Going through water..

[SmokeGrinder]

Going through water..
(cant type)

We’ve had a few floods here in England….
I took the x out today to park in town. Some people were avoiding this one road because of flooding. The water was not even a foot deep…. I mean it might have been up to my rims.
I took my 97 SOHC right through it, as if it was not even there. Im not going to mess anything up am I?
We can take our discovery in water up to the hood but I don’t know about the explorer.

Thanks

 

[Alec]

Main things to worry about with water:

Vent lines: tranny, tcase, diffs. These should be extended to the engine bay. If not, check all your fluids for contamination.

Intake: if your intake creates suction below the front bumper like the stock intake does, then you have to be very careful. Obviously if hte truck is running now it's ok though.

Wheel bearings: water can wash away the grease, making them prone to burning up and your wheels could fall off.

 

[Nick26]

with explorers you'd have to get it up to about the floor boards before you hurt anything. I go through puddles above the axles all the time and haven't seen any kind of damage as a result. FYI i did extend my breather tubes but that wouldn't really be neccesary for you.

 

[Nick26]

doh! alec you beat me too it.

also though I have heard of people killin their starters and alternators when they get too wet too.

 

[Alec]

With my 33s I could go through 3 feet without any problems, other than the wheel bearings (which roasted and my wheels almost fell off cause I waited too long to repack them).

However, it is very easy to get water into the diffs and tranny if your breathers are stock.

 

[Nick26]

Alec, what year was yours? I don't believe I can repack mine (99) because I thought they are sealed in the hub assembly and I have to replace the whole thing to replace them. I don't think there is anything but permanently locked hubs on the 97's and later?

 

[sean4385]

Where are the breathers on a 97? and how do you extend them?

Ive been going through puddles up to my windows while offroading since i got my truck. Didnt know anything bad could happen unless it goes above your intake, or if you take your foot off the gas it will get sucked up your exhaust pipes.

 

[Nick26]

crawl under there and you'll see some ruber hoses coming out of the differentials, axle, and the transfercase. Make sure they are the ones that don't connect to anything and not vacuum lines or anything like that. I bought some rubber tubing at home depot and some couplers then just ran the tops up to the firewall and put the little caps back on them. Make sure when you run the t-case line that it goes up from the case so if fluid expands into the line it will drain back down when it cools. If you've been doing this for a while then I would check all you fluids and make sure they don't look milky. If they do, replace them asap.

 

[sean4385]

Ah so thats what that rubber hose was that was hanging down out of my back axel. Does that thing suck up water or can water just leak into it?
Is there just that one hose or is there more?

 

[Nick26]

there is one on the rear axle that water will leak into and had no cap on mine, i put a grommet on the end of it after extending it to my tail ight area. the one in the front axle comes out of the differential and had a white filter thing at the top of it clipped into the driverside lower engine bay. the one on the transfer case comes out of the front of it and had a plastic grommet on it. I couldn't seem to find one on my 5 speed tranny.

 

[Doug]

There is only one hose for each of the axles, t-case and transmission. Water can makes it's way into your diff's very easily if your breather is missing. If you're crossing deep water you want to check all your fluids asap. 95+ explorer's don't have hubs in the traditional sense. The Cv shaft extends straight through the bearing assembly and is permanently engaged on the 95-96 explorers there was a central vacuum disconnect on the axle that would disengage one axle shaft. Do you have a 5spd manual or automatic? if it's a manual there is no breather for the transmission i beleive it vents out the top cover but i'm not 100% sure. if it's an automatic i know there is a breather but im not really sure where it is.

 

[SVO]

I know your's is a 97' but use this as a giude and something to think about:



http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=89097

 

[Nick26]

holy cr@p doug, i just saw that photo of you in the water above your bumper... did you make it through that? was there any damage as a result? have you water proofed anything electrical?

 

[AlaskanJack]

And if you don't have an extended diff vent line and run into water there is always a fix.


This weekend my buddy and I took his Explorer out to do some wheeling and the water was high around the river and surrounding areas. As we were going through some deep mud puddles he realized he didn't put an extended vent line on the diff.

We got out and looked sure enough nothing. What to do???? I suggested pulling the vent hose off the rear washer fluid resevoir. Sweet it worked and he used a plastic bag handle to tie it off and loop it to the frame.

 

[sean4385]

Ive flooded my engine b4 in the pine barrens and had to have a shop drain it out. Id hope they changed the fluid in the diffy and tranfer case... is this work included in the $500 job of clearing out a flooded engine?
if not ive been driving around with water in my diffy for about half a year. My truck was sitting in pretty deep water for a good 20 minutes, the water was almost up to my window so i had to climb out the sunroof...

So what exactly do i have to do besides extented those breather hoses on the front and back axles? And where exactly is the one coming from the transfer case in the front, im not really sure what the transfer case looks like. And yes its an automatic.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[Alec]

If you know how a 4x4 drivetrain works, you can't miss the transfer case. It's the only thing with 2 driveshafts coming out of it.

And most shops overlook driveline fluids when fixing a hydrolocked motor.

Also as I suggested above, eliminate the stock air suction below the front bumper.

 

[jasonb]

Originally posted by Nick26
I don't believe I can repack mine (99) because I thought they are sealed in the hub assembly and I have to replace the whole thing to replace them.

yeah they are "sealed" in the sense that they can't really be repacked. they can easily get water in them though. someone did figure out how to grease them up again by removing the abs sensor.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=77262&highlight=bearings

 

[Nick26]

cool, thanks for the link, ill try that, couldn't hurt

 

[cantspell]

if anyone is still subscribing to this thread, wouldn't the highest level you could ford/cross be at ht espark plugs? I have my ex able to ford about 2ft, which is just above the top of the tim with my 33's...is it really smart to go any higher.

 

[Doug]

I've water over the tops of my tires (35s) and i wouldnt go much deeper. The thing im most worried about is sucking water in through the intake. once im in water ~3ft deep my intake is getting pretty close to the water. I have a K&N open element filter, if you have a stock airbox the intake draws from even lower on the truck and you have to be careful. Other than that most of the electrical connectors are sealed pretty well and spark plugs and wires arent much of an issue.