Water Wading Antics ! Advice Plz

[barriesheene]

Ok, I have just found out that there is quite a tasty river ford not 20 mins away from me that I knew nothing about  :roll:    :lol:  :lol: My question is this. What precautionary task's should i be undertaking ?? So far i've replaced the front spoiler,( I figured it would give me a better bow wave) and covered everything in damp start. Oh and cable tied a bin bag around the ecu    Any other idea's from you fellow water dweller's  :lol: WD40 ? Should this be used before wading or after and if i do get submerged, what is the best way to get the green beastie running again ??
P.S. 3.9 V8, no back box GGGRRRRRRRRR  :twisted:

[Bowie]

Just how deep is it?

[barriesheene]

I prefer to talk in height rather than depth  :shock:  as in the height of the splash I can make  :lol:  :lol:  Seriously probably bonnet height in places but these can be avoided,( but probably wont  :roll:  )  :lol:  :lol:

[electricbluebadger]

Distributor in a rubber glove, leads through the fingers all cable tied up after greasing....there is a company that makes a special '9 fingered glove' effectively that is purpose designed but a glove will suffice...

also decent thick high quality ht leads rather than the thin crap normal ones

had an idea with the bobtail but never got around to it of..

half a 2 litre pop bottle upturned, remove dizzyreplace dizzy through pop bottle neck and seal neck.
cut slots in the side for the leads, do the same in the chopped off top half and slot back together and silicon... ie the dizzy is now sealed in a pop bottle..

wire a 12volt windscreen washer pump to pump air along a tube into the pop bottle and run it as an overpressure system a la military NBC proofed vehicles... as long as the bottle was not totally sealed this would be an ideal solution????

Cheers Steve

[BigBlue90]

Where abouts is this ford?

Always on the look out for wet bits.

[Skibum346]

You fo realise that unless you have a snorkel fitted, recommended wading depth for a RRC is about 500mm?  

Not trying to teach to suck eggs... but if your talking bonnet depth, your getting awfy close to sucking up a air filter of water that the pistons won't be able to compress... leading to, at best, bent con rods, at worst, split block.   :shock:

[merrick]

dont worry so much about the cap and above but water proof them seal the cap on to the dissie with silicone but before you do remove dissie and plug the hole in the base in a warm dry envieroment seal the vac adv mech and wiring into base with tiger seal or simillar and tape arond the end of coil [all wires] with gaffa tape and wd 40 the lot good luck

[barriesheene]

Bigblue90 , there are a few around by us  :twisted:  check out www.wetroads.co.uk and click "valleys" and "bridgend" I'm hoping to check out a few this weekend. Done the ogmore ones a few times but that was in the wifes deisel not my petrol v8  :lol:  :lol: If you want to do the ogmore ones give me a pm and I'll come up with you. Its only down the road from me.

[Terranosaurus]

Instead of siliconing the cap and dizzy body together, get a bit of motorcylce inner tube roll it down the dizzy body , refit the cap and then roll the inner tube back up.

[ukmudmaster]

Check the axle breather on your rear axle, it ends at the chassis and protects nothing!! extend this to the engine bay as an absolute minimum, otherwise 500mm is your lot. If you need any breathers, I can supply everything you need, at a very reasonable price.
Your fan will spray water all over the engine, so loads of WD40 is the order of the day.
Enjoy the ford!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dave

[thermidorthelobster]

Most of the time, V8s seem to conk out because of electrical problems long before they breathe in water...  whereas diesels will cheerfully plod along until they hydraulic  :x

Personally I'd say the single thing that will make most difference is how you drive it.  If you hurtle in aiming for the biggest possible splash, you won't last long in a V8.  If you wade it first yourself to find the lay of the land, then drive steadily through, maintaining the bow wave, then you'll get a lot further and do a lot less harm to your truck.

If you want to spray water everywhere, get a diesel and a snorkel    But even then, if it's a public right of way, a degree of decorum is appropriate, if you want it to stay that way.  8)

[Rangienut]

First thing is to make sure the ignition system is in tip top condition, fit the distributor cap with a bead of silicone grease between it and the distributor body, silicone grease on all the electrical connections, and it is very worthwhile shielding the distributor and leads with the bottom part of a 3L pop bottle cut to size, upturned and cable tied into position.
Extend all of the breathers, I used garden irrigation tubing from B&Q, cheap but effective, and dont forget the wading plug in the bellhousing.
Make sure drive belts are tight enough or you WILL lose PAS for a short while.