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Thoughts on eTorque and water/snow?

LarryJ00

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My brother is a fireman in Florida and was telling me about some fires he saw involving a couple Tesla's after the hurricane. I was watching where places near Buffalo NY. got 5 feet of snow. My 2021 Rubicon has eTorque and I know there is a type of cover/skid plate covering it, but I was wondering how it would hold up with excess water or snow. I purchased the Jeep used so not sure I would have gotten the eTorque or not had I ordered it. I have a Tazer Mini to delete the ESS. Just curious.
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aldo98229

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I remember when JL launched reading that Jeep had tested it thoroughly, including eTorque versions, in deep water fording.

If it’s any consolation, 4Xe has even more electrical components than eTorque and Jeep took lots of precautions with it, too.
 

Wabujitsu

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My first JLU had eTorque, and I forded deep water with it a lot. I never had a single problem with it.
 

Reinen

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When Jeep tests their vehicles and sets a max water fording depth, you can be certain that you're good up to that point. Jeep designers have zero doubt that many Jeep owners will ford water up to the max water fording depth and beyond. The engineer's claims will absolutely be put to the test by customers. So engineers will incorporate water fording into their designs and test it thoroughly. The max water fording depth is shown on the plate on the tailgate. You can trust that.

Beyond that depth and there may be some problems such as water entering the axles through the breather tubes. It won't necessarily mean the Jeep is DOA but some post-fording maintenance may be required.

Tesla owners generally won't test the max water fording depth and their engineers don't provide a maximum water fording depth specification. So max water fording depth becomes all speculation. The most reasonable of which is 9" when the Tesla is set to its maximum ground clearance of 9". The most unreasonable is from Musk himself who claims Teslas can be used as an impromptu boat, but he doesn't recommend it. That is clearly marketing talking out of their ass with no engineers & designers to back it up.

When I first picked up my '21 Rubicon I measured where the max water fording line was so I'd know where it would be after suspension changes. I determined that a good rule of thumb is that you're okay up until the point where the lower door hinge is underwater. The moment the lower door hinge goes underwater your #1 priority should be to seek shallower water.
 
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Wabujitsu

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I forded my last Jeep almost to the top of the headlights on one outing. I freaked out, not knowing how high the breather tubes went, so I spent hundreds of dollars to have the diffs and transfer case drained and refilled. Not a drop of water in any of them!
 

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Water surge from hurricane was salt water, snow is fresh water. Big difference in conductive properties.
 

Reinen

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I forded my last Jeep almost to the top of the headlights on one outing. I freaked out, not knowing how high the breather tubes went, so I spent hundreds of dollars to have the diffs and transfer case drained and refilled. Not a drop of water in any of them!
It does make a difference if you were moving vs standing still at that depth, for how long you were in it and how quickly you enter the water. As I said, it doesn't necessarily mean a DOA Jeep, just that it might cause a problem. There's a lot of variables involved.

Your breather tubes go up as high as they can go under the body floor. I suspect your breather tubes were under the water surface but the frame & body trapped an air pocket there. The engineers do think about these things. Or your axles weren't all that hot and the water was warm. So they weren't cooled rapidly by the water and the breather tubes didn't need to suck in air (which would have been water). Or the axles may have already cooled and sucked in air before you went to that depth. As I said, tons of variables involved. So the key word here is "maybe".

@LarryJ00 tl;dr is that if any vehicle will survive a plunge in water it's going to be a Jeep. They're designed for that and rather resilient to it even if you exceed the max water fording depth.
 

kansasboy91

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I have no fear with my etorque, batteries are protected and Jeep spends lots of money designing the wrangler. It doesn’t even share many switches with other FCA products. But as far as breather tubes I’m to understand that there is a hydrophobic later to the vent to help keep water out. Most designs use the 10% rule. Design something to a spec and derate it 10% to cover their butts. Trailers, tie down straps, chains, hydraulic components, heavy and light equipment are often done this way.
 

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LarryJ00

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Thanks for the replies!!! I wasn't terribly worried just good to know the 48 V isn't a concern. Well, until replacement time anyways LOL. I am still glad I don't have the Aux. battery .
 

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It does make a difference if you were moving vs standing still at that depth, for how long you were in it and how quickly you enter the water. As I said, it doesn't necessarily mean a DOA Jeep, just that it might cause a problem. There's a lot of variables involved.

Your breather tubes go up as high as they can go under the body floor. I suspect your breather tubes were under the water surface but the frame & body trapped an air pocket there. The engineers do think about these things. Or your axles weren't all that hot and the water was warm. So they weren't cooled rapidly by the water and the breather tubes didn't need to suck in air (which would have been water). Or the axles may have already cooled and sucked in air before you went to that depth. As I said, tons of variables involved. So the key word here is "maybe".

@LarryJ00 tl;dr is that if any vehicle will survive a plunge in water it's going to be a Jeep. They're designed for that and rather resilient to it even if you exceed the max water fording depth.
It does make a difference if you were moving vs standing still at that depth, for how long you were in it and how quickly you enter the water. As I said, it doesn't necessarily mean a DOA Jeep, just that it might cause a problem. There's a lot of variables involved.

Your breather tubes go up as high as they can go under the body floor. I suspect your breather tubes were under the water surface but the frame & body trapped an air pocket there. The engineers do think about these things. Or your axles weren't all that hot and the water was warm. So they weren't cooled rapidly by the water and the breather tubes didn't need to suck in air (which would have been water). Or the axles may have already cooled and sucked in air before you went to that depth. As I said, tons of variables involved. So the key word here is "maybe".

@LarryJ00 tl;dr is that if any vehicle will survive a plunge in water it's going to be a Jeep. They're designed for that and rather resilient to it even if you exceed the max water fording depth.
@Reinen, those were exactly the thoughts going through my mind, that made me very concerned. I never linger in deep water, but even so, I’m glad I spent the money to drain the fluids. Better to be safe than sorry. I do wonder what the termination point is for the breathers; I may try to trace them today.
 

wolfdog

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wow ... trust Jeep engineers? The same guys who gave us an Aux battery under the main battery with the "easiest way" to get at it is removing the front fender!!! Ya, sure can trust those engineers!

Interesting my 2015 Cherokee Trailhawk has one big battery and the ESS works perfect. I don't hafta like ESS but one big battery works it fine!

Go Jeep!!!
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