Engine problems after a mud pit! HELP!

[Gorilla Man]

Ok, so I was out wheelin today, and decided to try this big sloshy mud put. So I hit it with some speed, kept a high RPM all the way through it, so naturally I was splashing up a lot of mud. I made it through, but immediately afterward, the engine cut off. So I tried cranking it again. It cranked, but the RPM's dropped and the car stalled within about 5 seconds. So we kept trying for 15 minutes, and then decided to just let it rest. About 45 minutes later, we cranked it up again, and it stayed cranked. Although it would crank, every 30 seconds or so, the RPMs would drop sharply, and then come right back up. Also, if I rev it up, once I get near 2500 RPMs, the car begins to lurch, and the revs go up and down very fast. I was hoping that it just needed to dry out, but after driving home 20 minutes from the trail head, it was still doing the same thing. And I got home over 4 hours ago, and it is still doing the exact same thing!

 

Any ideas on what this could be? Fixes? It sounded like a distributor problem, but I didn't think this engine had a distributor. At least I couldn't find one under the hood. Also, I had taken off the factory splash guard, if that helps. But when I looked under the hood, the engine didn't appear to be very wet or muddy at all.

 

Oh, and we had a video rolling during the time of the incident, so if it would help to see it, I could probably email it to you.

 

Thanks for your help.

[88pathoffroad]

Check your air filter first.

[Slick]

as 88 said, and check for any wires/plugs/etc that could have worked loose..hope all works out!

[Mr. Pickles]

Its a different motor, but on 2 occasions after cleaning my engine and getting it wet (after mudding it) it would get water somewhere it didn't like even after protecting all the obvious areas with plastic bags. It would run intermittently like that, as well as super rough in higher RPM's. It would take like 2 or 3 days of just roughing it and driving to work, etc. since I had no other vehicle, and things would finally dry out. If your air filter, plugs, etc. check out, and you get no warning lights or computer issues, maybe its worth a shot to just cruise around gently for a few days.