It was baaaad!!

Sit back, grab some popcorn and read my horrifying story! and then give me some advice!

So, I decided to go 4-wheeling in my 1995.5 Toyota tacoma one day to play around in some mud.. but lets start a couple months prior to this experience.. I would go all the time, night, day didnt matter I wanted to play in some mud!!.. then BAM!! I ran a red light (by accident) and I destroyed a nissan pickup! (GO ME) However.. in the process my front end also got pretty messed up. but just for all you hardcore toyota fans out there my truck still ran like a champ even though it was leaking all kind of oil, fluids and probably blood all over the ground... anyways back to my life.. so it was fixed and I went on my happy little way.. k.. now here goes back to this day I decided to go 4-wheeling..

It was all good got to play in some mud, and some snow (keep in mind this is around january). and WOW there is a huge puddle to play in as well.. So I went through it.. Truck was fine until about half way through when this thing started to chug like no other, It sounded like it was about to die and go to toyota heaven or wherever they go... this was pretty crappy because I was out in the middle of this massive contruction field. My truck could barely get up a 2 degree angle, but my truck prevailed... I put that baby in 4 Low and it was off! up that huge hill and down to the closest shop (Big O' Tires).. So long story short (sorry).. They determined the my Cap and Rotor was gone, my spark plugs were arching and I was mis firing my pistons ( if you own a toyota right now.. be proud because no other vehicle could have achieved what it did in the condition that it was in) As I was wondering why this has never happend before I noticed that my Skid plate was missing because the repair shop that fixed my front end decided not to put it back on.. pretty pissed because I had to pay out 800 dollars for this fix, not to mention that since my pistons were mis firing excess fuel went through my pipes straight into my cat converter. another 400 dollars.. anyways.. What can I do!!

Should I just get another skid plate or would a snorkel fix this issue? Im not very good at car repair, and I honstly dont even know what the Cap and Rotor is.. what would be the best way to prevent this damage again

Help me out because my Girlfriend wont let me go wheeling again until I fix the issue ( I know, I know... whip, whip...yeah, yeah!)

If you have any input let me know! thanks!

Shawn Neily

 

Lol haha. You destroyed the nissan haha. LOL!!!

and just tell her your going out for a little bit and mob it

 

a snorkel wont help ya unless your hood is underwater. but that still wont help your ignition (cap/rotor) issue. so you lost your skid plate at the repair shop. did you lose your splash guards aswell?

 

Isn't it bad anyways to have your engine in water or under water, won't it crack the metal when it gets hot then touches cold/warm water?

 

I honestly dont even know, I just noticed the metal skid plate missing never really paid attention to other things underneath the truck.

Ill have to look into some splash guard though.. If that something I can even get?

 

if its cast iron sure it will crack easily... i would be more worried about electronics and sucking water/mud in the air intake than cracking a block

 

hmm... thats not good haha. why do people do it?

 

splash guards are easy to make.. i am an ex mudbogger for $ and we made them for our hillbilly rides

 

because it fun.

 

Ok if you are going to be going out and playing you better learn real quick that you need the right tools I.E. skids/snorkel. I assume that they are talking about your distributer cap and rotar. The cap covers the rotar which spins around and delivers a spark to each spark plug at the correct time. It is amazing that your truck made it +1 for the yota. But if you are going to go and play around i would touch up on how your truck works. start to learn everything you can about it and how it works. Because mudding/offroading can get extremely expensive if you have a mechanic doing all the repairs. You will break lots of stuff mudding and offroading. Its just part of the game. Hope this helps with your question.

 

If they're talking about your distributor cap? then it's not a big deal. The cap is round and inside it has metal points that have wires going to your sparkplugs, as the rotor spins around it comes in contact with the points and those points send the spark to your spark plugs. Now, this cap is usally held shut by a couple tabs that snap into place; if for some reason these tabs were defective/not snapped on, then mud water etc can get in there and f-up your spark-firing order etc.

I've seen rigs limp and crawl sputtering death because the distributor cap was half off. Clan it real quick and snap it back on= no problems.

So, whether you need to replace all that stuff or just clean and adjust it, no big deal. You'll be shmobbing in no time.

Your distributor cap could have been loose for days but wouldn't actually come off till you hit some bumpy stuff.

I SEE MONDWA CAN TYPE FASTER THAN ME!

 

If the shop didn't replace an existing part then try to get them to pay...

 

even if the cap clamps were on correctly water WILL get inside if you bomb mudholes.. wd-40 and some pre ride silicone will be a good friend

 

It was so long ago, and I doubt my insurance is going to pay for it.

Yeah they said that water went into the Distributor cap and f'ed up the spark plugs. I was suprised because I have gone through deeper and longer stretches of water before with no issues. But the cap should be sealed so that no water can access the compartment?

 

Thanks for the tip! Ill have to do that.

 

did you have a shop install a new cap rotor already?

 

Yeah this happened in January, I just havent been 4-wheeling since.

 

if it all works good now. then look into some some splash guards if they are missing. water and electronics dont mix. silicone your airbox and distibutor cap. hell we used to wrap em in saran wrap back in my mudbog days.

 

haha, nice. Maybe ill try saran wrap one of these day..

Thanks for the advice, Ill make sure they are sealed tight and get back to wheeling.

 

LOL! You got dicked.