I went cruising the trails in the allegan woods with my 2000 D2 two days ago, had a great time until we came to about the 20th mud hole and found out the water was a LOT deeper than the other ones. I found out there were deep ruts under the water, so we wound up getting high centered. It took about 45 minuits to get it yanked out and in the mean time the water got about 4 inches deep on the drivers side. When I drove it home I noticed it was always in 3rd gear as far as I could tell, I assume that means no power to the tranny. When I got back to the house, I turned off the key and pulled it out of the ignition only to discover it kept running! As far as I can tell it shut off the fuel pump, but nothing else, so it would run until the pressure dropped in the fuel system. All of the warning lights on the dash are lit with the key removed also. I was totally booked the last two days so I just unhooked the battery.I went back out there tonight and the tranny is still acting up and all the warning lights are still lit with it off, but the engine will shut off now. So, any ideas where to start? how in blue blazes did swamping the thing make it do the crazy keep running trick? If it blew fuses or wouldn't run that would make sense, but keep running with the key out? Nuts.
By the way, yes I learned some important lessons already...
1. It really stinks when you discover your traction controll doesn't work AFTER you are in a hole.
2. It would be a ton nicer to have rubber instead of carpet.
3. Never call your dad to come pull you out, the stylized version of what happened was already on the web before I was even out of the hole!
If any of you have ever had these type of problems I would appreciate any ideas. Thanks, Andy

 

If I have this attachment thing figured out, here are some pictures of the "dive".

 

The tranny was in limp home mode. Because something got wet that shouldn't have and caused a pretty big problem. Have you read your owner's manual to see if it explains what's going on?

 

My success rate at finding anything useful other than how to run the radio in the manual has been kinda low. It took about 5 minuits standing in the woods to find out where the tow hook was so I didnt have to dig around under the disco to find it.

 

A DI would have made it.

Jeez Andy, when we went to the Allegan Forrest we didnt find any water, only trash.
But then again we went in July and not during the April Monsoons.

Your truck just needs to dry out, park her inside your shop, open the hood, roll down the windows and turn on the furnace, set it to 75-80 and let her "bake" all night.
If you can get the nose up so that the water can drain out of things.
You may need to unplug the transmission harness' from under the truck, like the one for the trans temp sensor, etc. and clean and dry the connections.
I think you would have been alright had she not had to sit there for a hour or so.
And you already know to check the diffs and t-case for water ingress.
Best of luck brother, any questions you have my number.

 

A D2 would easily have made it based on that picture.
My concern is that depending on how much water you took on and how wet the total electrical system got, many people/insurance companies have to total the vehicle because of the long term corrision issues that will come up for months afterwards.
I have done a number of water crossings, good safe rule of thumb is water to the tops of your tires and you should be fine.

 

You are absolutly right, what got me in trouble was the fact that so many people with taller tires had been through there before me. The disco literally had two wheels that weren't touching bottom, it was setting on the frame and axles.
As far as what got wet, it was isolated to the wiring going to the tranny and what ever is under the drivers seat. It was sloped heavy to the drivers side so nothing on the passengers side got wet.
I like spikes idea but I have a darned tractor tore apart in the shop right now so the best I can do is crack the windows and put a couple of electric heaters in there.

 

Well, the disco lives to die another day. I pulled the tranny controller out from under the seat and tipped it on end, I'd say about half a cup of water ran out of it. The junk yard was having a sale so they sold me a new one for 6 bucks, now all the goofy electrical problems have gone away and the tranny shifts properly again. I am going to try drying out the old controller just to see if it got cooked or if it just doesn't like being wet.
After three hours of scrubbing the carpets and body the disco actually is cleaner now than before I buried it.

 

You had better remove your carpet and pads, clean and disinfect so mold won't grow and dry them out well.

 

you should have just gone faster... havent you ever watched the camel trophy videos? momentum is key... hit that hole floored in like second doin like 35 and you skim halfway across...