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What happens when my Wrangler gets soaked?

CT_LFC

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Last summer hanging out at a friend's house we got a sudden storm and it poured HARD. Thinking "it should just pass" i didn't make anything of it, until it didn't and decided it was time to rush home and put the Jeep in the garage.

It was so soaked that the infotainment started going crazy as soon as i started the Jeep, not responding to my commands and toggling through all its menus by itself. It called SOS a few times, which luckily didn't go anywhere since i had not renewed the service. I think it may have tired to call a couple people on my contact list.

From advise given here, i pulled the fuse when i got home and let it dry for a couple days then let the Jeep sit outside during the day for a few days to make sure everything would dry up. Put the fuse back in and it has been working fine ever since.
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INCRHULK

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Thanks all. The $4000 top is a good suggestion, but I want the hard top through the winter. The carpet and covers are a good suggestion, but I don't think it will be open all the time. I think I might keep a good towel somewhere (in something that will not get wet) and wipe it down after a storm. Good to know the Jeep is MEANT to take a storm with the top off.

I will get the Mopar Slush Floor Mats (that work with the drain plug). If nothing else those will be good during beach trip, take out carpet and leave those in as a week of sand never comes out fully!
Go with the Sky One Touch. You get the best of both worlds, a hardtop, and a softop that opens and closes with the push of a button. No need to stop and pull over, just keep it under 80KPH when opening/closing.
 

CaJLMetalHead

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There was a thread in here about a year ago. I tried to find it but no luck.
A guy dropped his Jeep off for service on a sunny morning with the top down and got a ride to work. Afternoon thunderstorm comes in and he assumed they would pull the top up in the lot. They did nothing.
He claimed his info-tainment system wasnā€™t working when he got in.
The thread became an interesting debate as some people thought the dealer should have closed it but most said it was his fault.
Is anyone familiar with that thread? I think the OP would find it interesting.
Yeah.. I remember that thread.. I actually read it a couple days ago... I wonder if the 8.4 infotaiment is more susceptible to failure compared to the base Sport? mine is a sport with the simple 5 inch infotaiment..

It seems the issues are random.. some people have reported damaged infotaiment in the rain... some people just wait for the dashboard to completely dry and thing go back to normal..

I did actually design a simple dashboard cover that you can quickly deploy in case of rain .. imagine tarp or heavy transparent plastic... one side a had collapsible tent pole that was pressed against the innermost side of the dashboard (where the defrost vents are)... the cover went over the entire dashboard and was secured at the bottom with bungee cords and hooks that attached to the door hinges.. easy to deploy and easy to fold into a small package you can keep under the seat... unfortunately I don't know what I did with it... LOL... but you get the idea!... perhaps I should make it into a commercial product... :rock:

BTW... here is me driving over the pass .... I had a blast!!

 

linuxos77

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My guess is the interior (infotainment in particular) is waterproof like the iPhone is waterproof. Meaning, it's designed and tested to survive getting soaked in the event of emergency, not blatant disregard. Also, while they (Apple) claim the iPhone is waterproof, good luck making a warranty claim should it fail after exposure.
 

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Jocko

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Haha I was just talking about this recently in another thread. I always keep a couple towels in the back to wipe down the seats. Drain plugs pulled in the front mopar mats all summer.

The most annoying thing is the rear mopar mats are pretty shallow and there are no drains. I have the doors off most of the summer, so even with the top, rain will usually find its way in enough to accumulate in the mats. So those can overflow and then I have to pull them out for a bit to let the carpet dry. Not that big of a deal though. I think I secretly enjoy that leaving the doors off in the rain is a little irresponsible. I'm such a rebel. The carpeting really is great though. It's never gotten any weird smell from getting wet. Maybe if you left it wet for days on end, but I've always stayed on top of that.

I've never had my infotainment soaked. If things are looking iffy, I'll usually go with just the freedom panels to be safe. Had rain blow in the doors onto the ends of the dash with no issues. But not looking to have the main screen get soaked. Heh.
 

JimmyR75

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I run my JK freedom top with the front panels on and back removed (ā‰ˆ safari mode) all year round. Never any problems from water in the back/sides. I did leave the front panels off a few times by accident when it stormed, only an issue once after a really, really long and heavy rain. Came out next morning and nothing worked (no headlights, signals, wipers, radio, ignition, nothing). Thought I was screwed! Did some searching, and saw a post saying to disconnect/short/reconnect the battery cables. Worked like a charm, everything was fine after that.

Iā€™m not quite brave enough to leave it like that on purpose all the time, but I think a simple bikini top would be fine to keep it dry enough and still have peace of mind. Same as OP, Iā€™ve been curious if JL is the same, and it sounds like it is.
 

Oldbear

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Iā€™d be concerned about the carpets/seats getting saturated and then growing crud. Back in the day we had rubber floor mats and vinyl seats. Used to pull drain plugs and hose ā€˜em out. These days.. not so much.
 

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Kraty1

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We had the soft top in Safari mode once but the doors were off, got caught in a storm while on the highway and had water everywhere. My young daughter is caught on video saying ā€œitā€™s raining in my car!ā€ Took it home, used a towel to dry what I could, pulled the all season floor mats and set up a fan. All was well and dry in a day or so without problems.
 

JimmyR75

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The back half of mine has been rained in for 2 years now. Never pulled carpets (except to check underneath), and no damage/growth/smell/etc yet. I think with the top staying off, it tends to dry out before thereā€™s a problem. I do have the backseat out though, I think the seats would be a different story if you let them get soaked too much. Also have the drains open.
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