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Water in the Trans / moving tubes

LLANERO

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The transmission breather hose is very high in the engine bay.
If water got in the transmisson through the breather, you should also have water in your T/C and diffs.
Did you check them? You could have used that as an argument that there was a leak in the transmission.
Also, you can file a claim with your insurance company.
My niece hydrolocked the engine of her Civic after a storm. The insurance paid for the engine and she was at no fault.

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Kevin Mojito

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Nice work Dario
I did not know myself that the trans vent was that high in the engine bay. I know on some Ford products that the t-case and trans connect into 1 vent. Not sure if that's the case on the JL?
OP should have water in the diffs and t-case too.
 

MandKM

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Nice work Dario
I did not know myself that the trans vent was that high in the engine bay. I know on some Ford products that the t-case and trans connect into 1 vent. Not sure if that's the case on the JL?
OP should have water in the diffs and t-case too.
All vents on the JL are separate. The transfer case vent is at the top the the housing and the hose is only about 3” long, while the rear differential breather is attached to the bottom of the Jeep’s rear compartment (trunk?). Both are below the stated 30” max fording depth, but are equipped with membranes to prevent water intrusion (think Gortex). As a matter of fact, the breathers are manufactured by Gore, maker of Gortex.
 

Kevin Mojito

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That's interesting. I wonder why the trans did not get that one way type breather valve.
 

WyoTex

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interesting
 

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LLANERO

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That's interesting. I wonder why the trans did not get that one way type breather valve.
All vents on the JL are separate. The transfer case vent is at the top the the housing and the hose is only about 3” long, while the rear differential breather is attached to the bottom of the Jeep’s rear compartment (trunk?). Both are below the stated 30” max fording depth, but are equipped with membranes to prevent water intrusion (think Gortex). As a matter of fact, the breathers are manufactured by Gore, maker of Gortex.
I don't trust those valves. I always raise the hoses. I need to find the one for the transfer case. Any pics?

This is what I have done so far:

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Kevin Mojito

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Looks good.
I see on the factory ( most ) they like to have a curve. The end of the hose is pointed back down toward ground. Do you know why they do that?
My basic idea, water does not drip down on an open tube pointing up. I'm sure it's more to it then that.
 

MandKM

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@LLANERO here are a couple photos showing the vent on the transfer case. The first shows where on top of the transfer case it is located. The second shows it from below. Good luck. It is very difficult to reach.
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LLANERO

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@LLANERO here are a couple photos showing the vent on the transfer case. The first shows where on top of the transfer case it is located. The second shows it from below. Good luck. It is very difficult to reach.
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I'll try to reach it on the weekend. Thanks!
 

cjaama

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Also, you can file a claim with your insurance company.
My niece hydrolocked the engine of her Civic after a storm. The insurance paid for the engine and she was at no fault.
Seriously. Try this.
When I handled claims, I handled a handful from people driving through deep water and hydrolocking and paid out on them. Now, these occurred on the road, however it shouldn't really change anything.
You incurred a loss caused by a sudden and unforeseen occurrence. You did not intentionally cause harm to your vehicle. Most policies have exclusions for racing or performing in a competition, but no exclusions for off-roading (refer to the guy who ran over the woman at Moab).
Unfortunately you'd be making the claim after repairs were made, which they won't like, but as long as the dealership has everything documented I think there's a strong chance of it going through. It doesn't hurt to try. Just be honest about everything.
If your insurance company feels it should have been warrantied they'll go after FCA to reimburse them after the fact.
 

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PyrPatriot

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When I handled claims, I handled a handful from people driving through deep water and hydrolocking and paid out on them. Now, these occurred on the road, however it shouldn't really change anything.
You incurred a loss caused by a sudden and unforeseen occurrence. You did not intentionally cause harm to your vehicle. Most policies have exclusions for racing or performing in a competition, but no exclusions for off-roading (refer to the guy who ran over the woman at Moab).
State specific. States with places like MOAB probably require auto insurance companies to cover off roading. States like KY definitely do not. Insurance companies here only cover occurrences that happen on the road. Yes, road. They are not contractually obligated to cover damage to your vehicle in your driveway or on a highway shoulder. Though they do and will. However, at an off-road park or on private land: nope. All the trails I ride are technically still county roads, though they look like little more than ruts, dips, and creek crossings. Still, Geico here in KY said they'd cover it. So, check with your insurance contract. Don't just ask them, read your entire agreement. Geico tried bringing in "internal references" to b.s. like not covering my vehicle if it had a lift, larger tires, etc but because they wouldn't give me those documents, include them as an adendum/appendix to my signed policy, they can't enforce it against me. Your state might have different standards.

But just in case because of threads like this, I will now be keeping differential oil, motor oil, filters, and other "emergency" supplies in the Jeep in a box while off roading. Someone on youtube sank their Jeep and ended up having to flush the engine oil out ALOT, but the Jeep ran. So I'll be looking into that as the worst case scenario before having to call insurance.
 

MarkM

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I love this topic! It is good to see others following the same path I took. It is like a group effort proof of concept think tank!

I pulled the stock breather off of the T/C and added an 8mm (5/16) fuel hose to it. I ran that hose along the transmission hoses, up behind the block and attached it to the trans breather hose. I used a "Y" adaptor from NAPA to tap in just behind the clip that holds the hose and breather cap at the manifold.
I also put an elbow in to hold the breather cap upright as the design sitting side ways could let water in when you wash the engine. This cap has no water blocking capability at all, so turning it up, it acts like somewhat like an umbrella. I had the vehicle in for an oil leak and the technician thought the hoses were "awesome, we need to tell the factory".

I replaced the front axle hose, which from the factory, terminates along the spring tower, with the same 8mm hose and ran it up to the fender/firewall connection, under the cowl panel. LLANERO has the same thing as shown on his blue JL.

I extended the rear breather to terminate inside the passenger taillight house. Again, LLANERO's pic shows a similar fix.

My JL rides on 33s. The fording specification is no more then 30" @ 5MPH. That is great for a factory vehicle. My GMC says water no deeper than the axle hub. I do not plan to be in deeper water, as anything over the fender puts the intake at risk. But for normal fording, this is one less item(s) to worry about. Also, too deep of water will quickly overwhelm the door seals which would be another all together. I like knowing that at least those 4 submerged items shouldn't cause a concern.

I looked at it as a hot T/C or axle immersed in cold water would certainly create a vacuum that could pull water through a breather, especially the open "cap" on the front axle. Everything now breathes at a location at least a foot above the water line.

In theory, the stock routing should be fine, but then again, the theory of the Titanic was that it was unsinkable. I have seen plenty of posts where people have figured out water is getting sucked into something that doesn't react well to water.
 

AMT

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I love this topic! It is good to see others following the same path I took. It is like a group effort proof of concept think tank!

... INFORMATION ...

I looked at it as a hot T/C or axle immersed in cold water would certainly create a vacuum that could pull water through a breather, especially the open "cap" on the front axle. Everything now breathes at a location at least a foot above the water line.

In theory, the stock routing should be fine, but then again, the theory of the Titanic was that it was unsinkable. I have seen plenty of posts where people have figured out water is getting sucked into something that doesn't react well to water.
Great thread, aside from the OP's misfortunes. This has just moved way up on my to-do list, as well as dig into and completely understand my insurance policy regarding off roading.
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