Sunk My 1998 5.9L Grand Cherokee in the NJ Pines

[PAFirefighter11]

On Sunday my g/f and I headed to Wharton State Forest in the NJ Pine Barrens to do some Geocaching with mild wheeling with my buddy and his g/f. He has a huge MJ with an '01 XJ front clip, and also has a newer model XJ with a mild lift and mud tires. He gave us their coordinates when we got to the Atsion Ranger Station. We followed the GPS to meet up. On the way we went through a few puddles. Some much worse than others. Most of them were legitimately these are only 4-8" of water above the sand. In most of the areas the sand is solid enough for the Jeep to drive on. Others were DEEP, and were avoided if there was a bypass trail.

Here are a few shots...



Backed up at this one (it was dark water and the "measuring stick" I used showed at least 1-2 feet deep):







Here's the first puddle we attempted:
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkiI5v3ceUY

As you can see, no big deal.

Approx 1/2 mile further down the trail we get to this other puddle. It looks basically identical to the one which we had just traversed. I got out, checked the depth, and could clearly see to the bottom. So we figured it'd be fine. It was not. Here is how the scene progressed (some curse words included lol).
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrybVQs-exc

And here, in photos, is how it turned out:


Water in my driver side light as I haven't put my caps on yet lol - it's clear now:














My passenger seat was smoking out one of the adjustment knobs. There is video of it but it's on Facebook and I am not sure how the sharing works. I'll have my buddy upload 'em to YouTube.

Some bubbling exhaust. Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4PdLQR1XLM


Let the draining begin - thankfully it didn't hit the fuse panel:


Squeegie to bail the water, then used a cup:









And back to Geo-caching:



This morning, after sitting overnight in 18* temps, I turned the key to start it and the starter didn't do anything. No big deal, I assume water in the started had frozen. On the 3rd key turn it finally started up. It seems water is also inside the trans, torque converter, or something similar. For the first few minutes of driving the Jeep it was taking a lot of gas to get going. This went away as the Jeep warmed up. Also, it feels like my OD is not working. However, at highway speed, say 55 MPH, my RPM's are right around 1700. At 70 MPH they are around 2100. I forget what normal is.

Anyway, the trans fluid is pink. I have 4 gallons (yes gallons) of Mopar ATf +4 which I'm going to be flushing into the system tonight to clean it out. Wish me luck.

[mckpat03]

Lol. The video is good. Not too bad, not too bad... water up over the hood, lol. That has to be a terrible feeling, haha. That sucks, but at least you didn't lock it up or anything, haha.

[jpalamar]

Very nice pictures.

[EvlEgl]

Been there done that...My Buddies Old XJ...

Floor Panels...



He had drain plugs that drained out without having to use buckets...Lol



At least you weren't Hood deep...

Or this guy...

[Munky]

This is why good friends don't let other friends go wheeling stock!!!

[xarchiex]

Ya there are some real bad holes out there. Also in a stock jeep i would have driven to the side so not in the ruts. I've been out there alot lets just say it could have been alot worse,there's holes out there that a full size on 40s will get stuck.

[Foolinaround]

Been back there in my buddies lifted ram and we had the clutch fan hitting the water at one point; some of those holes can be deep.

[TNTramair]

wow..that sucks. needs moo lift!! lol.

ive never been to the pine barrens in jersey...seems like a good time. ive only done rausch creek and a few other places. need to check that place out one time.

[Spawne32]

lol pine bearings

[grimm]

that sucks! at least you had a buddy out there that could pull you out. Could have been a long day/night.
Makes me miss my jeep.

[EvlEgl]

Originally Posted by TNTramair

wow..that sucks. needs moo lift!! lol.

ive never been to the pine bearings in jersey...seems like a good time. ive only done rausch creek and a few other places. need to check that place out one time.

Wharton looks like childs play compared to Rausch...There are a few decent spots...but there very far and few between...For the most part its mudhole after mudhole. Not really much of a challenge.

[schaffer]

Every time you think you'll never get stuck that bad again, you go and get stuck again.


I would drain the oil and diff fluids too if you're that worried. I never did on my truck but then again I never gave a ****.

[DPancoast]

damn that's crazy. always wondered about the pine barrens

[Foolinaround]

Originally Posted by DPancoast

damn that's crazy. always wondered about the pine barrens

Spent many a night traversing the never ending maze; you see some weird **** out there man

[DPancoast]

Only ever have driven "through" them going to lbi really

[jjm4life]

5.9s are so badass.. im partial to your buddy's xj though.

think a 5.9 would fit?

[Foolinaround]

Originally Posted by DPancoast

Only ever have driven "through" them going to lbi really

We went in by atco and ended up in mystic island before; interesting route

[PAFirefighter11]

The thing I love about the Pines is the desolation of the area. It's so barren (no pun intended), middle of nowhere, lots of off-road driving. Random cranberry bogs, beautiful streams carving their way through the area, I'm sure decent fishing? Batsto village is really cool, Atsion area is neat as well. Just a lot of fun. Nowhere near technical like Rausch, former Paragon, even Reading Anthracite, Shamokin, etc.

Anywho - it is fixed. We did a swap. After running 6 gallons, 2 quarts worth of Mopar and crappy brand ATF, the trans finally gave in. R, N, D, 2, 1 all became Neutral. Fail! So, I had to source a new trans. My buddy was heading up to Connecticut on Friday to pick up parts from his 5.9L ZJ from a 5.9L that had sustained a rear end collision. Mileage is the same as mine. I e-mailed the guy and worked out a deal for his trans. He said it worked great. My buddy picked it up, and I had it on Friday night.

Yesterday (Saturday) I got the Jeep towed to my other buddy's shop:


At 4:30pm, the transmission swap fun began:


Removal of driveshafts was first, then the crossmember, and out came the t-case:


After some bellhousing bolts, removal of electrical connections, hard lines, vent tubes, etc., out came the trans:






Both of the transmissions side by side. My failed trans is the non-rusted, cleaner looking one. Oh well:


On to the important stuff to make sure the trans isn't swamped again. Test fitting tube:


A little bit of grinding work:


Drilling:




Tube looks to fit great:




Some sealing:




Everything back in, torqued down:


By the time 11:15pm rolled around we just finished up the new vent tubes - t-case vent extended & new vent tube for the trans - both up in the engine compartment now:


Everything seems great at this point. Trans shifts a bit stronger and a bit higher. Feel like a trans shift kit or something possibly? Either way, works great! Can't wait to get this thing back on the trails. 3" lift and 31" Mickey Thompson's may be in the near future.

[Chris B.]

Did you find any dead mob guys in the pine barrens puddles? ;)

[PAFirefighter11]

Originally Posted by Chris B.

Did you find any dead mob guys in the pine barrens puddles? ;)

We did find Hoffa's body.