Sorting a 3.9EFi for wading - suggestions?

Out of interest, what do people class as "deep" water? I'm attending my first pay and play do soon and have done nothing in terms of waterproofing the engine bay - but then I'm not intending on river crossings!

However, as someone said - sometimes you cant help but got through some deep water and it'd be good to be able to do so without it cutting out!

So, given my car is standard, how high can I go? Up to front valence? Up to just below the headlights? I'm guessing over the headlights and bonnet is a big no-no - for starters the fan will be in the water at that point and chucking water everywhere!

I guess slow and steady is the way to go - enter slowly, get a small bow-wave going and then just keep momentum!

Half way up the wheel.........anymore is deep for a un prepped V8

Hi Mike. None modified std 3.9 layout...... Your airbox is on passengerside with the intake opening just behind the passenger side headlight. Water going in there is NOT a good idea (a big no no). However, realistically the fan is gonna be churning up (and spitting) water all over the engine bay electrics long before the water level is that high.
I'd be quite happy taking my unmodded road classic (the green one) through water to just below front bumper (top of front valance) as long as I was maintaining at a sensible speed creating a steady 'bow wave' just ahead of the car. (a flooded road for example).

juiceyv8 said:

Half way up the wheel.........anymore is deep for a un prepped V8

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What he says! Yep, halfway up the wheels, which is about the same depth to above valance /just below front bumper

Even then be careful. fan will spray up over dizzy battery area

carry a trade crate off WD40

Wading with a V8 has always been "interesting". The most important thing is to make sure water and/or condensation don't get inside the dizzy. Mine is sealed but not vented, I have electric fans and a home made snorkel, I have a splash guard in front of the dizzy and the coil is wrapped with some polythene sheet. These measures work well (for me) and my RRC will do 4ft of water (see my avatar).

Mr.Noisy is right in what he says and he has gone the whole hog and vented the dizzy. He should be able to run that in very deep water as long as his ECU doesn't drown.

Apart from that, a snorkel is a must and remember to extend your transmission breathers and make sure your door seals are in good order. If you get lots of water inside the car then chances are your floor is rotten!! If you do a lot of water then you need to check the transmission for contamination. Diffs, wheel bearings and seals and brakes. You will end up changing diff oils regularly if you do a lot of wading and also you'll need to keep a careful eye on wheel bearings and hub seals - water will be getting in there.

thanks for the back up kev

as i found out to my peril (knackered diffs) water gets into the axles even if oil doesnt come out. my prop seals were leaking and the axles literally filled with muddy gloop. it was shocking in there. and yet the never leaked oil out. so do be careful.

however, i would be a little more adventurous and say that anywhere up to the top of the bumpers is ok for a standard car, just go in slow and then build speed for a nice bow wave.

i cant guarantee anything though, so proceed with caution.

most PnPs dont have water that will go over your bonnet. i went to hill and ditch when it had been very rainy, and one pool would sit at rest up to your windscreen, but it was only like that for a month or so. most pnps i go to now are about up to the bonnet, no deeper.

thus, avoid deep pools in your car, submerged bumpers is ok, but be careful how you maintain that bow wave, too much or too little could be trouble.

watch other cars first and plan a route.

cheers

Mr Noisy said:

as i found out to my peril (knackered diffs) water gets into the axles even if oil doesnt come out. my prop seals were leaking and the axles literally filled with muddy gloop. it was shocking in there. and yet the never leaked oil out. so do be careful.

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Did you have extended breather pipes on your axles tho??

Bromsgrove Defender said:

Did you have extended breather pipes on your axles tho??

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yes mate i did

thats why i couldnt understand it

but then when i came to rebuild the axles i realised that the prop flanges and seals were shot.

the hubs had been rebuilt previously so the only place it could have come in were the props.

axles rebuilt a few months ago and not a single drop of ****e in there since

i must admit i was relieved/chuffed

cheers, sam

joe1972 said:

After my frustrations today (intermittant stalling and crap running for the rest of the day, after wading not long after arriving) at Tong /Parkwood it's obvious there's things to sort out with my RRC.

Would appreciate some suggestions/ areas I should be looking at

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If you do a search of this forum, type in a search for "swim" you should get at least 3 threads where there are a variety of members suggestions for taking your V8 for a swim.

classic kev said:

If you do a search of this forum, type in a search for "swim" you should get at least 3 threads where there are a variety of members suggestions for taking your V8 for a swim.

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Thanks Kev, will do.

Just back to that point earlier about door seals.....
I had today of work, so prepared the spare dizzy, swapped over with the one in the car. General cleaning and drying of the inside cabin with liberal doses of WD40 up along the ECU wiring switches and relays etc (the ECU box had been out and drying!)...
After that I did a quick test of the door seals. opened, greased seals, closed, then opened again.... Yep sure enough both sides are jiggered! ( a short section bottom front of driverside and another short section up around trailing edge of passengerside)
Close examination of the seals also reveals some small tears and splits....

Anyone know any good sourse for door seals?
The s/h ones I've looked at on ebay look just as bad as mine!

if you can get them new joe, theyre dear!

in comparison, the average water crossing at tong gets me about 1"-2" deep in water inside - i dont know how yours compares?

i just let mine leak though, i was suprised that it seals aswell as it does, but my doors are rotten in places and it tends to gush in through holes in the bulkhead aswell.

on a disco there are loads of relays behind the front kick panels, i unclipped them all and raised them up and secured them behind the dashboard, now it needs to be about 10" deep inside before ive got problems, and if you dont open a door that takes about 3 minutes, depending on exterior water level.

ive always worked on the basis that i should expect water inside and try my best to keep all the important stuff high and dry!

I thought that might be the case. There's a few suppliers of generic seals I've found, but none look 100% right.
Funnily enough whilst cleaning up in the cabin today I followed the ECU wiring along the side of the transmision tunnel and up along the side of the driver footwell, and maybe about an inch above the left foot rest panel there's a bunch of relays. These were wet n muddy too.....but I'm maybe more suprised I've not kicked and bashed the hell out of them with my ruddy size 13s !!.
I think I'll probably be moving them up a few inches. Yeah, we were about an inch deep in water inside (it only started to come in when it stalled/stopped)....but it was sloshing around too, which didn't help, particularly as i saw my mate Rob snack pork pies and crisps floating around in the footwell!:jaw:


I have to be honest. the work involved in getting it a bit more wading capable is beginning to get more involved than I first thought!:doh:

As i said at the beginning mate, I spent literally hours upon hours taking the dizzy in and out until I got it all right. Cable tying all the ht leads, blah blah blah.

Yes it is a fair job getting them ready to get soaked, and survive, but then again it's really great when you're running a v8 and you can dunk it like the rest of em.

Don't lose hope

Like the others say, dizzy sealing is everything.

Its definately worth pulling the ECU loom back up into the dash and cable tieing it behind the lower dash panel benieth the steering colunm along with the relays.

Another easy mod is to pull the coil back to inside the passenger footwell but mount it high up. Youll need to buy an extended HT lead to do this but I find it helps on my motor.

Mr Noisy said:

As i said at the beginning mate, I spent literally hours upon hours taking the dizzy in and out until I got it all right. Cable tying all the ht leads, blah blah blah.

Yes it is a fair job getting them ready to get soaked, and survive, but then again it's really great when you're running a v8 and you can dunk it like the rest of em.

Don't lose hope

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Not lost hope yet... I've had several italian motors in my past, and quite frankly, these RR's are a pleasure to work on by comparision!
Just been out and given it a good coat of looking at.
I'm now thinking either to mount the ECU box on the rear of the cubby box with plug facing up. With enough room to still open the box lid the bottom edge of the ECU will still be up high enough....I think
OR, to swing the ECU box the other side and have it mounted on the inside rollcage pillar on driverside.
Either way, I think if water came in to the level where my backside is on the seat they'd probably by other things to consider.
The bunch of wiring and relays by the front left foot rest plate I'm thinking either move 'em up, or put them in some sort of housing....hmmm, moving them sounds a smarter idea.
I'm gonna have to get some photos taken to add to this thread:doh:

my opinion was joe that if it gets to 10" deep inside and i still aint going anywhere, im probably best stopping trying and using my time to get my waders on instead!

cubby box would be acceptable for me tbh, thats higer than mine is now anyway!
after all of this you have to ask yourself how much time your gonna be spending wading anyway, most pnps or rivers you will come to when laning will only give you an inch or two inside.

cheers

Once you've sealed your dizzy up a nice cheap little trick is to get a 2L bottle of cider,cut it in half and then use the bottom bit to slot over the top of the dizzy, ratchet strap or tape it on and then you'll be swimming with the tdi's!



and the best bit is you get to drink the cider first!!!

So, using a cider bottle, is that better than a silicone dizzy cover? (nice idea tho. thanks)...and, are those carbs on your 3.9Efi ? (to coin a TopGear phrase)


Finally finished moving the ECU today. Decided the easiest/quickest fix was to mount under the dash cover alongside the steering column. Works well and didnt involve any cutting or soldering in extra wire...which was good!

joe1972 said:

So, using a cider bottle, is that better than a silicone dizzy cover?...and, are those carbs on your 3.9Efi ? (to coin a TopGear phrase)


Finally finished moving the ECU today. Decided the easiest/quickest fix was to mount under the dash cover alongside the steering column. Works well and didnt involve any cutting or soldering in extra wire...which was good!

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So your efi dose'nt have a dizzy then?

And I thought your title said "suggestions"
good luck with your wading hope it's better than your attitude to people trying to help you!