Well, I got my VX in the mud and water up to the headlights this week and you could hear the audible pop as my ***** puckered while I had visions of my alternator going out, but it lived. The door seals leaked a little in the back corner, and the waterline in the engine compartment was just below the bottom of the battery(just below my Morgantec intake, lucky!) I also got to pull out a fullsize chevy 4x4 owned by .mil. That was fun. But, now I have a grinding sound that apears to be coming from my A/C clutch. I washed it out and sprayed some spray lube into it with no difference so I parked the VX. Before I get serious about tearing out the pump, I have some questions:
1. Any guidance on where to look for bad bearings or hidden dirt?

2. How deep is too deep? If I want to go deep reliably, say top of hood level briefly, I gather I am looking at the alternator, breathing tubes for t-case etc, intake and exhaust as far as issues go.

I've taken HMMWVs to "hold your breath" deep, and they are build for it, but has anyone else tackled this with a VX?