Hesitation, stumbling after offroading.

[berger]

I just got home from a nice foray into a hydro cut with about 7 jeeps, a blazer and a Suburban. All was good and the truck ran great! I even took three teenagers from a fellow wheeler with me into a mud hole and almost tipped! It wasn't that bad...but felt like it. The deepest I went was a little water under the feet. The kids loved it...and so did I. I even had to pull the blazer out of a hole after he broke an axle on the trail.

After we left the trail, we stopped for lunch at a pub, and when I left, the truck was stumbling and hesitating a little on startup and when going into 3 gear. To me it felt like how my bike gets when the airfilter is clogged, but I know water was no where near that high. Once I got to speed, 55MPH, she was fine. Could the plugs be a little wet? I have the military wires and distributor, but petronix ignition.

[undysworld]

I'm not sure what a "hydro cut" is, but I assume you were in water/mud. Have you removed the doghouse to see where the water/mud actually got to, and what got wet? Water up to your feet is reasonably deep, and the water might well have been sloshed/splashed around a bit near the engine.

You might have an ignition leak, so you might see/hear the spark, at least in the dark. Did it get near or into the distributor?

(I just fixed a bad plug wire on my Subaru today, which only effected idle and only went really bad with water sprayed on it. After wet, it was obviously arcing.)

[berger]

I'm not sure what a "hydro cut" is, but I assume you were in water/mud. Have you removed the doghouse to see where the water/mud actually got to, and what got wet? Water up to your feet is reasonably deep, and the water might well have been sloshed/splashed around a bit near the engine.

You might have an ignition leak, so you might see/hear the spark, at least in the dark. Did it get near or into the distributor?

(I just fixed a bad plug wire on my Subaru today, which only effected idle and only went really bad with water sprayed on it. After wet, it was obviously arcing.)

A Hydro cut is what the Power Company's cut through forests to run the giant Hydro towers....They also serve as snowmobile trails in the winter....You can see where I was here...

http://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=45.243 ... iwloc=ddw1

I haven't removed the dog house. I will check it tomorrow. Thanks for your help!

[4x4Pinz]

yep sounds like a wet distributor. When you open up the distributor cap, take the time to put a drop of oil on the "sponge" at the top. I forget how often the manual says to do this but I do it every time I open the cap.

[berger]

I took the truck out for a test ride and she ran great, then I hit a secondary highway and I had had to pull over on the shoulder a few times. Stumbly at first, then fine just until I throw it into 4th and bogs right down. I took the dog house off on the side of the road and she looked okay, but I will definitely take the dist cap off and check. The truck also backfired like I pulled both triggers on my SXS....which surprised me somewhat....

I thought the military dist and wires were supposed to be waterproof...or at least very resistant? I swear the water just came to my feet...momentarily, and nothing more. I did check the air box, and it is fine.

[4x4Pinz]

the distributor "breathes" to help get the moisture out, that is the only purpose of the vacuum line connected to the distributor. the original military cap and wires are resistant but not proof. Lots of discussion about them in other post. Some have even reported being able to seal up the civilian conversions but that has not been my case. I carry a spare allen wrench in the center console and compressed air for computers in the tool box for just such occasions.
Drive it or run it till the truck gets warm then remove the distributor cap and let set for a few minutes. Dry out the cap and verify the points are not trapping water. should clear right up. It gets easier to do after you have done it a bunch of times. I usually forgo the water splashing, as it is just too much of a pain to keep drying out the distributor.

[berger]

Right on the money! The cap was definitely "moist".... I hit it with WD and letting it dry out in the sun.





Thanks again for the help guys!

[berger]

Took it for a test ride and she runs great again. Definitely the water. I dropped some oil into the cap too.

Funny, my parking break light wasn't working prior to my excursion and it started working on the trail. I also noticed the two rear drive wheels are spitting oil...perhaps I over filled them after I replaced the oil and went offroad??....always something....

[4x4Pinz]

If you take the rotor off there is a good place to put a drop of oil in the "sponge". Water in the cap has been a problem for me on both my Pinzies.

[spandit]

It's the reason I fitted distributorless ignition to mine - was fed up with condensation in the cap. Mine doesn't have the vacuum bleed line so didn't "breath"

[waterdog]

can we see pics of that distributorless ignition set up??? or a link to see what are you talking about??

[spandit]

I've installed MegaJolt. There is a trigger wheel mounted on the pulley with a sensor - have a look at Goatwerks as I copied them. I've also tee'd into a vacuum line to provide vacuum advance too.

The rest is just wiring according to the MJLJ instructions. It all works very well in the wet but I went too deep & sucked a load of mud into the carbs & that's when the real problems started...

[ExpeditionImports]

Perfect example of the "waterproof" ignition system. The key words are Radio Noise Suppression. Your stock system was designed for military radios not being submerged and running. Looks as though the water/mud got up to the level of the distributor base, once that happens you have a nice little vacuum pulling it right into the distributor cap.

From the looks of it you could also use a new rotor and cap. Major carbon arching in the pictures. At a minimum take some emery cloth and clean the terminals/rotor button.

Spandit, Are you running the Megajolt on 12 or 24V?

Cheers,

Scott

[berger]

Perfect example of the "waterproof" ignition system. The key words are Radio Noise Suppression. Your stock system was designed for military radios not being submerged and running. Looks as though the water/mud got up to the level of the distributor base, once that happens you have a nice little vacuum pulling it right into the distributor cap.

From the looks of it you could also use a new rotor and cap. Major carbon arching in the pictures. At a minimum take some emery cloth and clean the terminals/rotor button.

Spandit, Are you running the Megajolt on 12 or 24V?

Cheers,

Scott

Hey Scott.

No, the water only ever came in just under the feet, and only on entry. Once level, it was well below. I now know I am missing the splash guard in the passenger wheel well, so that probably didn't help. I just bought a Civi system from you, last week or so, so it will be replaced soon!

[spandit]

Spandit, Are you running the Megajolt on 12 or 24V?

12V, through a dropper