Posting up a few pics from my last trip. I went to Camp Northern Lights which is a large, organized trail weekend, mostly populated by Jeeps. I did meet Len there with a D90, can't remember his last name, he's on D-90 Source. Anyway, on Friday I did the Shoelace Lake trail, which involves one very deep water crossing. Basically the trail wades through a narrow passage between two lakes, but the passage has also been dredged to allow boats to pass through. No problem on this crossing, the snorkel made it much less stressful. Last year this trail was closed because it was just too deep due to recent weather.
The trail also had one really bad rock outcropping.
I couldn't get over this way, it was just too sharp at the top and I kept getting hung up on the "elephant ears" suspension mounts on the bottom of the frame. Backing off, sitting on the back bumper:
I ended up going around the side, which had a better break angle at the top, but was just a little off camber.
On Saturday, I went on Crystal Lake Trail. I did this trail last year, and it was drier this year and generally easier. This one section had had a new bypass cut in it, but my truck was too big to fit through. I asked somebody who'd been through it a few weeks prior with a big Jeep if "were any rocks or anything in it that would stop me" and he said no. Now, I knew also the story that he had tried it and sucked water in his engine (no snorkel), but figured with my snorkel I'd be fine. Little did I know that the bottom was filled with silty mud, unlike last year. I think what happened is that since it was so wet last year, and the bypass had been cut, so the main route was going unused and silt/mud is building up in it. Anyway, so I got in about 20 feet and then was stuck good.
Len ended up snatching me out with his D-90 (thanks!). In the meantime, the truck had filled up with foul water. I knew pretty soon that something was wrong with the transmission. The Transmission Control computer is on the floor under the driver's seat. Most of the gear indicators were not working, and it seemed like I could only select 1st gear. My speakers started making pretty bad noises as the amplifier (also under the seat) went on the fritz, so I pulled those fuses. I asked the Jeep guy "I thought you said there wasn't anything in there that would get me stuck?" to which he replied "I said there were no rocks". <scowl>
Anyway, I ended up having to winch the truck up onto the bypass and cut down a few small trees to get through. I removed the Transmission Controller to avoid doing more damage and set it to dry on the passenger seat. Now with the M and S lights flashing, and stuck in 3rd gear (low and high were both selectible) I limped through the rest of the trail. On the drive back to camp, the truck started overheating on the highway. I think I saw 217°F on the scanguage, or it might have been as high as 224, I can't remember. The engine temp gauge had not moved into the red. I slowed down and it went back under 210. The AC condenser was plugged with mud, which I hosed out, and all returned to normal in that regard. Though I discovered the Aux electric fan has probably not been working for some time, as it is seized. Anyway, I'm running about 200°F now on the highway with the A/C on which seems not too bad. I don't seem to have damaged the engine, I hope, as it's not making any bad noises yet.
So, now on to the wet transmission controller. I was pretty concerned with the cost of the thing. I found some Electrical Contact and Switch cleaner at the local small-town hardware store. I removed the controller from the bracket, and opened up the case by prying back the ears. Now with the board exposed, I hosed it off with the cleaner. Blew it off with air, and it was better but still not right. I tried again, this time spraying cleaner between the board and the aluminum plate which was still attached, it's a tight space. Success! The controller seems fine now, very pleased with that.
Sunday I ran Old Logging and Concession Lake trail without any issues. I have a few more photos that are on another computer for now.