Help! Engine stall and dies after water!

[stinkytofu]

Hi All!

Finally got to try out the new 80 in the mountains this weekend. Couple of us went out to Eldorado county to camp and run our trucks through one of the fire trails (Tiger Creek) to see what they are capable of doing. It went very well until...

On the last day of the camp, I was confident enough to run the 80 through some water at pretty good speed (around 35 mph and the water was about 3/4 wheel deep). But right after, my engine stalled and died! I ran through the same body of water through out the weekend at a slower speed with no problem. Waited around for a minute and the engine started right back with no idling problems! Figured it was no big deal so I tried another water hole a couple miles down the road at the same speed and the same thing happened again! This time I opened the hood (while the other folks in the stock 4runner laughing) and notice the water had splashed all over the engine compartment. Waited a few minute and it started right back again?!

Drove home to Walnut creek (about 180 miles away) with no issues. What gives????

My truck is a 95 LC all stock expect for OME 2.5 lift (done at Mudraks and all props to Gary and his team!!!!) with 285 BFG TA.

Any idea what might be shorting during the water run?

Thanks,

Pete

 

[Bossman]

80's are not speed boats. They can cross deep water at slow speeds if set up properly but you are risking serious engine damage trying to cross water that fast. The air intake is inside the fender liner between the inner and outer fender. When you run through water that quickly it is very possible that you splashed some water into the breather housing and stalled the engine that way. Check your filter element to see if it is wet. Too much water at that kind of speed + hydrolocked motor and almost sure engine damage. Slow down or buy a boat...

 

[Rwhat]

Your distributor got wet inside. Pull it open and check inside. You can use some clear silicone caulking to seal around the cap. However I noticed on mine that it leaked in around the 6 contacts inside.

After it died did it run like crap for awhile after you restarted it?

 

[kidglove13]

Hi All!

Finally got to try out the new 80 in the mountains this weekend. Couple of us went out to Eldorado county to camp and run our trucks through one of the fire trails (Tiger Creek) to see what they are capable of doing. It went very well until...

On the last day of the camp, I was confident enough to run the 80 through some water at pretty good speed (around 35 mph and the water was about 3/4 wheel deep). But right after, my engine stalled and died! I ran through the same body of water through out the weekend at a slower speed with no problem. Waited around for a minute and the engine started right back with no idling problems! Figured it was no big deal so I tried another water hole a couple miles down the road at the same speed and the same thing happened again! This time I opened the hood (while the other folks in the stock 4runner laughing) and notice the water had splashed all over the engine compartment. Waited a few minute and it started right back again?!

Drove home to Walnut creek (about 180 miles away) with no issues. What gives????

My truck is a 95 LC all stock expect for OME 2.5 lift (done at Mudraks and all props to Gary and his team!!!!) with 285 BFG TA.

Any idea what might be shorting during the water run?

Thanks,

Pete

Why do you think the other guys were laughing at you
Thats a good way to screww your motor up.

 

[Bossman]

Your distributor got wet inside. Pull it open and check inside. You can use some clear silicone caulking to seal around the cap. However I noticed on mine that it leaked in around the 6 contacts inside.

After it died did it run like crap for awhile after you restarted it?

Doubtful based on the fact that it started right up and he drove it home without issue. Water in the distributor is a pain but not lethal to your engine. I know a lot of folks that wish it had only been water in the distributoe. To make matters worse, many of the new "washable' filters are made of cloth. Cloth does not swell like paper when it gets wet so more water gets through. Bad deal all the way around.

 

[B Legit]

Things I would check based on your described conditions:

Spark plug wires: if they are old and not sealing at the valve cover then you can get water down into the plug wells.

Distributor cap: check for corrosion and signs of water entry.

Alternator: Make sure it still works and that you are producing a solid charge.

Air Intake: check for any signs of water entry, wet filter, puddles, ect.

As stated above, you are subjecting your truck to conditions that would damage almost any modern, computer dependant vehicle.

 

[B Legit]

ps any codes? does your check engine light work?

 

[darwink1]

35 mph eh..... Why would you do that, are you totally new to off roading? Id advise you to start hanging out with ppl that have wheeled a fair bit, they will stop you from doing stupid things.

D

 

[Rwhat]

Doubtful based on the fact that it started right up and he drove it home without issue. Water in the distributor is a pain but not lethal to your engine. I know a lot of folks that wish it had only been water in the distributoe. To make matters worse, many of the new "washable' filters are made of cloth. Cloth does not swell like paper when it gets wet so more water gets through. Bad deal all the way around.

I was referring to when it happens. I was wondering how it ran after it restarted. I have had mine wet before and it ran, except it had a miss for awhile. This was after I cleaned the engine. I pulled the cap and saw water had leaked in through several of the contacts inside. I just sprayed some WD40 and called it good.

I have also seen guys at Hollisters mud pit ingest water and stall, restart and drive out with steam coming out their exhaust. Luckily they didn't hydolock it or bend a rod. At least I dont think so. He kept driving it all day afterwards.

 

[Rwhat]

Hey Stinkytofu, can you hit me up with some details on the spot you guys went wheeling. I been trying to find some spots away from the usual places near the bay area to camp and wheel.

Good to see you got your lift together. I bet it rides 10x better than stock.

 

[stinkytofu]

Just double checked with the co-pilot and confirmed I was actually going around 20 mph. Is that speed too fast as well? Also, it only happens when the water hits the driver side of engine area. I think I was too excited about driving it and over did it a bit.

 

[stinkytofu]

Hey Stinkytofu, can you hit me up with some details on the spot you guys went wheeling. I been trying to find some spots away from the usual places near the bay area to camp and wheel.

Good to see you got your lift together. I bet it rides 10x better than stock.

Hey Rwhat, I'll hi you up tonight as I'm out with the wife right now. The spot I usually go through is pretty and fun! Yup, it rides that much better!

 

[stinkytofu]

I was referring to when it happens. I was wondering how it ran after it restarted. I have had mine wet before and it ran, except it had a miss for awhile. This was after I cleaned the engine. I pulled the cap and saw water had leaked in through several of the contacts inside. I just sprayed some WD40 and called it good.

I have also seen guys at Hollisters mud pit ingest water and stall, restart and drive out with steam coming out their exhaust. Luckily they didn't hydolock it or bend a rod. At least I dont think so. He kept driving it all day afterwards.

No steam coming out of the exhaust. Stalled and died right after the water, but started right up after about 30 second or so. No stall there after and engine felt like nothing ever happened.

 

[B Legit]

To answer your question, I don't drive faster than 5 miles an hour trough water if I can help it. Drivers side would narrow it down to dizzy, and alternator, but at that speed water being forced into an enclosed space means water everywhere. Kind of hard to narrow down. Again, any codes? It would help rule out water in the plug wells.

 

[Rwhat]

Hey Rwhat, I'll hi you up tonight as I'm out with the wife right now. The spot I usually go through is pretty and fun! Yup, it rides that much better!

Cool, thanks. If you need a extra hand doing any PM on the rig let me know. I got the PHH and fuel filter down pretty good.

 

[diego355]

Get some dielectric grease and seal the distribuitor and all the spark plugs including the ignition coil. Read a little bit about it but is pretty simple to do it. Same thing happen with my FJ80 and now i can go as fast as i want trough water.
The problem is that some of the electric components are getting wet and all the electricity is not running as it should.

 

[darwink1]

You want to create a bow wake when going through deep water by going relatively slow but steady. Your front end will "displace" the water as you move forward and help keep the engine bay relatively dry. By driving fast through the water youre forcing the it into every nook and cranny.

D

 

[PNGCRUISER]

Double check the ignition coil, its on the drivers side fender well. It would cause the engine to die out completely. From my experience with water in the ignition sysetm, if you get water in the dizzy cap the engine will run rough untill moisture is dried out. Being it just started right up after water crossing and did not run rough, most likely would not be the dizzy cap. Check the ignition wires, if they are old or have more than 100k on them would reccomend replace with OE Toyota wires only (the wire set includes the coil wire also). My .02

 

[Rwhat]

Hey Stinkytofu, your PM box is full or won't accept messages.

 

[stinkytofu]

Things I would check based on your described conditions:

Spark plug wires: if they are old and not sealing at the valve cover then you can get water down into the plug wells.

Distributor cap: check for corrosion and signs of water entry.

Alternator: Make sure it still works and that you are producing a solid charge.

Air Intake: check for any signs of water entry, wet filter, puddles, ect.

As stated above, you are subjecting your truck to conditions that would damage almost any modern, computer dependant vehicle.

I only had water on the cap and wires. It does seem pretty old and will change them out this weekend.

ps any codes? does your check engine light work?

Check engine light does work, but nothing showed up.

35 mph eh..... Why would you do that, are you totally new to off roading? Id advise you to start hanging out with ppl that have wheeled a fair bit, they will stop you from doing stupid things.

D

Not first time or new to off road. Just really too excited about driving the 80. The last off road car I owned was 06' double cab taco that I bought brand new and didn't really run into any issues (as it's brand new). I know the 80's an older car, but want to test out how far I can push it.