Water crossings

Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 07, 2006 at 22:16
ThreadID: 34717 Views:2281 Replies:7 FollowUps:3
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Ok peoples, I have had a look on the forum posts, and have got some questions for you all.

I know that people say you should get a snorkel for deep and even not that deep water crossings (tyre depth), and i understand how this will help keep the water out of the engine... but... how do you keep the water out of your transfer cases and diff's etc. etc.?

Do you have breather extenders? or is there some easy thing that I am just missing?

May seem like a silly question but well, i am sure some people out there will know!

I had a chat to some people and they reckon don't go through water deeper then 3/4 of my tyres. (I drive a jimny... and that is not very deep)..

zook
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Reply By: Doggy Tease - Wednesday, Jun 07, 2006 at 22:20

Wednesday, Jun 07, 2006 at 22:20
Somewhere in the owners manual will be the fording depth for your little zook, thats a good place to start.
As for diffs etc, fit breather's, they are cheap insurance.
If you want to play boat :), then fit a snorkel.

meow.

rick.
AnswerID: 177323

Reply By: Fab - Wednesday, Jun 07, 2006 at 22:31

Wednesday, Jun 07, 2006 at 22:31
When I was working at at Toyota dealership (as a mechanic), I used to see heaps of Cruisers with breather extentions. All they were was some rubber hose (fuel or vacuum hose) with a plastic fuel filter fitted to the end. (The $4.50 cheapies you get from your local auto parts store). These were cable tied high up on the vehicle. Depends how deep you want to go.
Some people even had them strapped to the roof racks! A bit overboard me thinx!
Most put them against the firewall up high.
Engine snorkle.......definatley!!!!
Hope this helps.
Fab.
AnswerID: 177328

Reply By: Brett_B - Wednesday, Jun 07, 2006 at 23:35

Wednesday, Jun 07, 2006 at 23:35
Adding breathers helps but that water will still make its way in.

After every High Country trip I did in the old Lux I always managed to get the water in the diffs, trans case, I had breathers all over it. The car did spend a good amount of time in the drink though. Those rivers can be deep at times :-)

I have grown up a little now and stay out of the water if possible, water means work :-)
AnswerID: 177348

Reply By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 06:11

Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 06:11
Diff and transfer case breather extensions go a long way towards keeping the water out. You should also let your vehicle cool down prior to a dip, as the contraction of hot oil as it cools can suck air past seals.
AnswerID: 177364

Follow Up By: Kiwi Kia - Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 07:33

Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 07:33
Hi David, I am not speaking from experience or expert knowledge base here but I have often wondered why people think that the cooling of a diff will cause water to be sucked through an oil seal?

Let's think about it.
First, the contraction will be negligble.
Second, isn't that why the vehicle manufacturerer put the breathers on? If you have a breather (and they all do) then there will not be any suction at the seals.
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FollowupID: 433431

Follow Up By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 08:06

Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 08:06
The contraction of the hot air above the oil will be a significant percentage of the volume of air in the dif and it will casue suction

No doubt about it that the breathers if working will deal with that pretty well. I couldn't exclude water passing the seals though, it seems to happen thats for sure.
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FollowupID: 433435

Follow Up By: traveller2 - Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 08:11

Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 08:11
The silliest thing with standard breathers especially Tojo's is that they have alittle spring loaded cp on the end, when the diff is cooled rapidly by dunking it the suction closes the cap which then allows the water to get sucked past the seals.
Extend them up around the master cylinder/ brake booster area, either curl them over and leave the ends pointing down or fit a small fuel filter to the ends, don't refit the standard caps!
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FollowupID: 433437

Reply By: Takn it Easy (QLD) - Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 08:41

Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 08:41
Everyone remembers the diffs, Carbies etc but forget about the exhaust. No problem if you don't stall the engine part way across - if you do so, then all the snorkels, breathers etc are useless. A friend has an extension made up which fits on the end of his tail pipe - looks like an end from an exhaust jack - temporary fits it onto the back of the vehicle and away he goes - after crossing takes in off and he's on his way ! I am looking at making the same sort of thing !
AnswerID: 177386

Reply By: Scoey (QLD) - Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 09:52

Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 09:52
One more point to consider - if you're intending to ford anything moderately deep that has a bit of current I would be pretty careful! I don't reckon it'd take much to float a Jimny. Relatively new vehicle with good seals weighing in at a whopping 1060kg (I think???) would float good! ;-)

Have fun

Scoey!
AnswerID: 177403

Reply By: zook - Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 10:52

Thursday, Jun 08, 2006 at 10:52
Deepest I drove through (and this is why I asked the question cos had to then drain the transfer case as it had 1L of water in it), was bonnet height (the engine air intake in the jimny is behind the headlight so is pretty high), haha but with the bow wave came up on the windscreen.

Surprisingly, the car had no water inside it or anything so obviously well sealed, but it did seem to float a little in the deepest section of the creek.. haha, so year 1 tonne is not that heavy ;-).

Anyway, on the transfer case its got a little button type thing, so do I remove the button before fitting the extension or just put the extension over it? - The button seems to act like a bit of a seal?

cheers

zook
AnswerID: 177416

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