Jeep will not start after flooding. FIXED

[migyb]

Hey Miguel, being this thread was reopened, how’d it work out? Did your Jeep dry out on its own or did you have to bite the bullet and hit the dealer?

yeah so long story short it’s been a few months now since the incident -

1 LED head lamp shorted since the housing was full of water

Vacuum pump full of water caused my stop start to not work

front diff was full of water which stripped my gears which made my 4x4 inoperable (big deal for me)

and my CarPlay/USB ports are not functioning..

I cleaned everything really well and just hopped to dealership to dealership to find out if any would do the repairs under warranty.

Luckily, I found 3 separate dealerships to repair a different issue! 4wd was fixed, headlight replaced, vacuum pump replaced, just waiting for my USB ports to come in. all for free!

**EDIT** I would like to add that I was tempted to be dishonest with dealerships. There were some that rejected it for warranty work, while some dealerships took my Jeep and got it done. I straight up told them what happened

LESSON THAT I LEARNED: Every dealership is going to be different, and your relationship with them still matters. ALSO - as tempting as it may be, to think twice about muddy puddles!

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[Ppita02]

Hello thanks for posting this! I have an 18 JL wrangler I took scuba diving crossing a river a few months ago. It bounced back and forth from one Jeep shop to dealer and back in my possession trying to figure it out myself. All error codes lead to shorts and breaks in various circuit systems. So far I have replaced, BCM, PDC, PCM, starter, spark plugs, all fluids flushed servers times. I have removed all carpet and rear seats to have better access to electrical harness throughout the jeep. Similar to yours I have all the lights, radio, doors, alarm, backup cam and things work. Only thing is it won’t start, and windows won’t go up. Last resort is to take it to another stealership and see what happens. Insured denied the claims and first and only dealership refused to continue doing anymore work on it. I feel somewhat relieved you were able to get yours going after a few dealerships. Cheers,

 

[DaltonGang]

You've got to love the complexity of these Wranglers. Personally, I would rather take a few steps backwards, and have a more reliable, and rugged Wrangler.

 

[Ppita02]

You've got to love the complexity of these Wranglers. Personally, I would rather take a few steps backwar, and have a more reliable, and rugged Wrangler.

Agreed. I have a 96 Dakota...wiring not as complex but more than I’d like...

 

[migyb]

Hello thanks for posting this! I have an 18 JL wrangler I took scuba diving crossing a river a few months ago. It bounced back and forth from one Jeep shop to dealer and back in my possession trying to figure it out myself. All error codes lead to shorts and breaks in various circuit systems. So far I have replaced, BCM, PDC, PCM, starter, spark plugs, all fluids flushed servers times. I have removed all carpet and rear seats to have better access to electrical harness throughout the jeep. Similar to yours I have all the lights, radio, doors, alarm, backup cam and things work. Only thing is it won’t start, and windows won’t go up. Last resort is to take it to another stealership and see what happens. Insured denied the claims and first and only dealership refused to continue doing anymore work on it. I feel somewhat relieved you were able to get yours going after a few dealerships. Cheers,

funny thing is, try pressing down on your brake pedal as hard as you can and then press the start button? Do you see the warning sign: press start button + brake pedal at all on the indicator screen?

 

[Ppita02]

funny thing is, try pressing down on your brake pedal as hard as you can and then press the start button?Are any electronics working at all?

Hi, yes I’ve tried that as well as making sure I had the door closed and seatbelt on as I know these jeeps are sentistive that way. And yes all electrical works like normal except the power windows, AC, and horn. So working: headlights, signals, radio, instrument cluster, unconnect, wipers, back up cam, interior cab lights, brake lights and rear signals, horn works with the power door locks.

 

[migyb]

Hi, yes I’ve tried that as well as making sure I had the door closed and seatbelt on as I know these jeeps are sentistive that way. And yes all electrical works like normal except the power windows, AC, and horn. So working: headlights, signals, radio, instrument cluster, unconnect, wipers, back up cam, interior cab lights, brake lights and rear signals, horn works with the power door locks.

That’s surprising man- you replaced all the major electronic components

even the pcm- I thought I had to replace this

Is it hydrolocked?

is It just dead when you press the pedal and start button?

How does your brake pedal feel when you press down? Chances are water has gotten in that system. It may be so full of water, that when you press down, it’s just not registering electronically?I don’t know a lot but it’s worth a shot as it’s not expensive to drain and flush your brake system

 

[Ppita02]

That’s surprising man- you replaced all the major electronic components

even the pcm- I thought I had to replace this

Is it hydrolocked?

is It just dead when you press the pedal and start button?

How does your brake pedal feel when you press down? Chances are water has gotten in that system. It may be so full of water, that when you press down, it’s just not registering electronically?I don’t know a lot but it’s worth a shot as it’s not expensive to drain and flush your brake system

that’s a great idea as I’m sitting pondering electrical systems. Yes major modules have been replaced. But holy hell that’s a great idea to flush my brake lines. I have the Jeep up and wheels off so it will be easy to just drain the brake fluid. Thank you, brakes feel super stiff and that makes sense if full of water. As my front diff had water but rear diff did not. (Front half nosedived under water).

Thank you for that suggestion!

 

[migyb]

that’s a great idea as I’m sitting pondering electrical systems. Yes major modules have been replaced. But holy hell that’s a great idea to flush my brake lines. I have the Jeep up and wheels off so it will be easy to just drain the brake fluid. Thank you, brakes feel super stiff and that makes sense if full of water. As my front diff had water but rear diff did not. (Front half nosedived under water).

Thank you for that suggestion!

Yeah give it a shot! Who knows right? Pump the brakes a bunch then press it down as far as it can possibly go - then press that start button

Let me know what happens!

 

[Ppita02]

Brake lines were fine, no water at all. Still not start. Good try though.

Photo Below. I used a buddies Jeep as a baseline. With the ACC turned on but not the engine.

then tested mine and photo shows results. (Ignore big red circles). Small red circles baseline showed juice flowing. But on mine it did not.

now to trace where those fuses go into the can bus and see-if any wires are faulty.

 

[JoseBR]

Hi Miguel,

How did this case finish? I have a similar issue now.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/electronic-issues-after-flooding.114796/

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