Bad Night.

[WoodsWagon]

Well, the wagon is one step away from being junk.

I took it wheelling, and got into water deep enough to suck into the engine. Lots of water. It bent a conn. rod in the process, and I didn't have any tools.

I got it restarted by having my buddy givew it kicks with thte starter and letting the water leak past the rings into the case. So I get it running, and out of the pond, and it is knocking so bad it shakes the car, but I'm rolling again. I keep going down the trail because by now we are a bit past the Middle of nowhere point. Even with the engine whacking up a storm, it keeps going, untill I hit a double-whoop with a huge arse rock in the bottom. It smashed the skid plate into the oil pan so far it shorted the oil pressure sender. The oil gauge pegs and the coolant gauge drops to stone cold. WTF?

so I turn the heater on, and nothing comes out. Oh snap! the block is empty! By now the power steering was gone because of something in the hole and it's a biotch to steer. It keeps going. During this whole period, water is sloshing around in the cab and draining out the bottom because of the water hole being so deep.

 

We make it out to the power lines, dusty rider would recognize this area as across the souhegan down by Kingbrook road on 31. I decide its best not to blow the engine, so we walk. and walk and walk because nobody who drives by will give us a ride. finally we find a group of crack heads parked on the side of the road. They were scared when we showed up, mabe they thought we were the police? But they let us use their cell phone and call a ride.

 

I don't know how bad the damage is, but I know the engine is trash. I'm going to go back tomorrow and fix the coolant hose which ripped off, fillit up with water and run it out to 31. Hopefully the bottom end won't let go. From there it's getting towed back to my house.

 

I made a line of mistakes:

Don't go wheeling without tools

Don't go with only one car.

Don't go into ponds without a different intake

Bring a cell phone and a flashlight when wheeling in the dark.

luckely I had a sweater in the wagon, 'cause bobby got pretty cold wading around in the 2 foot deep water.

[75subie]

its good to hear you got out.don`t junk it! put a motor in it, and keep on wheelin! you also might be able to fix whats there, unless it seized up. even limping on 1 foot the sube still got you out:)

[Numbchux]

correction, don't go into ponds AT SPEED with the stock intake

 

but otherwise, good advice, I usually follow these tips for street driving.

[MorganM]

Pick better lines.

 

So you still like mud, right? :-p

[WoodsWagon]

It wasn't mud, it was out and out water.

I reattached the coolant hose, filled er up, and the wagon made it out under its own power. It's kinda hard to pick good lines after dark with a mud-smeared windshield, but I'm learning. The engine is fubar. Lots of internal friction and nasty noises. But it still runs. Dam their tough. Now to tow it the 10mi back home.

[MorganM]

Where there's water; there's mud. Offroading at night in the mud is just asking for trouble. Done it many times and don't care to do it any more. My Subaru lacks big 'offroad lights' becuase I don't offroad at night for several good reasons. In addition to what you've now experienced I've also found it very easy to get lost at night while offroading.

 

I'd suggest a whole motor swap. Really won't be worth a complete rebuild. Motor swap will get you back running and on the trails the fastest and cheapist, IMHO. Just drive it the 10miles; whats it going to do... blow up?

 

Good luck with the repairs! Just an excuse to upgrade right?

[dustyrider]

Oh yeah sounds fun!

 

Good luck with the engine may just find another used one and drop it in.

[Snowman]

Ditto what Morgan said about driving it home and swapping engines. Mine made it about 10 miles after #3 started knocking, so you might just make it! This engine is not worth rebuilding at this point anyway (you'd have to machine the crank and all kinds of stuff).

[WoodsWagon]

I have a 2.2l in the process of being rebuilt at school, but my parts haven't come in. New rings, bearings, seals, and paint job. Blue lettering, clearcoat brushed and beadblasted aluminum. It's looking sweet. But it won't be done for another month. I had hoped I'd make this engine last that long, but teenage impulses spoiled that the demolition trailride was fun as hel though....

seriously,it was just water. I had hit the mudholes earlier. The water was over the wheels at the deepest, so the de-snorkused intake had solid water to suck in. It was full up to the throttle plate But it restarted. My oil now looks like a frappe, but it is too late to care.The 10mi is on a 50mph winding uphill road that has no pullouts or breakdown lane people seem to have a habit of dying in that section and I don't want to add to the ranks just yet.I have a carb block, but it will need some bore honing to restart. the plugs were out and the tarp blew off. I just bought a 89 touring wagon, so the engine may get pulled in that to run this.

 

The worst part is that the rear seat where my friend was sitting is bent back a good 5". He must have hit it so hard! He wasn't complaining about it though, he was focusing on the dent his head made in the headliner, yes he was buckeled too. Owch!

[subie94]

man that sucks.

 

just read about it,i haven't been around here for awhile.

 

now i know why i stay away from water that's deeper then half my wheel height.that way you kinda don't have to worry about hitting it at speeds.