Any advice for water damage

[drprofessional]

Hi all,

While exploring a trail along some river flats I got careless after going through a few river crossings that were shallow and stopped checking the depth. As a result, my Range Rover ended up sunk halfway up the doors and sucked water into the intake as well. By the time I got pulled out there was water up to the shifter console on the inside. I have not been very optimistic, but there was no water in the oil, only in the intake and cylinders, and a compression test came back good. The shop has got the engine to start and run but it stalls out when it warms up. The ECU was wet so they are going to try to see if fitting another one fixes the stalling. If it doesn't then I'm afraid I'll have to write her off or sit her in the front yard until I can find another engine. I was just wondering if anyone knows what else could be checked if fitting another ecu doesn't change the stalling.

[jeffreydv]

I had a stalling problem after flooding my ECU. We took it apart and dried it and have had no problems since. Make sure it is dry inside the distributor cap also.

[choffa@comcast.net]

Recommend flushing all electrical components (ECU, mass flow sensor, ignition module, distributor, throttle position sensor, fuel temp, coolant temp sensors, fuel injector connectors) with distilled water and drying them out. Then flush with an electrical cleaner such as CRC 3-36. Dirty water even when dried can have conductive particles.

Clean all connectors carefully & put a dab of elecrical contact grease in connector.

[drprofessional]

Thanks for the advice. The shop fitted a secondhand ecu and cleaned most of the wiring connections, etc. The Range Rover came back to life after that. I had a very long drive home, since I sunk it while on holiday/doing work experience for my degree nearly 700 miles from where I live. The trip was uneventful, other than the occasional "stumbling" idle at stoplights. Today I started pulling the interior apart and hung everything up in the garage to dry. Next, I'll probably get to work re-flushing and greasing the electrical connections.

I'll probably keep an eye out for wrecked discos with good engines just in case, but I'm really amazed at how tough these trucks are. I used to be a Jeep person, but this is my second Range Rover classic, and I'll probably be a Range Rover person for the rest of my life.

[drprofessional]

Truck is still running okay. I posted some pics up on the "Show it off" section of the places I explored before going for a swim.