Project Brooke: 1999 XJ

[bldeagle10]

long story short, rained extremely hard, there was a wash, the water was maybe 2-3ft deep, thought I could make it, intake had other ideas. hydro locked, and got pushed down stream into deeper water. luckily stopped just a few feet shy of another drop off which would have put me in water close to the roof line... moral of the story? get a friggen snorkel...

this photo was taken from where I went in. again, it wasn't that deep here, just fast flowing. if I hadn't of hydrolocked I would have easily made it. it took quite a bit to push me into the deeper stuff but once I was there i got moving along quite a bit faster.

few bystanders decided to help, unfortunate for me, they seemed a bit intoxicated. they only seemed to want to tie the jeep off to a tree so it wouldn't float any further down stream, even though by the time they got there the water level had dropped a few feet in the deep end. they swore at me alot for being an effing moron blah blah i'm just a stupid kid, finally got to talk to a guy with a bulldozer that pulled up. tossed him my tow strap that I hooked up to my rear tow point, he had me out in a few seconds, just as the cops showed up. no ticket for me

towed her to my dads house, pulled spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, dried it all out with compressed air, new air filter, and oil. the 336,000 mile motor still runs. got water in the gas though, pumped fuel out till there wasn't any visible water. still runs kinda rough. going to burn this tank like that then put in fresh fuel with some seafoam.

in other "Brooke" news, the race car business blows, pays well, but its very inconsistent. after I finish a motor swap I am going to hit the job hunt hard and try to get something I can rely on. then the motor rebuild begins.

 

[jeepdreamer]

Schnikes! Glad it worked out and nothing serious resulted. Gotta watch that water brotha... Mother nature has some pressure when she pees.

 

[bldeagle10]

haha, she was holding her bladder for this one, this was one of those, once-a-year storms for our area. I got real lucky with this one, I could have easily rolled and been a lot worse off if I had gone down the next ledge.

 

[Septu]

That stupid snorkle. For something that's only 300-500, I'm surprised more of us (myself included) haven't installed it. It's on my to-do list... just not quite as close to the top as it probably should be...

 

[EricM]

*mental note, don't drive through water I can't see the bottom of/measured*

check.


sorry dude, I can imagine the odor inside your Jeep

 

[bldeagle10]

i wish it was as simple as just buying a snorkel, I have to either order the one for a diesel from Australia, fab a custom one up, or remove the search light on the drivers side A-pillar and then block off the hole, I will probably save for the aussie snorkel but then I have to relocate my fuse block and the coolant bottle or run the intake through the cowl in which case I will end up wire tucking the engine harness because its right in the way.

yea it smells pretty gnarly, I need to tear it out tonight and sand down a spot I know previously had surface rust then rattle can over it. but i'm lazy.

 

[TreeTopFlyer]

WOW. Had you not stalled the motor you probably would have had issues regardless. Fast moving water will displace 1500lbs per foot of water. You're pretty lucky. It could have been much worse.

 

[cdn_xj]

Don't get too lazy with addressing the rust. I had a hole the size of a quarter last fall and now it's about 12" square. :Wow1: All because I figured I'd get to it later.

Anyhow, this is the perfect excuse for you to strip out the carpeting and bedline the interior.

 

[Black Dog]

Been there.....done that! I'm gearing up to sell my XJ PDQ, wanna buy it and combine the parts from both to make one?

 

[bldeagle10]

WOW. Had you not stalled the motor you probably would have had issues regardless. Fast moving water will displace 1500lbs per foot of water. You're pretty lucky. It could have been much worse.

I'm pretty confident i would have made it had it not hydro-locked, it took quite awhile for it to push me off the road, once it got me into the deep end it picked up speed till i stopped in a pool

Don't get too lazy with addressing the rust. I had a hole the size of a quarter last fall and now it's about 12" square. :Wow1: All because I figured I'd get to it later.

Anyhow, this is the perfect excuse for you to strip out the carpeting and bedline the interior.

If I had the cash i'd monstaline it, I'm leaving the carpet and such out till I can do what I want. luckily things don't rust out fast here in the desert. it was just surface rust, taken care of for now..

Been there.....done that! I'm gearing up to sell my XJ PDQ, wanna buy it and combine the parts from both to make one?

again, if I had the cash lol. jobless and now in a tight situation, the starter just went out, had a dash of hope when autozone told me the starter I have has a life time warranty but I can't figure out what phone number I used. trying to figure it all out now.

lol autozone wouldnt have a record because its an o'reilly brand -___-

 

[bldeagle10]

tech question,

starter tested good, relay is good, it is getting full power from battery to solenoid on the starter, where the power comes out of the solenoid and to the starter when cranking its only getting about 5-6v max, if the starter tested good what could be the issue here?

 

[bldeagle10]

seems like time and funding has run out for this old XJ. 336,000 miles, original motor, transmission, axles, everything. will be looking for a job, buying a motorcycle or something to get to work, saving up and rebuilding everything. 4.7 stroker. debating whether I want to rebuild the transmission myself or have a shop do it. got a quote for 850. if I do it parts is about 300. axles will be gone over, re-geared and ARB's. but that will come in time. till then, keep on exploring for me friends.

as of right now she runs but wont pass emissions. registration is expired. don't have the cash to get it legal.

 

[bldeagle10]

seems like fate may smile once again on this little XJ. Have a Job lined up with the Maricopa Sheriff's Department. (workin' for Joe) if I get into the academy, Brooke will be on the fast track to being rebuilt.

Tomorrow morning (in 10 hours) I am pulling the head off to finally see what has beeing giving me these issues the past 8 years. either lifters or valve related. will take pix and post up tomorrow afternoon.

 

[bldeagle10]

finally got the head off the XJ yesterday. turns out 5 of 6 exhaust valves aren't seating properly, checked the lifters, they are fine, push rods are fine, surprisingly, the valvetrain was in amazing shape, mostly looks brand new. Poured water into the ports and water leaked from the exhaust seats on cylinders 1-5. so a valve job it is!

for the most part, all the time was spent getting to this point, kind of a pain to get the bolts under the intake.

seemed the best way to get it out was for me to climb in the engine bay. definitely not the suburbans bay lol.

think I am just getting the valve job and driving it, saving up and then doing a tranny and t-case rebuild. saving and 2 more inches of lift, ARB's, regear, tires. then save again and 4.7 stroker.

 

[88Xj]

a 4.7L is quite a bit of money, you could do a semi-stock rebuild & make it a ************ 4.2L mini stroker. I've got ls1 valve train, OEM cam, polished head, roller rockers, 3.500" stroke crank outta of a 3.8L inline6 AMC.
It dynoed on a motor dyno at 278hp @ 48xxrpm & holds that till 5218rpm where it slightly falls to to 5400rpm which is all we pushed for. At 5400rpm I'm making 250hp. For torque its making 319ftlbs at 3350rpm & holds that to just over 4400rpm where it graduley falls to redline.
It runs on 87oct, passes Cali emmissions. It was built to be MUCH more efficient than stock, ru on 87oct but make more power & still get better mileage! All in all with my stock 34xK motor I was getting 21mpg on the highway & around 17city. 5speed, 3.55's, 31's & 3" lift. I'm now getting around 22mpg highway with just 8k on the motor * 18-19city. I've got more power over all & it feels & revs so much smooth & faster. I love it so far.

To boot the average 4.5-4.7L isn't always built right..crappy quench, to high or not even compression ect ect. And it usually runs 1800+ A properly built 4.5-4.7L stroker will run 2800-4500 easily. My motor ran me just over 1500. Not a truely fair comparison but a locals got him a 4.6L Golen motor, 4.56's & 32x11.5's with an auto trans. Mines on 31's, 3.55's & a ax15, with my 4.2L. I can out run him at every light & on the highway..not that they are race cars but still lol.



Anyway I'm saying nows the time to port your head, get your valves & such down NOW! Put it on and run it..then build yourself a block however you want, wether its 4.2L or 4.5-4.7L. I tryed to keep mine close to stock as possible. I run the oem cam and all. I just upgraded where I saw fit & it helped out alot. Alot of time was spent on the head. I've got 9.18:1 compression, a quench height of .038. Its amazing for what it is honestly.