Went to a off road park yesterday to do a little wheelin'. Things where going great. Even got a little surprise when I decided to go barreling threw a small puddle, only to find the water come flowing over the hood . Well I made it threw that puddle fine, it was my quest for more water that was my demise.
I came upon another puddle that seemed to be a lot shallower then the last. So instead of going around it I got a running start and drove on in. This puddle was a doozy. I made it half way threw before it wouldn't go any farther. So I tried to back out. That didn't work out so well. I was still 6 feet from the entrance of the puddle.
Well not realizing how far up the water was I opened my door. Yup , water came rushing in.
Here was my dilemma .... I could have hooked the winch up and pulled myself put butI was about 30 feet from the end and I would of had to go swimming to get the winch line out. It was easier to go back wards if I could get help seeing as I was only 6 feet from the beginning.
Help finally came along and pulled me out. It wasn't really a struggle for them seeing as I wasn't stuck in mud, I was hung up on something under the water that I couldn't see. Whatever it was it bent my license plate forward on my way out.
From now on I think I'll try poking the puddles with sticks first .
I'll upload photos in a minute once I get my computer started.

 

diff. vents, intake, electronics, trans. case vents, transfer case vents all will let water in when fjording water. Which will break down the fluids in those parts leading to parts failure. Which will cause a lot of damage. Not immediately, but it will happen because that water is now in there. Best thing to do is change the fluids immediately in all of those parts. First rule of puddle wheeling, never plow through it. Bad idea. Here's a good link Easy Off-Road Setup to for Driving in Water or Mud

 

if you look you can see the water line on the door , to give you a better idea of how high up the water was.

 

thanks for the link... i will deffinatly take a look at it. I know the water didnt come high enough to go in the front dif vent or the air intake. possibly the transfer case and some electronics....i will check the fluid tho.

 

ha ha !!yeah but it came in the door!! over the hood

I wouldn't want to find this one on a used car lot!! water water everywhere!! destined to be junk

 

i wasnt the depth that made it come over the hood, it was the act of plowing thru it like a idiot. either way i will swap out the fluids regardless, they are due for a change.
i wouldnt want to find it a used car lot either. i have no plans to sell it. live and learn.

 

One of the many offroad unwritten rules is don't enter the water w/o knowing how deep it is..

Back in '84 when I was a senior in HS just a couple weeks before graduation we had some classmates drown doing the same thing in a Jeep...They were trying a river crossing..

There was a drop off, the Jeep rolled over, they couldn't get out..

 

Once you get in water up to the door handles an H3 will become buoyant.

If your gonna keep hitting the deep holes I'd also recommend getting some dialectic grease & go over all your elect. connectors & under your coil packs.