gypsy0032

I'm in the Austin area, and with all the rain fall decided to get out and get the jeep dirty. I hit a mud trail / utility easement and was driving along nicely in 4wd hi. I came to a ditch that was about 3.5' deep with water and hit it in 4wd hi. Here is where things got ugly, and I'm hoping someone can explain it to me. I'll be the first to admit that I am a newbie. The jeep came to a stop, and the 4wd hi would not engage. 4wd lo did engage, but as I was climbing out of the ditch, I was redlining the engine. Was I doing something wrong? I realized this morning that I did not check the 4wd hi once I got out of the ditch.

rob_engineer

I don't know about your particular issue. However, 4-hi is to be used when driving at faster speeds, such as in the highway in the snow. When you are off road in gravel, sand, mud, etc you should be in 4-low. 3.5ft is pretty deep. By "hit it" did you creep into it or blast into it? That's a good way to suck water into your engine. What year Jeep you got? If you have a pre-2012 auto transmission, driving for a while at low speeds in 4-hi is a great way to overheat your trans if it doesn't have a cooler installed.

Arson

That's some pretty deep water there. You may want to get some extended breather tubes or you are gonna end up with water in your pumpkins / transfer case and that won't be good.

SMILIN' BOB'S BREATHER HOSE EXTENSION KIT
Smilin' Bob's Breather Hose Extension Kit

rob_engineer

Our stock jeeps are rated to go through 30" water depth prior to any mods. Since I have 32" tires, I use that as a guide. My jku was about 8 months old when superstorm Sandy occurred. My Jeep got me out of my neighborhood which was flooded with about 30" of water.

spmitchell86

Depending on your transfercase 4 low multiplies your RPMs several times higher than 4 high at the same speed so it makes sense it was revving higher. The reason it revs higher is the gear reduction to provide more power which is why you could move forward in 4 low but not 4 high. When you say "4hi would not engage" you mean wouldn't get grip right? If you have a manual transmission you could choose a much higher gear in 4 low and you won't over rev the engine. If you have an automatic I'm not sure of the proper technique to prevent over revving but it might involve using the "auto-stick function" to select a higher gear.

Samuelmack

This flood issue is troubling a lot whether it is at home or say for jeep. Flood creates lots of messiness, all over the area, say garden becomes full of sticky mud where one can easily attract to accidents. At home, even it causes lots of damage which leads to high amount of restoration cost if you have not taken any insurance for flood damage. Due to change in climate no one can guess when such natural disasters will happen, so one must be aware about this thing and have a handy insurance papers to show them as a proof. But if the insurance company is delaying the restoration process then you can even contact to public adjusters from website who will talk to your insurance company agent and will negotiate with them.