ok guys my cherokee freaks out when it gets in water... and the its really getin me cuz i dont drive it thru water hardly at all... but there is a few sports at my local offraod park and its nothing deep maybe to the center of my rim or a few inches higher but def nothing more. and as soon as it touches the water it dies. it will crank over and all accecories wil turn on but it will not start and run... as soon as i get pulled out of the water it cranks right up.... what is puzzling me is that the jeep never goes deep enough for any part of the unibody or any electircal wiring to touch the water i mean the bottom of the gas tank doesnt even touch the water.... has anyone had this problem or have a clue waht it could be cuz im stumped....

 

Wow. Im stumped!! sounds like you just cant drive through water. It the jeeps scared, its scared. Or a bigger lift might help her get over be scared.

 

Maybe it's your distributor cap. Something similar to that happened to me so I removed the dist. cap, and ran a bead of marine grease around the lip, sealed it up tight, and I've had no problems. Since, I've did that, I've gone through 2x the water I could before. I'd say try it.

 

Will that work even if his whole tire is not getting under water. The water never comes even close to the body.

 

Well before I did the marine grease thing, I'd cross about 4" of water going 10 MPH and it'd happen.

 

is your engine wet when you are done? maybe the fan's kicking up water?

My last thought would be a grounding issue.

 

Do you have any electrical wiring that you know of going to your drive train or wheels? i.e...Anti-Loc brakes or an electric locker? You have some sort of short out happening when you get that thing in water. How about a trailer light plug that is not sealed up when not in use? I really don't even see how water getting on an accesory eletrical wire could cause your engine to shut off. You do know that your alternator is mounted at the bottom of your engine and right in front, right? If you're going into the water full blast you could be swamping your alternator, or your distributor like one of the other guys said. Another possibility though remote, is your CPS or crank positon sensor (witch controls timing) could be getting wet. This is mounted on your flywheel. If water is getting up in that area might cause stalling. I've had mine a little over halfway wheel deep in some nasty muddy water and still no problems. That is as deep as I've been. I hope this helps.

 

Didnt think about that. Or even the fact of fan kicking up water. Hmmmm

 

thanks for all the suggestions guys i will try the grease around the distributor cap but i dont think that is the issue... i have looked all under the jeep and i cant find anything..... i mean obviously something electrical is getting wet but i have no idea as to what.... i do have some pretty rough trailer wiring in the back just tucked into the reciver hitch but the water never gets that deep! and where im crossing is full of crushed concret its a drainage ditch so its really rough so im going extremly slow when i get into the water..... so im not going fast.... and i was aware of the location on the alternator... but the bottow om the oil pan dosent even get wet... so again i dont think that is it...... im still stumped!

 

i would check the ground.. water can be horrible... is it only when your driving through? or when your at a dead stop and there is water on the driveway and stuff?