snorcal or not?

[carracarra13]

I was wondering if or not to snorkel our 3.9 v8 rangie and if so how easy is it to make our own baring in mind she is gas converted, under slung cil tanks

[simdeb]

Depends if you plan to go in water ? the air intare is low down and at the front , personally iv put one on home made using some flrxy hose easy to do , got some pics will dig them oput

simon

[carracarra13]

thanks m8 its our first rangi (but not last) just wonderint about the air censer

[thermidorthelobster]

I thought gas converted V8s were hard to snorkel the gas/air mix depends on the air pressure.

[carracarra13]

as I said dont no this is our 1st so BIG lerning curve :D

[Range Rover Ron]

Hello Mate,

If you're planning on fitting a snorkel it means you will be going into deep water,
If you go into deep water with a V8 it means the engine will probably stall.
You can sort out a V8 to be more water friendly with a waterproof kit etc,
but if you really plan to do a lot of deep water then the best engine to have is a Tdi.
You loose on the heavy right foot fun but you gain on economy and the ability to get through water that a petrol engine will not get through.

what ever you do with your RRC welcome to the family.

Cheers............

[carracarra13]

cheers all and ron not planing deep water just laning and fording  thanks for the help and the welcom  :P

[jjsaul]

lots of water will probably stop the v8 at some point, keep wd40 handy (i should be on commission for this  :lol: ) spray the coil / dizzy etc it will fire up again.

a snorkel at least means you shouldnt do any permanent damage by getting it wet...then again it depends how much water you're planning on playing in.

anything up to 500mm is normally ok unless you decided to go ploughing in at 40mph!

[carracarra13]

well as I said to henery at beston (dont think he would realy want to be reminded) they arnt subermarines (sliped off the reed bed into 4ft+ of water with NO snorcal 10 min later its was fired up and running perfect, several cans of wd40 lol, even he said he was very lucky

[Range Rover Blues]

Yeah, thing is a V8 with a missfire is still a V7, a TDi with water ingress is SCRAP.

I've got a snorkel and they are good for more than just wading, they help keep dust out of the airbox too.

TBH I really can't see the attraction of ruining the seats and carpets only to find you have 3 wheelbearings fail within the next 3 months.  If I want to go swiming I'll go to the baths.

[carracarra13]

I totaly agree after lafing at others exspence

[Reggieroo]

Thing is when you get to a deep ford you won't be able to resist.......... ;)

Waterproof the dizzy & fit a snorkel & they can be pretty good at wading.

[carracarra13]

well Iv not gone with the snorcal idia, been getting a few other things done like the rear breaks failed so went through her with a fine tooth comb and got a list two new calipers two pairs of disks also pads all fitted also did barings at same time now got to take it steady for a few miles to bed everything in, frount end all good

[bullfrog]

You can make you own water key for dizzy etc.
I used to use a large (3 litre) robinsons orange bottle, cut the base off leavig about 1 3rd of the sides then 1 3rd of the side and use a large zip tie round the dizzy. SHould cover the cap and leads with the leads going out the back .
For the coild use a 500ml coke/lilt/7up etc bottle. cut it in half and swcure to coil with jubilee clip. Pass all leads out through spout and use tape/heat shrink to seal.
snorkel can be made cheaply from black drain pipe but you can still get the steel mantec one for RRCs.
not too dear and looks good.
I have had a host of V8s with these mods and been fine.
As long as you extend breathers and check all axle seals before your trip you should be fine.
Smear light grease on airflow meter and all other electrics.. move ECU higher up in truck too.

[andyb]

Deep water wading problems in petrols are usually caused by steam (created by hot exhaust) condensing onto the electrics and inside the distributor cap.

A good set of HT leads is essential. High street go-faster ones are not what you want. Spend the money on a set of Magnecore HT leads. They do a set for the RV8 that have a water proof boot on each end.

I would warn against the use of grease to water proof electrics as grease is a conductor not an isulator. Better off with something like Wurth Cavity Wax....not underseal, but Cavity Wax.

Lastly the distributor can be pressurised using a small fish tank pump and this will keep out most/all of the moist air.

HTH

[SebastianW]

TBH I really can't see the attraction of ruining the seats and carpets only to find you have 3 wheelbearings fail within the next 3 months.  If I want to go swiming I'll go to the baths.

Supposing you have some decent standard door seals, how quickly would the water seep into the cabin at say 600mm?

[clbarclay]

Gernerally if you can keep moving then not much will get in past good door seals, the problems start if you fail to make it through in one. The either it has a lot longer to seep in or you end up opening a door to get out. The only garantee agianst getting you interiour soaked is to avoid deep water.

[Reggieroo]

Gernerally if you can keep moving then not much will get in past good door seals, the problems start if you fail to make it through in one. The either it has a lot longer to seep in or you end up opening a door to get out. The only garantee agianst getting you interiour soaked is to avoid deep water.

Its true if you keep moving & your seals are pretty good you only get a little water on the edge of the carpets, but fail to make it through like I did once & its a different story............ :oops:

Now I've been doing ongoing mods to ensure the dizzy stays dry. First off I fitted two nipples to the breather holes in the bottom of dizzy & connected two silicone pipes to them & have now connected one to the air box & the other to the EFI housing. I hadn't connected them the other week when I went out fording & the dizzy got moisture in the cap so now I'm hoping the continuous air passing through will keep it dry. I also put silicone round the dizzy cap & fitted some new Lucas leads. Also just finished fitting the snorkel which I didn't have fitted either. It still made it through the day through a number of deep fords with water up to the bonnet with just one pit stop & a few sprays of WD40, hopefully now it should be even better............ :D

[muddyjames]

Gernerally if you can keep moving then not much will get in past good door seals, the problems start if you fail to make it through in one. The either it has a lot longer to seep in or you end up opening a door to get out. The only garantee agianst getting you interiour soaked is to avoid deep water.

Also you get quiet wet from water coming in through the dash board air vents if you have water over the whole bonnet. Don't ask how I found this out twice!!! :lol:

I wish there was a kit to divert the air vent in take under the bonnet and into a snorkel

[Reggieroo]

The same thing happened to me on a pay & play day with some really stinky muddy water, straight through the air vents above the bonnet in through the dash & all over our legs......... :oops:

Now I use duct tape over the vents if I know I'm going laning, fording etc.

[clbarclay]

Not a common sight in this country but good practice is to cover items like the grill with a large sheet to help protect the rad and the same practice will apply to the air vents as well. As Reggie says duck tape will work well and like a tow rope, wading plugs and WD40 its the sort of stuff you should have to hand anyway when off roading.

[Reggieroo]

clbarclay, your not wrong about the tow rope & WD40 if you have a V8 going near water............... :shock: Best to have the tow rope already attached me thinks just in case you need a rescue asap!