fitted a snorkel to a P38? Or is there something else that may have taken water on entry to cause the truck to just stop running and not allow a restart?

Damage report: BCM was dried out, and the truck actually started and was running for about 10 minutes... albeit not very well. Then, it started throwing fuse 6, 7 and 17 errors along with other erroneous errors, and will turn over but will not start. None of the fuses are blown. Also, the transmission is unresponsive (can't shift out of park). I'm guessing this is because it thinks fuse 7 is blown, which relates to the Engine, Transmission and Transfer Case ECUs. So, I'm assuming the BCM is fried. Door locks don't work; I'm guessing there's a module for that somewhere in a door on the passenger side that's cooked. Other than that, I think we're OK. Didn't take much water in the intake at all (like I said, a splash) and she turns over so she's not hydro-locked. We'll see once we start digging into it more at the shop... My buddies at Trailhead 4X4 will help me figure this all out and hopefully get her rolling again.

Rock on,

J

 

[TheoR]

Hey, nice looking truck BTW.......Sorry to hear that it didn't swim well.....

Anyhow, don't know much about snorkels, so can't help you there....Just wanted to give you some encouraging words.......Oh yeah, haven't given you much of an encouraging words yet.....Hope you get out of it w/o too much expense.

Not exactly the same kind of scenario, but I've gone into Tijuana, Mexico during a heavy rainstorm and the truck went pretty deep, albeit not deep enough to flood the interior. The truck handled quite fine, as long as I traveled very slowly. Just for info, Tijuana, during any rainstorm can be quite crazy as the gov't went cheap on drain system, and in fact there is no drain system to speak of. So, for me, going to TJ is like an off-road trek......not to mention pot holes the size of a tub on a supposedly paved road....

Regards,

 

[RRToadHall]

Have you actually pulled the BeCM apart and made sure all the relays and bits are clean and dry? If things are spotless in there it sounds like you are going to need a new BeCM! Fortunately they can be had relatively cheap.

 

[Jsmooth65]

Your RockRover front bumper really exposes the intake hole on the underside of the fender. I've been planning to put a PVC elblow in my fender intake that points down and rear-ward so as not to allow wake/splash water to enter the intake.

 

[996TURBO]

wow, looks like my snorkel mod could be usefull to you.
I should even think about moving that BECM to a better place after all, it's only cables to lengthen

 

[paul.adshead]

after all, it's only cables to lengthen

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Ye', about 300 cables! Good luck with that....................
:wink:

 

[996TURBO]

after all, it's only cables to lengthen

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Ye', about 300 cables! Good luck with that....................
:wink:

I would have said 100 or 150 :shock: . Oops

 

[viperover]

To seal up a a rangie for water play aint that much, doors have holes under that need sealing up, make sure there are no other holes but this requires a close inspection of the whole kind................right

I think the later version has the right idea with the side grill intake as a snorkel is available to fit there, I guess we need
to possibly think of doing such a mod.

Small problem though is where to run the pipe back as there's no space under wheel arch trim cover....

 

[PaulP38A]

Glad to hear to you didn't hydraulic'd it (I have done that to a P38A and it's not nice).

Sounds like you might need a new transmission ECU, and probably transfer case ECU as they are both under the LH front seat, and the EAS ECU... I assume US spec P38A's have the same ECU config/placement as RHD ones?

When I drowned my old HSE, I was advised to bathe the water-logged ECU's in methylated spirits as it displaces any water and dries away leaving hardly any residue. I never got to see if it worked though as the insurance company wrote the car off.

Agree with JSmooth that it was probably that the air intake in the LH guard was too exposed by your front bar... and combined with too fast entry was enought for a bit water to get sucked in. Lucky the MAF caught it before it got sucked in to the engine.

I'm fitting a custom snorkel to mine in the next few weeks... after I put the engine back together that is

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to your Rangie.
Cheers, Paul.

 

[996TURBO]

Paul,

Good luck with the custom snorkel project!

If you have any question about it, do not hesitate as this won't be a commercial product.


Cheers

 

[PaulP38A]

Paul,

Good luck with the custom snorkel project!

If you have any question about it, do not hesitate as this won't be a commercial product.

Thanks Flo, I'm not quite sure what Andy has in mind for my snorkel but it is probably ducted through the wheel arch like yours I believe. I'll post some pics when it is done.

Current pics of my "engine refresh" project over at http://cordwellis.com/gallery/main.php/v/99RR/Engine/ for those contemplating a clean-up of the top of the motor and/or head gasket replacement.

Cheers, Paul.

 

[Niceguy]

Current pics of my "engine refresh" project over at...

Paul,

I noticed the pic of the hood and the comment about strapping it up so it doesn't fall on your head. Interestingly enough, LR thought of that. If you take a look at the hinges, there is a metal strap with a hole in it that can be pivoted over a stud to lock the hood in the vertical position, no strap required...

 

[dutchfrompredator]

not to derail here but paul, those pics are sweet. :clap:

 

[PaulP38A]

I noticed the pic of the hood and the comment about strapping it up so it doesn't fall on your head. Interestingly enough, LR thought of that. If you take a look at the hinges, there is a metal strap with a hole in it that can be pivoted over a stud to lock the hood in the vertical position, no strap required...

Thanks Niceguy, I'll have a closer look. They're a clever bunch those LR lads.

not to derail here but paul, those pics are sweet. :clap:

thanks again At some point I'll combine those photos with a narration over at http://paulp38a.com when I get some time to get the site running.

cheers
Paul.

 

[p38rhino]

Your RockRover front bumper really exposes the intake hole on the underside of the fender. I've been planning to put a PVC elblow in my fender intake that points down and rear-ward so as not to allow wake/splash water to enter the intake.

Amen! We've come to a similar conclusion, although we're probably going to just close off the fender intake altogether and open up the airbox somehow under the hood.

 

[p38rhino]

Followup:

She's alive!! Turned out that all of the fault codes we were getting were related to one relay on the BCM power module. We got a hold of a donor power module, swapped the subject relay out, and all is well. Well... almost all.

Three issues remain:

1) We're getting an MAF (mass air flow) sensor error. The truck runs great, but nonetheless, the error is present. Even though we cleaned the sensor thoroughly and it does not appear to be damaged, these things are fragile... so we've got a new sensor on the way, which hopefully will correct the "problem."

2) We're getting a P1884 CAN error. I've done a little poking around and it appears this communications error can be thrown for all kinds of reasons, MAF included. The truck throws both errors at the same time (when shutting the truck off), so fingers crossed that both will disappear with a new MAF.

3) The rear door locks are absolutely unresponsive. Note, just the rears. The front locks are fine. But, the rear locks won't budge either via electronic switches OR by manually pulling on the latches. They are 100% locked down. This problem is a mystery... I have no idea where to start to fix this... if the truck was "superlocked", then the front locks wouldn't work either, and the truck wouldn't start, correct? Any ideas?

Thanks,

J

 

[MrKaira]

Have you figured out the remaining issues? I just drowned mine today and am going to let it dry out, then hit all the electronics under the passenger seat with methylated spirits and see what fuses have blown, I should be back on the road. I believe the passenger rear window motor is shot and the speakers on both passenger doors (both were under water) are also done. My front doors are behaving like your rear doors are - they are unresponsive. The rears open and lock fine. I suppose I will wait until it has been dried out and see what issues remain. But yeah...

I was crossing a path that was covered in 6-8 inches of water, nothing crazy, but part of the trail collapsed and my passenger side took the plunge. Got it out with a big ole tractor lol.

 

[p38rhino]

Greetings!

The door latches were simply fried. We ended up having to essentially break the latches to get the doors open, then replace them. There's a specific spot on the latches that you can smack that forces them open, but breaks the latch in the process. I can inquire to my mechanic as to where the spot was... I wasn't present for that particular detail.

I currently have no cruise control, and the windshield washer function doesn't work. The washer motor works, and the wipers work, but not together when the washer button is pressed. Also lost the passenger side speakers.

Obviously, my best advice to you is to disconnect the battery and leave it that way until everything is thoroughly dried out. The more it has power while wet, the more likely something else may get fried.

Best of luck!

 

[hildstrom]

I would definitely not wash any electronic components with methylated spirits (denatured alcohol), which is a solvent that could do further damage. Alcohol mixes very well with water and does not displace it. The alcohol's solvent action could damage capacitors, enamel coated inductor wires, and other materials on electronic boards.

WD-40 was developed specifically for this kind of a situation. The WD stands for water displacement. It will displace the water and then cling to the boards for protection. I have not used this method.

I have rescued 4 mobile phones and a hand-held ham radio from water immersion failure. I washed all of the disassembled phones in distilled water twice and then dried them in an open oven set to low ~100-150 degrees F. Distilled water washes away leftover electrolytes, corrosion, and other gunk that conduct electricity. Distilled water will not conduct electricity by itself. The drying step was just for an extra measure of safety after washing. The ham radio was wet for months judging by the corroded aluminum frame and internal rust. I washed the disassembled ham radio with tap water, scrubbed the board corrosion with the rough side of a dish sponge and soap, washed again, and dried it on top of a toaster oven.

Good luck.

 

[Rat_RR02]

Hi everyone,

has anyone had any luck in water proofing the truck or even just the BECM EAS and other control modules?

It is a rather silly place to put such critical components but moving them seems to be a near impossible job. However, waterproofing using either a box or coating the circuit boards should be possible. If you sprayed enough conformal coating on the electronics it would make them impervious to water, you may still stop but it would go again after drying out the cabling.

Has anyone used boxes?

I am looking for some ideas, I am thinking about putting a custom snorkel on the truck. That would help things but the electronics drowning is the scariest thing.

Oh, I am planning a trip to the tip of Cape York in 12-18 months. So I have quite a few mods to install yet.

Cheers
Mick