Jeep fixed. Thanks all.

VetRiderJLU · Oct 21, 2023

Jeep is fixed. Closed thread.

bjm00se · Oct 21, 2023

Thanks for sharing this. Hopefully other folks will see it and make wiser choices as a result. Deep gooey mud looks like fun, but it just ruins vehicles, Jeeps included.

Bulletbill · Oct 21, 2023

Take an off-road course, full send is very rarely, if ever, appropriate unless you have a $200,000 plus custom hill climber. Whoever told you that at the event had no idea what they were talking about.

Sorry it happened and I hope you get everything back to the way it was before the event.

SadRobot · Oct 21, 2023

VetRiderJLU said:
Plus we are out another $500 for a rental we had to get. Forgot about that. What a nightmare. And at the end, whos to say there more shit wont go bad a month or a year from now from all this. Its like having a flood car at this point. NEVER EVER will I take this offroad again. EVER.

Oof this is a huge bummer. I've made some costly mistakes offroad as well and it does make you want to give up on it a bit but I hope once you get it back you do take it offroad again. The best thing to do is to go back out and have a successful run where nothing breaks and you get your confidence in yourself and your vehicle back.

I try to avoid mud now as much as I can. @fxceptioN can attest to what can happen if you even get a little bit of muddy water where it shouldn't be. His Jeep was in and out of the dealer for months after a drive through a small puddle up at Rowher back in May.

fxceptioN · Oct 21, 2023

SadRobot said:
Oof this is a huge bummer. I've made some costly mistakes offroad as well and it does make you want to give up on it a bit but I hope once you get it back you do take it offroad again. The best thing to do is to go back out and have a successful run where nothing breaks and you get your confidence in yourself and your vehicle back.

I try to avoid mud now as much as I can. @fxceptioN can attest to what can happen if you even get a little bit of water where it shouldn't be. His Jeep was in and out of the dealer for months after a drive through a small puddle up at Rowher back in May.

I just got it back from the dealer September 28th after it was there for 40 days, and I just towed it back to the dealership on October 17th for the same problem.

VetRiderJLU said:
Well.. We did have fun at least. We were at the saturday Jeeptober event in Ocala FL. At the end of the intermediate course, we a fairly shallow basically muddy-water pit people were going through. We were told at the start by the guy staging us, we should full send as to not get stuck. We saw other jeeps doing it and getting out ok. Some went slow, and of course got stuck. Well I took his advice... Didnt go well after the fact. We did make it through, but the surface under the water-mud was rutted and had some sort of ridge that sent us flying half way through it.

Out the other side aside from being shaken up like we had a major car accident, the jeep and us passengers were ok. For the moment...

Our JLU was completely coated in mud. Top to bottom as seen below. It was a mess. No worries, we wanted to get it dirty. The plan was that would be the end of our day and i was going to go find a spray wash place to get it cleaned up before we hit the highway to head home. Well that plan didnt happen.

What happened was a series of events that I would have never imagined a 3" lifted JLU with 35" tires would end up in. Apparently the mudpit was too much. About 10 minutes down the road from the event, the battery light came on. Errors for low voltage. CRAP. Well I was able to limp it back to the event and find a hose to start rinsing down the engine bay. EVERYTHING was completely coated in mud. ALternator was coated, everything. So I did my best to rinse it all off of the nose of the jeep so I could at least get a look and see if the belt was off or if some plug got knocked off. Everything looked normal. Jeep ran fine, only low voltage. It was clearly not charging. So thats going to be a problem. I tried to drive it some to see if the rinse and a bit of a dry would help. It started to charge for a bit so we decided to hit the highway and try to limp home the 60 or so miles.

HUGE mistake. Not 10 minutes down the road, low voltage again but this time it started to overheat. QUICKLY. I only made it about 5 miles before we had to pull over. All lights on, error everything and it was on the edge of over heating. Never did, but it was close. I tried to let it sit then limp it another mile so we could get to the next exit but it was too far. Voltage down to 8v now on the dash and she was done. I had to call for a tow that was three hours away. We were able to hitch a ride to the next exit by a random FDOT ranger truck that was helping someone else behind us a few minutes. He stopped for us and took us to the next exit. We had to wait for the truck to come. This was almost midnight now. And a $500 tow later, the jeep was at the dealer early sunday AM waiting for Monday for them to look at it.

ANOTHER MASSIVE mistake because our 21 JLU is not under warranty. We knew that but I figured the dealer would have the best options for parts and whatnot to get it done faster. Well that was wrong. They diagnosed both batteries were fried. $675. They had to steam clean the entire engine bay before they even started that. Another $500+. Then once we got new batteries, still not charging. Alternator installed was $1200. More cleaning needed for the starter which was seized up from mud. $250 more. Plus all the labor. We are at $2500 and it still hasnt ran on its own for more than a few minutes. They want another $500 to dissassemble the rad and all the parts around that to clean out the radiator and put the cooling system back together.

This one day event I paid $60 to get into is up to over $3k at this point in repairs. And I tried to get the alternator from the aftermarket, and NONE exist. NONE for the 2.0T non hybrid. They arent out there.

Plus we are out another $500 for a rental we had to get. Forgot about that. What a nightmare. And at the end, whos to say there more shit wont go bad a month or a year from now from all this. Its like having a flood car at this point. NEVER EVER will I take this offroad again. EVER.

View attachment 808466

View attachment 808467

View attachment 808468

The whole problem with my issue is the XY230A connector got dirt in it the first time. It was filled with water the second time, and who knows what they tell me this time around.

Chrisbayridge1 · Oct 21, 2023

VetRiderJLU said:
Well.. We did have fun at least. We were at the saturday Jeeptober event in Ocala FL. At the end of the intermediate course, we a fairly shallow basically muddy-water pit people were going through. We were told at the start by the guy staging us, we should full send as to not get stuck. We saw other jeeps doing it and getting out ok. Some went slow, and of course got stuck. Well I took his advice... Didnt go well after the fact. We did make it through, but the surface under the water-mud was rutted and had some sort of ridge that sent us flying half way through it.

Out the other side aside from being shaken up like we had a major car accident, the jeep and us passengers were ok. For the moment...

Our JLU was completely coated in mud. Top to bottom as seen below. It was a mess. No worries, we wanted to get it dirty. The plan was that would be the end of our day and i was going to go find a spray wash place to get it cleaned up before we hit the highway to head home. Well that plan didnt happen.

What happened was a series of events that I would have never imagined a 3" lifted JLU with 35" tires would end up in. Apparently the mudpit was too much. About 10 minutes down the road from the event, the battery light came on. Errors for low voltage. CRAP. Well I was able to limp it back to the event and find a hose to start rinsing down the engine bay. EVERYTHING was completely coated in mud. ALternator was coated, everything. So I did my best to rinse it all off of the nose of the jeep so I could at least get a look and see if the belt was off or if some plug got knocked off. Everything looked normal. Jeep ran fine, only low voltage. It was clearly not charging. So thats going to be a problem. I tried to drive it some to see if the rinse and a bit of a dry would help. It started to charge for a bit so we decided to hit the highway and try to limp home the 60 or so miles.

HUGE mistake. Not 10 minutes down the road, low voltage again but this time it started to overheat. QUICKLY. I only made it about 5 miles before we had to pull over. All lights on, error everything and it was on the edge of over heating. Never did, but it was close. I tried to let it sit then limp it another mile so we could get to the next exit but it was too far. Voltage down to 8v now on the dash and she was done. I had to call for a tow that was three hours away. We were able to hitch a ride to the next exit by a random FDOT ranger truck that was helping someone else behind us a few minutes. He stopped for us and took us to the next exit. We had to wait for the truck to come. This was almost midnight now. And a $500 tow later, the jeep was at the dealer early sunday AM waiting for Monday for them to look at it.

ANOTHER MASSIVE mistake because our 21 JLU is not under warranty. We knew that but I figured the dealer would have the best options for parts and whatnot to get it done faster. Well that was wrong. They diagnosed both batteries were fried. $675. They had to steam clean the entire engine bay before they even started that. Another $500+. Then once we got new batteries, still not charging. Alternator installed was $1200. More cleaning needed for the starter which was seized up from mud. $250 more. Plus all the labor. We are at $2500 and it still hasnt ran on its own for more than a few minutes. They want another $500 to dissassemble the rad and all the parts around that to clean out the radiator and put the cooling system back together.

This one day event I paid $60 to get into is up to over $3k at this point in repairs. And I tried to get the alternator from the aftermarket, and NONE exist. NONE for the 2.0T non hybrid. They arent out there.

Plus we are out another $500 for a rental we had to get. Forgot about that. What a nightmare. And at the end, whos to say there more shit wont go bad a month or a year from now from all this. Its like having a flood car at this point. NEVER EVER will I take this offroad again. EVER.

View attachment 808466

View attachment 808467

View attachment 808468

A friend of mine "Sent it" in a mud pit and broke his driveshaft and damaged the oil pan "Sending it" is for professional drivers and millionaires who can afford the damage

VetRiderJLU · Oct 21, 2023

Yeah we are ok with the pay to play aspect. But are more worried with the long term affects of this on the jeep.

FinnCustomKnives · Oct 21, 2023

Yeah, full sending through mud is never a good idea unless you are in something serious and designed to handle such activities. The same goes for water crossings, don't bomb through them for more reasons than just the vehicle's shortcomings.
FWIW I have been in plenty of deep nasty mud here in GA and TN, stuck quite a few times, as well as water crossings above 30" and have yet to have any issues. I'm not saying it is a great idea to do so, just that it's not as serious as "never offroad it again". Do so wisely and knowing the capabilities of yourself and the vehicle you are in and you will be just fine.

Chance_P · Oct 21, 2023

You paid good money for the knowledge that's in the day 1 lesson plan for taking a vehicle off of pavement.

The Last Cowboy · Oct 21, 2023

I avoid mud whenever possible anymore. Got my fair share of it when I was a teenager and when in the Army. Mud hides hazards and breaks things. Mud gets places you would never imagine and then slowly goes to work corroding.

Take the alternator to a place that rebuilds them, if you can still find one. They can clean it and upgrade it’s capability. If you can’t find a place, consider buying a rebuilt performance alternator and use yours for a core.

Now is the time to delete the aux battery and associated cables.

Opus · Oct 21, 2023

Sorry to read this, OP. Yeah, the guy who told you to go full throttle screwed you over. Jeeps like to crawl... sprinting really isn't their forte.

desertdude59 · Oct 21, 2023

Yeah full send is never a good idea. It's better to have that winch cable ready or tow rope ready. The guy who told you that gave you bad advice. I took my Cherokee Trailhawk to Windrock when I had it thru 2-3 foot holes. I luckly never had any electrical problems. I just put on my rear locker and took it slow. Tennessee mud is sticky too.

SaintNick · Oct 21, 2023

Ouch. I've made dumb decisions too, but I know my capabilities will always be less than my vehicle. I know I'm weakest link and I'm avoiding mud at all costs mainly because of the mess, but now because I'm reminding of the damage it can cause.

Vinman · Oct 21, 2023

I always refer to playing in mud as the “Deferred payment plan“ style of wheeling.
Go play in mud all this year then next year systematically replace parts like alternators, starters, idler pulleys, brakes, bearings etc.

CptFloridaMan · Oct 21, 2023

From Miami and am planning to go to united we crawl in january, but will absolutely avoid any mud deeper than half the height of my tires and refuse to go into it at speed. Wheel spin sure, but full send into the mud is kinda risky.

It sucks that much being shelled out though, I’d look into deleting the aux battery next too though.

Jeep fixed. Thanks all.

VetRiderJLU

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bjm00se

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Bulletbill

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SadRobot

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fxceptioN

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Chrisbayridge1

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VetRiderJLU

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FinnCustomKnives

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Chance_P

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The Last Cowboy

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Opus

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desertdude59

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SaintNick

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Vinman

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CptFloridaMan

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