Off-roading Incident/What Happened?? (1 Viewer)

[cog97]

Afternoon everybody, first time poster here. I just went off roading in my new to me 97 LC. It’s a non locked 215,xxx mile cruiser that’s had no issues in my past month and a half of driving (~3,500 miles on it), save for a minor leak here and there.

Just recently after going up a pretty steep hill(30 deg or so), I was slipping on some loose gravel when I decided to mash the throttle, next thing I know, my cruiser just quit....

First I saw the CEL and Battery Charge light come on, next, the tach read 0. Next thing I know I’m sliding down a hill backwards with no brakes whatsoever. I manage to back it into a brush and egress from the vehicle. no cars were around me and no major damage occurred except some scratches. I drove the cruiser home with no issue.

Does anybody know what happened? Has anybody been in a similar situation? I realize what I did was immensely stupid not to mention very dangerous and I want to ensure I fix the issue: whether that’s replacing a about to go component or learning what mistake I made..

 

[-Spike-]

Is your battery tied down? If not, it may have shorted. Or you may have a break in your fusible link.

 

[cog97]

Is your battery tied down?

Yes, it’s secure. I started it right back up after it quit

 

[-Spike-]

Yes, it’s secure. I started it right back up after it quit

See edited response above.

 

[WCBlueSky]

If you roll backwards while in "drive", your engine can stall and it's not pretty.

Hungry Valley trip and the things I learned

So today I went on a day ride with RANDY88FJ62 from my TRAILCREW club. We decided on Hungry Valley mainly because it was close and I had never been there before. Lame too, 45 mins from my house and I've never bothered to stop in and say hi. The day started out as just a big ole pain in the ass...

forum.ih8mud.com

Mishap at Moab

Searched but didn’t see this discussed yet. Anyone have an idea about what happened here?

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[spazzyfry123]

Power connection issue - ground or otherwise?

 

[cog97]

See edited response above.

If you roll backwards while in "drive", your engine can stall and it's not pretty.

Hungry Valley trip and the things I learned

So today I went on a day ride with RANDY88FJ62 from my TRAILCREW club. We decided on Hungry Valley mainly because it was close and I had never been there before. Lame too, 45 mins from my house and I've never bothered to stop in and say hi. The day started out as just a big ole pain in the ass...

forum.ih8mud.com

Mishap at Moab

Searched but didn’t see this discussed yet. Anyone have an idea about what happened here?

forum.ih8mud.com

I happened to roll backwards while forgetting I was still in drive. Is there any fix for that besides knowing better?

 

[cog97]

Power connection issue - ground or otherwise?

FWIW, I brought it out to my local oreillys and had them check out the electrical system by connecting it to a device that measured amperage and voltage across the major electrical systems. It passed, and I’ve had no electrical issues (starting/radio/lights etc) since then. But I’m not going to rule it out and look into the fusible link mentioned above.

 

[baldilocks]

Inspect the intake tube for cracks. You may have ripped a motor mount while having fun and that allowed lateral movement of the engine enough to fracture the old tube. Once the engine is dead on an auto roll will happen. As for brakes, you had no power assist and an old abs plumbing system that probably has air in it.

Welcome to mud and the only challenge of your life that comes close to staying married.

 

[BILT4ME]

Were you low on fuel and "ran out if gas" with the nose pointed way uphill? Then when back on flat ground it had fuel to run.

 

[cog97]

Were you low on fuel and "ran out if gas" with the nose pointed way uphill? Then when back on flat ground it had fuel to run.

I had about a half tank of gas going up the hill, had enough to make it back home, too.
After reading up @WCBlueSky links, I think my forgetting to put the car in reverse or neutral while going downhill led to the stall. About 10 seconds in, the cel light came on and battery light came on too, then 5 seconds after the engine quit. Crazy thing is is I caught the whole thing on video so I was able to confirm the car was in drive while going down

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, Glad your ok. I would definitely look into the brake issues . Will it die again if you floor it on flat ground? Mike

 

[leonard_nemoy]

I'm betting your issue is the fact you went down the hill backwards in drive. Next time throw her in neutral or reverse. I am not sure if one is better than the other. I personally would use neutral.

If you lose power and thus lose power brakes it can help if you pump the brake a few times before standing on the pedal. Also, if you remember to stick a piece of coal in your sphincter you can even make diamonds when these things happens......

 

[gixxerjasen]

If you roll backwards while in "drive", your engine can stall and it's not pretty.

Interesting, I did not know this, learned something new in the new year already.

 

[WCBlueSky]

I happened to roll backwards while forgetting I was still in drive. Is there any fix for that besides knowing better?

Maybe left-foot braking would help?

If you lose power and thus lose power brakes it can help if you pump the brake a few times before standing on the pedal.

Someone in another thread said in their testing, stomping on the brakes once without pumping was better, see Hungry Valley trip and the things I learned - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/hungry-valley-trip-and-the-things-i-learned.277095/page-9#post-4323587, post #171. When your engine stalls, you have limited vacuum remaining in the brake booster. Each time you press on the brakes it uses up some of the vacuum. I wonder if having a small vacuum leak makes this issue much worse. I plan to do my own testing since I want to do Hell's Gate in Moab some day, without dying!

 

[flintknapper]

CDL locked before going up hill?

 

[Steve Curl]

I'm betting your issue is the fact you went down the hill backwards in drive. Next time throw her in neutral or reverse. I am not sure if one is better than the other. I personally would use neutral.

If you lose power and thus lose power brakes it can help if you pump the brake a few times before standing on the pedal. Aldo, if you remember to stick a piece of coal in your sphincter you can even make diamonds when these things happens......

Neutral.

if you bounce on the throttle accidentally you aren’t going to accelerate to your demise. Also, you only need to mash the shifter, no button press required.

 

[SoTexCruiserDoc]

I happened to roll backwards while forgetting I was still in drive. Is there any fix for that besides knowing better?

I would study that Hungry Valley thread word for word. It is a powerful thread. There were a lot of factors involved in the @NLXTACY experience and of note it happened with the truck in low gear (L, not D). Pretty freaking scary. Thanks for posting your experience and helping us learn by resurrecting an old thread (thanks @WCBlueSky!!).

 

[pawnthatdude]

I'm betting your issue is the fact you went down the hill backwards in drive. Next time throw her in neutral or reverse. I am not sure if one is better than the other. I personally would use neutral.

If you lose power and thus lose power brakes it can help if you pump the brake a few times before standing on the pedal. Aldo, if you remember to stick a piece of coal in your sphincter you can even make diamonds when these things happens......

If you use reverse, you would at least have engine braking effect. Reverse in 4lo would provide a good bit of engine braking. Not enough to stop you, but it would limit your acceleration past a certain point, since the engine braking force is proportional to engine speed.

 

[cog97]

I would study that Hungry Valley thread word for word. It is a powerful thread. There were a lot of factors involved in the @NLXTACY experience and of note it happened with the truck in low gear (L, not D). Pretty freaking scary. Thanks for posting your experience and helping us learn by resurrecting an old thread (thanks @WCBlueSky!!).

Well I spent a good hour and a half last night reading through that thread and others and took away some key lessons:

1. Don’t back up while in a Forward Gear: throw it in neutral or better yet reverse to take advantage of the engine braking. I think my 80 was more forgiving in this scenario as I let it slide down while in forward Gear for a good 10 seconds before I started seeing problems

2. use 2 feet while negotiating a hill, one in the brake and the other on the gas. Keep the brakes on and add throttle as necessary to stay put/go forward

3. Make sure your brakes work and e brakes work. I happened to mess around with the BB pushrod a couple months ago and may have compromised the gasket between the booster and MC leading to a sight vacuum leak in the booster. Didn’t notice or think it was an issue until yesterday . My e brakes weren’t even adjusted so I knew they were no use as I accelerated down.

4. Make sure your brakes and associated components (LSPV and abs module) are purged of all air: didn’t think my brakes were an issue and thought the slightly low/spongy feel was due to me driving sedans all my life but apparently the brakes on the 80s can “throw you through the windshield” if bled correctly. Also noticed the braking performance while backing down a hill is pretty poor, will look into possible mods to improve this...

5. Lock your diffs: I don’t have a CDL switch and the light itself is burnt out so there isn’t a way for me to tell If I was locked or not.

That’s all I managed to take away before I realized I welcomed in the new year 2021 nose deep in page 10 of that particular MUD thread

if anyone has anything else to offer I am all ears. But if not, thanks to everybody for helping me learn and be a safer driver!

v/r

Luke