Have an odd one here folks. Well, maybe not but you tell me. I was banging around a fire road type trail this afternoon, and hit a water/mud puddle with the d/s of the truck that was maybe 6" deep and 8 feet long. Going maybe 15MPH or so. Nothing huge at all. Right after it, the truck didn't sputter or anything but I lost power. She was still rolling, but not accelerating. While still rolling I popped it in neutral and revved it but it was not wanting to rev past 1750 or so. I put it back in drive, and figured I would go pull over where it was dryer and then she just started going 100% normal again.
My first thought was maybe a wire or two got wet, etc. Didn't make much sense but being it went right back to normal I figured maybe so.
It was only a few miles back to the house, and I popped the hood and noticed some drops of water here and there. No biggie... I know that happens. Couldn't figure out the reason though. I took off the air box cover, and sure enough there are a few drops of water on the filter. Under the filter there is a small pool of water.
I drove this thing through the floods a month ago and never had this, so I can't quite figure out how the water got in there. And, if they water was the cause of the momentary loss of power, why? A splash on the MAF sensor? I can't tell if the drops of water on the top of the filter are just from it dripping down when I took the cover off, but I do think so. The filter itself really was not wet (and surely not soaked by any means).
So... I humbly ask the experts what they think about where the water came from, and if that could have been the issue. TIA!

 

Does one of your catalytic converters rattle? I had a bad one, on my D1, and it would act up after going through water.... which seems kind of weird.

 

Nope, no rattle

 

well its to much of a coincidense that it happened after the puddle run, so its definatly the cause in my book... but as to what exactly happened?

the amount of water on the filter and in the box in that picture i wouldnt even give second thought too until thinking about that it was driven for a good distance after the original splashing... the filter even if it was soaked will dry up very quickly, so unless you look at it right after water contact really you cant ever judge just how much got in there. stil doesnt sound too bad, any amount of water into the engine that doesnt blow it right away or stall it out should be tollerable.. water in the cylinders will raise the compression a good deal and might cause detonation if below the threshold, but if you damaged the internals chances are youd hear it right away and a small amount will burn off very very quickly as steam pushed out on the exhuast stroke within just a few cycles... depends on how much and how fast it flowed through the intake manifold and if it were mostly steam by when it got there or solid flow of water still. i had an '96 5.7l trans am that went through a puddle where within a half second it seemed the engine just flat out stopped so much water got to the filter box at once... so much so that it died before ingesting just about any of it!! an hour later it started up and ran fine for years after until i sold it!

sounds most likely electrically related. check fuse #2 under the hose, thats the maf fuse, if the maf took a good dose it could have popped it and is now causing the rough running/low power issue. from my own current experience, fuse 2 blows and the engine idles like crap and theres no power, for some reason the o2 data goes to **** along with the lack of maf data, so its a double hit on the fuel/ign management.

not sure why it wont rev above a certain rpm, im not sure if these have "limp mode" but im sure someone more informed will chime in.

either way, some codes must have been thrown. have you started it since this started? it should pop up eventually, or still be pending. grab a scanner that can read pending codes if the lights not on, or bring it in somewhere for a read if the lights on. youll probably have maf, o2, crank position and/or multiple missfire codes i'm guessing, all due the electrical.

thats my best guess, im probably wrong but its somewhere to start in the meantime until someone pegs it for ya!

good luck!

 

It has actually been running fine since right after it happened. It was just the minute immediately following where the power was down. It was fine right after and the for the drive home, and for a trip just a bit ago. Just can't place how such a small puddle could have had water get into the air box like that. I have blasted through flooded roads much deeper, and higher speeds and with both sides not just one and nothing like this.

 

Also as a note again, I think the filter was wet from it dripping on the top. Anyone else have this issue ever? A break in the intake system somewhere? I shouldn't need a snorkel for puddles!

 

hmm yea now that you mention it that does look top down drip... the center of all the marks are more solid spheres like drops and drain outwards, i would think that there wouldnt be such clear definition if it was sucked up through the filter... think the force of the air comming up through the water would spread it pretty even from center out comming up?

maybe the edge of the top seal had water still pooled on it when you pryed it back to get to the filter and thats when it dripped down on it?

ok if it only bogged for a little bit and then "fixed" itself i wouldnt even worry about it, probably water shorting wires/grounds causing temporary unreadable signals from maf, o2s etc.

water/electricity and discos in general = wierdness... dont think you can ever get the same results going through different puddles at different speeds... for whatever reason at that speed and that angle and that temperature the spray of the water puddle was at such a way different to get to places it usually doesnt

i just hosed the entire underbody of my disco the other day in spring cleaning, alot of water, decent pressure, all over...drip dry and not a hitch.... yet some people cant even start thier damned rovers on a foggy morning or after a trip through the friendly car wash haha

if it happens again id say pull the snorkle piece and see if there is evidence of water trail going down the snorkle tube from where it meets the chasis.

ps where abouts in jersey are ya?

 

OK, thanks. Still wondering / worried about the water at the bottom of the box from such a small thing. Will keep an eye on it... just don't want to hydro lock the motor!
I'm up in Morris County.