Flooded my 2021 Rubicon in 5' of water. Here's the drying / fix process...

[Keanon21]

So I made a few fatal mistakes. Really just being stupid. #1 I did not check a creek cross for depth. #2 when I realized it was to deep and tried to back up and was unable to (still in a safe spot) I did not call for help. #3 crawling by myself. Long story short I got my jeep into 5' of water. Water got over my driver seat before I finally recovered and got myself out.

The Jeep would not turn off once I was out of the water. I noticed the push to start button was not lighting up or doing anything. Everything else in the vehicle worked perfectly fine. So I drove home and after 3 or 4 hours of being unable to shut the jeep off I pulled the ignition coil fuse and the engine shut off.

Now the jeep won't start. So I unplugged every electrical connection I could find that would have been under water and blew it out with a compressor and added dyelectric grease to them. I found that the push to start button was getting power but not working so I ordered a new one and am hoping this will be the only bad part since everything except that is working. The only other thing not working is the key fob but I know it's not the battery and it did not get wet. I'm hoping the new ignition switch fixes my issues will give an update once switch comes in.

If anyone has questions or suggestions please feel free.

Here's what the drying process looked like

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[WhereRU_A-A-Ron]

Scary man. You realize your mistakes so no point in saying “check before you cross”. Hopefully you got lucky and it’s a non-issue.

Glad you’re alive

 

[Thunderjet]

I would be shocked if your Jeep ever recovered from this. Flooded vehicles have tons of issues forever. I am only aware of one person who owned one who got it back in working order and he changed just about electronic module.
File a claim with your insurance company

 

[Deleted member 59498]

There is a thread here for a guy who rebuilt one that went down a boat ramp and was completely submerged. Did not blow the engine I think it was turned off. But yeah he stripped it down like yours and had to replace a bunch of electronics.

 

[Deleted member 59498]

Here is the thread
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/2019-rubicon-jlu-flood-restoration-project.83289/

 

[Bobby Hank]

Wow man, sorry for you. Hope it works out without catastrophic loss or huge expense. If anything, you've reminded me to never attempt any obstacle really hairy alone and without proper scouting.
Good Luck!!

 

[Pape]

I would be shocked if your Jeep ever recovered from this. Flooded vehicles have tons of issues forever. I am only aware of one person who owned one who got it back in working order and he changed just about electronic module.
File a claim with your insurance company

Depend on how long it was under water for. Also as per my understanding the engine never stop, right there it tell me this is not the type of flood we are use too

 

[rohdawg]

I would be shocked if your Jeep ever recovered from this. Flooded vehicles have tons of issues forever. I am only aware of one person who owned one who got it back in working order and he changed just about electronic module.
File a claim with your insurance company

There’s a guy on the forum that rebuilt a JL that was completely submerged… it’s a hellacious process. He did it but it was not easy. Trying to find that thread to add…

@Scott.B linked it above.

 

[Tank the Jeep]

That’s gonna take a lot of rice and a really big bag.

 

[Reinen]

Well, thank you for taking one for the team and posting your story here as a cautionary tale.

 

[Pinion]

Good luck.

Have a better story to tell your insurance company.

 

[Keanon21]

I'm remaining optimistic. it was a terrifying and totally avoidable situation. It currently sucks having a large paperweight in the garage but I'm determined to get her back up and running. I know this won't be easy, and will take time, but in the end I bought a jeep to do jeep stuff. although this is better categorized as dumb stuff. Building a rig and beating it down and rebuilding to create some of the craziest, coolest, funest, and amazing memories. This is just a part of my jeep journey I'm glad I can share the experience with everyone on here though. I'm learning a lot about diagnosing electrical. As far as the engine goes the front passenger side never went low enough to get water in the intake as well as the engine never turned off in the water so no hydro lock I'm going to change all my fluids to inspect further just waiting to get paid for that endeavor. Got all the plugs taken care of and pannels back on just waiting on the ignition switch. Thanks for all the replies y'all I appreciate the input.

 

[Keanon21]

There is a thread here for a guy who rebuilt one that went down a boat ramp and was completely submerged. Did not blow the engine I think it was turned off. But yeah he stripped it down like yours and had to replace a bunch of electronics.

I just went through that thread what a project but awesome and makes me feel more optimistic about the cost of my project lmao

 

[Keanon21]

Depend on how long it was under water for. Also as per my understanding the engine never stop, right there it tell me this is not the type of flood we are use too

Engine was never turned off in the water and no water in the intake so I'm pretty sure it'll be fine. I will be changing fluids to be safe though.

 

[wcjeep]

Able to scan for codes? May require expensive scanner for specific information and trouble shooting. Be sure to check all fluids more than once for water.

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