Tips for installing snorkel?

[kzj90nz]

Hi team,

I've got a KZJ90 diesel and I'm about to fit a snorkel on it for river crossings.

What silicon would you use for the install and where are the key areas to apply it?

I've got several black Selleys roof and gutter tubes in the garage - would this work ok or should I use something different?

Also, why do some people make the top of their snorkels face backwards? I would've thought that you want to have as much airflow as possible?

Cheers

 

[Ben]

You shouldn't need a huge amount of silicon and that silicon you have will be fine. Normally the rubber hose from the snorkel to the airbox doesn't need any silicon as the hose clamps hold it all together nice and tightly.

Most airboxes have a drain hole in the bottom and that is one area that definitely needs sealing up with silicon.

Regarding fitting the actual snorkel to the guard........................

Using the correct size hole saw, and ideally a new one is important as you dont want the hole saw and guard getting hot as it will damage the paint.

For all the other holes use a step drill, as unlike a normal drill bit it wont bite and twist the thin metal panel.

Having some touch up paint and a little brush is useful to protect the bare metal edges of all the holes you drill in the guard.

 

[spiralinguist]

Good info Ben. Measure 3 times and cut once! The air box drain hole may be on the "tuna can" attached to the bottom of the air box. It has a low grade valve but best to seal if doing river crossings. Where are you located?


Built FZJ80
If it ain't broke, fix it again.

 

[Chris]

Be careful with the 1KZ-TE engine. The air intake and air box do NOT seal fully. There is a strange funnel shaped end to the airbox simply sealed with some foam. This must be tackled or you will live to regret it, never mind the drain hole in the bottom of the can.

Facing the snorkel head back wards or forwards makes little difference. There is no ram air effect at work here. Mine faces backwards. I ran several trips North and alternated between forwards and rearwards for the whole trip. I found that consistently I got a little under 1 mile per gallon better with it facing backwards. So backwards it is.

 

[Shayne]

As Chris says the 1kz-te air box is not even connected to the intake hidden in the wing , i lost my foam doughnut a while ago .

 

[Dieseldragon]

Probably most important thing is to cut the hole in the correct place.

Joking aside, on my last 4x4 with a snorkel, I pressure tested it to 0.5 bar (I have the equipment for work), just to make sure there were no possible water entry points.

Realistically, if water gets higher than the airbox, there's probably going to be problems with other things, these are old motors after all.
I don't know specifically about the landcruiser, but on others you have to install higher breather pipes for the axles. Don't think just because you have a snorkel, you can go swimming!

 

[kzj90nz]

Thanks guys for all of that great info!

Cheers for the cutting tips Ben - I was just going to brush on some spare cold galv to stop any rust and I'll carry on with Plan A and use the roofing silicon.

How would you tackle the funnel shaped end to the airbox Chris? What could you replace the foam with? Could you use some generic intercooler hose?

I'll try mounting the top of the snorkel backwards and forwards to see how the mileage goes since it's not relying ram air - great tip.

I'll post some pics later on - all the best!

 

[Ben]

Regarding the snorkel head.................

On my 70 the snorkel is on the drivers side and I've only tightened the hose clamp up to the point where I'm still able to turn the head around.

Most of the time my snorkel head faces forwards as I think it looks better that way, but if I'm driving and it starts raining heavily I reach out of the window and turn it round so its facing backwards and not into the driving rain.

The other time I turn it round is if I'm off road and in tight wooded sections/over grown green lanes, as its very easy to get a branch through the grill on the snorkel head (I broke my original grill like that, before upgrading to a metal one) and even if you dont actually break the grill, leaves and bits of stick invariably find their way down the snorkel and into the airbox.

I have found my 1KZ-T runs quite happily under water and I've had water half way up my windscreen before so well over 5ft deep! It was pretty scary and the whole truck was being pushed backwards with the force of the river and I only just got through, but the engine kept going beautifully thanks to the snorkel and breathers, which run up into the engine bay from the 2 diffs, G box and T box before splitting into one hose which runs up the outside of my snorkel to the head!

 

[kzj90nz]

Just gearing up to get the job done...

Do I need to start by removing the front wheel and remove the wheel arch liner?

How do I remove the side repeater before I put the template over the top? Do I need to do this from behind the guard?

Many thanks!