help! did i kill my jeep?

[stillthedeerslayer]

2001 tj i6 
went in the mud yesterday for maybe 10 minutes. the mud was deep. like door deep and really thick. after a bit the jeep started losing power. i keep a close eye on the gauges when im offfroad and nothing was out of the ordinary, but i took it back to the house anyway. on the way it started knocking like crazy, steaming and losing power. i popped it into nuetral and let it coast to a stop where it stalled out. the gauges were still reading normal. we put it on a trailer and brought it home. today i washed it down and flushed the radiator. it starts fine but tries to die when i drive up my street and give it any gas. no codes gauges still reading normal, but no power, it tries to die, and the exhaust sounds weird. fortunately this is not my daily driver, how screwed am i here?  oh if anyone lives in hoover/vestavia that knows engines come on over and ill buy the beer.

[jpony645]

have you pulled the dipstick to check the oil? was the water deep enough to suck into the air intake?

[offroadr1]

sounds bad enough
i can come check it out tomorrow for a few bucks, i have another truck in the area that i have to look at as well. pm me your address and ill come check it out.

[Wanker]

Sounds like a typical case of "mudding" in a Jeep.

[jpatton1493]

Did it ever die while deep in the mud?  Could have sucked mud in the exhaust, partially clogging it?  Almoist sounds like a Camaro I had that the catalytic converter stopped up on.  For sure you should pull the dipstick and see if any water is in the oil, and check the radiator to see if any oil is in the antifreeze. 

[FlexJeep]

I second the converter idea.   Maybe the water was cold enough to cause it to come apart and clog up.

[stillthedeerslayer]

there is no cat on it, but if mud got down in the mufler would that cuse this?    im going to go check the oil right now.  cant afford to pay anyone right now since i also have to buy a topcase for this computer that im on. 

[Gadget]

Check the coolant level in the radiator. If you lost the coolant somewhere in the mud and overheated the engine the gauge could still read ok because the sender can't read steam, has to be touching liquid.

 Try this and see what the results are. Fill a clear 20oz bottle about 3/4 full with water. Take the small rubber hose  from your overflow bottle or at the radiator cap is even better. Place the small hose into the bottle (no lid) so that it is near the bottom. Have someone start the engine. Then have them rev the engine occasionally.

 You may see a small about of bubbles in the bottle at first, this would just be what was in the small tube. If you continue to see bubbles after a few minutes, this would indicate that you could have a blown head gasket or cracked cylinder head.

 The bubbles in the bottle are actually combustion gases coming into the cooling system if the gasket is blown.

[stillthedeerslayer]

-----Check the coolant level in the radiator. If you lost the coolant somewhere in the mud and overheated the engine the gauge could still read ok because the sender can't read steam, has to be touching liquid. -----

ok started it up and after the engine got a little warm all the fluid poured back out the bottom of the radiator didnt see this the other day for all the mud and water. it drained yesterday when i pulled the plug but just have just been partially full.

[Chancetribe]

Not a jeep guy at all, but could it have pulled an O2 sensor loose?  I would think that if so it would throw a check engine light, but just an idea.

Jeremy

[SideWynder04]

Sounds like its time to get a Chevrolet to me