Coney Flats Gone Horribly Wrong *NOW WITH PICS*

[xjrrrdx]

well yesterday I took a first timer off roading to a real easy trail. It was all fun and fine and dandy. Well there was some mud, well I went to the other side to inspect it, next thing I know the rest of our group is tearing through it, having a blast. Well the rookie girl took hers through it and was having a grand ol' time so I gave in and went through a few times. Everything was good until the drive home, first I get a call over the radio from her saying her "Check Gauges" light was on, then her temp shot to the red, and well so did mine. Well we pull over open the hood and antifreeze is shooting everywhere. So we clean as much mud off her and my rad as possible drive 15 mins (keeping the temp above normal but not in the red) heat blasting in the cars, we get to the next town power wash everything, from rad to engine compartment (on both). So we trek on with our little convoy of 4 jeeps, next thing you know see her veer off the road with more steam pouring out of her poor little stock TJ, at this point we are 10 mins away from Boulder CO, we pour some fresh water into her overflow tank and trek on...sort of, now my XJ wont start, she jumps me and we go on. As soon as we hit town she overheats we pull in a lot and as soon as I pull in my XJ dies. Well now I cant start my XJ and she can start hers but it overheats instantly, so we walk to checker get some antifreeze try with hers again, and this time it didnt overheat for 5 mins. End result, her TJ is still in a parking lot in Boulder, CO, and my XJ was on the most interesting tow at 11pm through downtown boulder and through all these side streets till I left it at Atfriths home. Im thinking its that damn alternator that screams to to die at any hint of water. Hers I dunno, haha the good news, she said she would go wheeling again, just no water or mud!! Ill get the pics in a few mins.

Thanks to Atfrith (for driving to boulder), Dksauron (a lot for the trail fix with water), and his buddy Pedro and Powell (for keeping the humor alive)

[Big Dave]

And that right there is why I stopped playing in mud!!!

[DADA_JEEP]

And that right there is why I stopped playing in mud!!!

x2

[xjrrrdx]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/jaredalv/NotGood6.jpg
This led to...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/jaredalv/NotGood.jpg
Which led to...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/jaredalv/NotGood4.jpg
Which didnt ruin the mood of the rookie...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/jaredalv/NotGood3.jpg
Quick Fix
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/jaredalv/NotGood5.jpg

[vb]

well yesterday I took a first timer....... real easy. It was all fun and fine and dandy. Well there was some mud, well I went to the other side to inspect it, next thing I know the rest of our group is tearing through it, having a blast. Well the rookie girl took hers .......a few times. Everything was good until the drive home, first I get a call over the radio from her saying her ......light was on, then her temp shot to the red, and well so did mine. Well we pull over .......... she jumps me and we go on. As soon as we hit town she overheats we pull in a lot ..........she said she would go again,!! Ill get the pics in a few mins.

Thanks to Atfrith (for driving to boulder), Dksauron (a lot for the trail fix with water), and his buddy Pedro and Powell (for keeping the humor alive)



did any one else read the story this way?:eek:

[xjrrrdx]

hmmm well she didnt literally jump me...could have been nice but didnt happen :D

[TJ_Shunk]

That mud hole didn't look like it was part of the trail when I went there 2 weekends ago.... hmmmmmmmm Mud is BAD!!!!!

[1973CJ5]

Made the mistake of playing in mud like that once, never again.

[ColoradoXJ13]

Anthony, you're gonna have to let me know the next time you go wheeling with her....lookin' good....next time you have trouble in Boulder get in touch with me, I am in north Boulder.

[OffroadGirl]

We're supposed to do that trail soon, and I don't remember ever seeing mud like that on Coney Flats. Is it possible to avoid it? That's a mess!

[Wild Hare]

i saw that mud when we did coney last weekend and wondered if anyone was silly enough(for lack of better politically correct word)to go thru there. mud and water are bad. it screws up everything and really isn't that fun when you think how long it will take you to clean it.matt, that spot was to the right just before we got to the lake. i am sure this is a lesson learned.
note: who was the rookie here?

[lilgreenjeepyj]

Where on coney flats was that mud hole? We were there last weekend, and didn't see anything like that???

edit: That was that huge hole that was off the side of the trail. I remember it now. Not a necassary portion of coney flats at all.

[TJ_Shunk]

I think the phrase "Stay The Trail" comes to mind on this one. Wild Hare explained it much more Politically Correct terms then I would.

[OffroadGirl]

Was it this part that is often muddy water that you couldn't get around without going off the trail?

http://www.traildamage.com/trails/coney_flats/030705/joey_in_muddy_water.jpg

Or is it one of those round sections off to the side of the trail that is usually thick mud? If it was one of those places I'm fairly positive that is off trail (but someone please correct me if I'm wrong). I've always wondered why they don't block those off so we don't get a repeat of what happened up off of Caribou Creek in that mud bog.

[TJ_Shunk]

I agree that it doesn't look lagit. It is definatly one of those off the side of the trail things. I was there with Wild Hare, and Lilgreenyj last weekend and saw this mud pit.

[TJ_Shunk]

xjrrrdx: I drowned the alternator in my 97 TJ while going through Mud and water. I know how that sucks. Check out your friends TJ alternator location. I can't remember the year they raised it up (my 04 has it in a raised location), but check hers and let her know that it can be drowned if she's not careful. I got lucky and made it home on the battery before I had to replace my alternator. No worries on the mud pit. I just chose to be safe then sorry about going off the trail. I find it better to wheel on the side of caution reguardless of what people tell me. It definatly had 2-track going through the mud pit but it just didn't look smart to me. I agree it needs barriers if it is indead illegal. Does anybody know if a club has adopted this trail?

[xjrrrdx]

Hers is in the raised position, its not muddy at all. And it wont stay on, her dad thinks injectors. She stayed at a friends and her father and I went up there to take out her radiator and all that. Well we got that all figured out. No one in boulder carries alternators for a 2002 Wrangler X I6 though, and it will take until thursday to get it. So I will let her drive my XJ and her dad will tow me in her TJ.

[TJ_Shunk]

That's a bummer man.. That mud did not look friendly at all. Like thick molasses. I hope that it's not a problem like a blown engine or cracked heads or anything drastic like that

[xjrrrdx]

I think its the alternator to be honest, because in the first pic its covered in mud as well, but we washed it later.

Here is the best part. The guy who was a "traveling" mechanic came and talked to her and told her it was a blown heater core, thermostat, clutch fan, cracked radiator (after I told him it didnt leak). And on my XJ he said it is impossible to get my alternator out without unbolting motor mounts and jacking the engine. So he said he would charge me $120 to fix it + the price of the alternator which he gave me a price of $236 + core charge. It was 10PM so I told him, "well sure you can do it if you find an open store", he was like "let me call around" five mins later he comes in saying "Ill do it tomorrow, but the alternator wont be here till thursday" so I just walked off.

[TJ_Shunk]

Highway robbery I tell ya

[atfrith]

Anthony, you're gonna have to let me know the next time you go wheeling with her....lookin' good....next time you have trouble in Boulder get in touch with me, I am in north Boulder.
lol, actually i didn't go with them thank god, haha. or my jeep might be broken too. Either that or none of the jeeps would be broken, because i knew that wasn't part of the trail and had i gone we wouldn't have done it, haha. Or at least i wouldn't have. I got a call from jared (xjrrrdx) at like 8pm when they got back saying his and her jeeps were broken. I just drove up there to do what i could end ended up towing Jared's jeep back down to my place. Which was pretty freaky in heavy boulder traffic on a saturday night.

[ColoradoXJ13]

lol, actually i didn't go with them thank god, haha. or my jeep might be broken too. Either that or none of the jeeps would be broken, because i knew that wasn't part of the trail and had i gone we wouldn't have done it, haha. Or at least i wouldn't have. I got a call from jared (xjrrrdx) at like 8pm when they got back saying his and her jeeps were broken. I just drove up there to do what i could end ended up towing Jared's jeep back down to my place. Which was pretty freaky in heavy boulder traffic on a saturday night.

Whoops, I meant Jared....I am getting old...I would definately not have gone through that mut though...no way.

[cheepin]

Looks like she was going too fast hitting that hole.Doesn't look that deep.Did you check the airfilter?Looking at the water collecting intake,I would bet there is water and mud in there also!

[DKSauron]

Yeah, her air cleaner was fine. That was the first thing I checked after the mud run. I feel really bad though- I didn't know it was off trail. There is an off-shoot that is really well traveled on, so I had figured it was just a play hole on the trail.

Next thing- I think so far I am the only one to remain unscathed from the horrors of Coney. I get an im this morning from Pedro who says "My damn Jeep won't start." I go over, jump it & it runs fine, but only if I leave the cables hooked up. Take them off, it runs for about 20 seconds, stumbles and then finally dies. Alternator dead. Guess who gets to go over and help fix that now...

Mine is so far ok... It started up and ran fine today, but was getting a little warmer than I would have liked. Nothing serious, but I will know more tomorrow when I drive it to work. I will also try to post up some pics when I can.

[xjrrrdx]

Its that damn XJs low alternator, for being a legendary offroad vehicle that would be the last place i would ever put it. DK I would check the back of your radiator. We got the mud off the front, but the back was like an adobe house. As far as pedro, it will run him like $120, but before you go getting it, with the year of his XJ id check the serpentine belt since its so convenient. If ya need any help ill be happy to.

[DKBlaze]

Hey Jared (xjrrrdx) where did you get the alternator at? I am gonna work on mine tonight. Also did you take it off from the top or bottom, which was easier:confused:

[Jeep'O'Struttin]

well playing in the mud .. been there..so many things can go wrong and will AMEN!!

[tom.keyes]

Have any of you tried just cracking open the Alt and cleaning it out before buying a new one?? They are not complicated at all. Just use a little nail or wire to hold the brushes in place when you put it all back together. You might save yourself a couple of bills.

I hope the newbi didn't warp a head? Did you have any water in the oil when you checked the dip stick? You can have a warpped or cracked head that leaks into the cylinder and you don't see anything but the temp going up and the loss of fluid in the radiator.

Good luck.

[DKBlaze]

Thanks I will have to give that a try.

[denver_guy]

If a girl that looks that good wants to play in the mud I'll pay for the TOW!!!!!!!!

[xjrrrdx]

It is much easier to take out the top, if you take out the battery tray it will slip right out. Mine was $120 + $30 for new serpentine belt.

Also, there was no water in the oil, I checked hers every time it overheated.

[Banjer]

Aghh, sorry to hear about that. I was with the CU club run once and the all went through the hole but I just watched--chicken.

I was camped up there in Camp Dick last weekend. I played on the Peaceful Valley side some but didn't go over to the other side.

I hate that when things don't go right.

Eric

[18to80DDC]

It seems to be a little known fact among some 4x4'ers: Water does NOT compress. If you suck enough into your intake to fill a cylinder, you will bend rods.

If you like to play in the water, the cost of a snorkle is much less than the cost of a rebuilt engine.

[otisdog]

Memories....
Jim

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/otisdog4/Slaughterhouse/sla17.jpg

[jeepyjump]

LOL...I saw that TJ the other day sitting at a Coffee shop in Boulder.....Looks like u had a 'good' time :beer:

Joel

[jeepyjump]

lol

[xjrrrdx]

Do you have a big black CJ?? Joel for your information it was a Mexican Restaurant!! Anyways yeah that was us, she had jeans on...i remember a certain part i kept looking at, thats why i remember (good thing my gf hates my jeep and all jeeps sites, so she will never see this :D ) . I saw a lot of lifted jeeps just give a look a wave and then keep on driving. Anyways, her alternator is dead, it took like 5 hours to tow her from arapahoe and broadway to highlands ranch. Tomorrow Im going over to install her new alternator.

Oh and Jim...that picture you have I drove away from :P well with the help from you. I dunno, the mud just sucks you and says, "Play with me...im fun...I love you" then it ends up breaking things and saying "SUCKER!!" It really is evil!!

[jeepyjump]

lol ya....i wasnt 100% sure about that......but glad to hear u got it all solved!!


Joel

[Dew]

shit lets go muddn anytime 98 tj 6inch w/35s loves mudd git-r-done

[ChrisStorms]

I made the mistake of playing in the mud once. It was so stuck 2 jeeps and an explorer pulling on me at the same time couldn't get me out. Finally we got a winch and we were able to pull it out but it sat in the mudd for 7 hours, ended up freezing and I had to buy a new transmission out of the deal. Needless to say I stay away from the mud.

[LittleWhiteXJ]

Memories....
Jim

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/otisdog4/Slaughterhouse/sla17.jpg
.................................................^





Whats up with that t-case skid plate laying on the ground by your jeep?