Interior Light not working after water crossing

[ShortyNavros]

Hey guys,

Accidently almost drowned my D22 in a big mud hole while I was offroad, was far deeper than I had anticipated (yes I know should have checked the depth)

Anyway I drove in and was unable to get back out as my diff was getting hung up (needed bigger rubber), so my front end sat in the water for 5 -10 minutes or so while a mate and I piled crap under the rear wheels.

Water came in through the doors and filled up to about my ankles (not real deep). Anyway apart from a muddy wet floor which after cleaning and hosing out and removing the floor bungs the only problems to arise were:

my interior light no longer works, fuse is good for the interior lights, the map reading lights still work fine, will not turn on in any of the three ON-DOORS-OFF positions. So my thought is that the water has killed one of the sensors on the doors? Still I thought it would still turn on when I turned it on manually via the lever?

My seat belt light would stay on dimly light even when I had the belt physically on, after the carpet dried a bit this went away.

Also no engine damage as I have a snorkel.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[04SilverSTR]

pull the carpet out, it will still be wet underneath, (know from experience) as for the light it will be the door switches, mine did the same thing.

Cheers
Bryan

 

[Old.Tony]

I'd unplug the seatbelt harness and clean it. A spray with contact cleaner will work, as will a subsequent spray with WD40.

The door connection will be similar. Undo, remove, clean, spray, reinstall. Check that it is grounding properly on the pillar.

 

[ShortyNavros]

Cheers boys, fark I have injured my back taking the carpet out will be a shitty job to do with it. May buy some vinyl and just swap it over rather than waiting for it dry and re-assembling

 

[ShortyNavros]

Pulled the carpet out, so much mud underneath haha. My carpet is old and shitty so I might buy some sound deading material and then put vinyl in instead.

I tried pulling out all the door switches, the passenger side ones had the water them, sprayed them all with wd40 in the connections and still no go, I guess next is to just replace all the switches? I am pretty sure they are relatively cheap as people have to buy them for the yd25s which only came with the drivers door one.

 

[bods]

Before you buy new ones, try unplugging one of them and putting a piece of wire into the wiring side (car side) of the plug, then ground it on the screw hole that holds the switch in. If the light works then, the switch is faulty (not that there's a real lot to them, just a couple of bits of metal that touch each other when you open the door... could have a bit of crap on the contacts i guess.) I'm pretty sure you can pull them apart and clean the contacts if that is the problem...

 

[ShortyNavros]

Mmm good idea I'll have another look.

 

[ShortyNavros]

Also when I pulled back the carpet the at the front of the foot well a whole lot of black plastic stuff I crumbling off to exposure a white furry substance underneath (which is soaked with muddy water also) I assume this is cotton fibre which acts as a flame retardant which is the basis of the firewall? Attached is a pic of what I mean also I picked off some loose bits and put em in a bucket.

 

[ShortyNavros]

shit sorry about the pic size, uploaded from a new phone didnt realise how huge it would be

 

[04SilverSTR]

yep mine was like that and stayed wet for days, that why i said take it all out!!

Cheers
Bryan

 

[TurboDragon]

those mudholes are a problem when you dont have a snorkel, i drowned my d22 in one the other day haha

the light should still go on when the switch is in the on position, as its a seperate circuit from the door sensors (im pretty sure..)

have you tried changing the globe/checking the voltage?

 

[ShortyNavros]

What's the go can I just cut out they decaying cotton stuff which sits in the front foot wells? Do I need it?

 

[bods]

What's the go can I just cut out they decaying cotton stuff which sits in the front foot wells? Do I need it?

I'd say it's just to help insulate the firewall so it may be a bit hotter without it... only one way to find out lol

 

[ShortyNavros]

Mmmm I may just get the stanley knife out and cut back the decaying parts in the bottom of the foot well, further up it is fine.

I went to foam and rubber place and got some new insulation as the crappy stock wool stuff which is under the carpet does an awesome job of holding a shitload of mud and water. I got some foam insulation on the recommendation for the guy so it shouldn't hold water like the original stuff and when I need to drain it I can just take the bungs out of the bottom. And the old stuff is decayed badly anyway

 

[ShortyNavros]

Also my interior light just died of its own accord. I replaced it with an led festoon from Jaycar a couple of months ago and now its dead. Still got the receipt amazingly so hopefully they will give me another seeing as that was a pretty poor life span