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snorkels, wading depth and iceland.
- Thread starter chapel gate
- Start date
SteveS
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2013
- Messages
- 630
So - I'm a bit of a belt and braces man and also my rig is being prepped for solo world-wide travel where we may not have the benefit of guides and local knowledge. So I'm not building my rig for one place/location....you may wish to think about that. Coincidentally the first stop on our world tour will be Iceland in July so expecting lots of flowing melt-water crossings as we circumnavigate the island. (Have been before years ago in a Vauxhall Astra....but only within 100 miles or so of the Capital.)
I like the 'insurance' that a raised air intake brings (note......snorkel vs air intake) particularly for water crossings.....
700mm is not that much
you can't rely on the bow wave as you may have to stop on a rocky section
You get the added benefit of being able to direct the air flow in dusty conditions and add a simple pre-cleaner with a snorkel
The ability of your 'snorkel' to keep water out is only as good as the water-tightness of all the joints in its pipework back to the engine - hence if you truly want to snorkel then pay good attention to this (or trust your mechanic to do a proper job) else it will not be a snorkel: it will be a raised air intake - less critical
You can see my LC100 build thread (search on Hedgehog in the forum) and will see that I have extended ALL the breathers up to the top of the snorkel: you don't need much water in any of the oils to ruin its performance particularly if you don't change them out afterwards.
Water crossings are challenging not just because of the water in the engine problem.....lots of water carries with it sand or fine particles from glacier moraines/erosion (in Iceland, Canada etc) and these can be bad news for oil seals (on rotating shafts). Also consider the sudden thermal contraction of launching your vehicle into freezing water.
I have seen on more than one occasion the devastating effects of hydraulic lock.....given the small amount of space for any water to occupy at the top of your piston you need very little to knacker your engine, probably irreparably.
So....my advice is if you want to splash around on well tried UK crossings (Corwen Car-wash/Strata etc) then you may not need a snorkel......if you want to avoid being 1000s of miles from anywhere with a knackered engine or hydraulic lock half way across a fast flowing river crossing...then my money is on a properly installed snorkel and extended breathers.
PS - if you think your intake will be overwhelmed by water then don't forget to switch off your engine...you may at least be able to restart it after recovery
I like the 'insurance' that a raised air intake brings (note......snorkel vs air intake) particularly for water crossings.....
700mm is not that much
you can't rely on the bow wave as you may have to stop on a rocky section
You get the added benefit of being able to direct the air flow in dusty conditions and add a simple pre-cleaner with a snorkel
The ability of your 'snorkel' to keep water out is only as good as the water-tightness of all the joints in its pipework back to the engine - hence if you truly want to snorkel then pay good attention to this (or trust your mechanic to do a proper job) else it will not be a snorkel: it will be a raised air intake - less critical
You can see my LC100 build thread (search on Hedgehog in the forum) and will see that I have extended ALL the breathers up to the top of the snorkel: you don't need much water in any of the oils to ruin its performance particularly if you don't change them out afterwards.
Water crossings are challenging not just because of the water in the engine problem.....lots of water carries with it sand or fine particles from glacier moraines/erosion (in Iceland, Canada etc) and these can be bad news for oil seals (on rotating shafts). Also consider the sudden thermal contraction of launching your vehicle into freezing water.
I have seen on more than one occasion the devastating effects of hydraulic lock.....given the small amount of space for any water to occupy at the top of your piston you need very little to knacker your engine, probably irreparably.
So....my advice is if you want to splash around on well tried UK crossings (Corwen Car-wash/Strata etc) then you may not need a snorkel......if you want to avoid being 1000s of miles from anywhere with a knackered engine or hydraulic lock half way across a fast flowing river crossing...then my money is on a properly installed snorkel and extended breathers.
PS - if you think your intake will be overwhelmed by water then don't forget to switch off your engine...you may at least be able to restart it after recovery
- Joined
- May 26, 2014
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thanks steve, some more sound advice..
i should also say my 80 is my only car, it cant be left in the garage until next weekend in bits. hence many a cold late sunday night getting her good for monday morning...
i should also say my 80 is my only car, it cant be left in the garage until next weekend in bits. hence many a cold late sunday night getting her good for monday morning...
