Wading depth

..slowly ..I am getting more brave with what I do with my 3 year old 90 Station wagon..I have a snorkel fitted and just wondered how deep I can actually take her?...I have ( almost ) had the water completely over the bonnet- is this the limit? I havent got a clue what goes on in the engine so would like to know if there is anything I ( relatively simply) could do engine wise to make her even less likely to drown.

Petrol or diesel?

diesel...sorry -should have said

Have you got wading plugs fitted, don't realy know if this applies to a new un.

NO..I havent...Can I do real damage if I dont have them fitted?...I dont do serious long stretches in water...How easy are they to fit and take out?...and where do they go ? ( I did say I know diddly squat about what goes on in there)..

Yup.....dunt matter if you get water and ****e in the timing belt and the clutch housing bit then it could lead to bigger problems....doddle...in a 2.5 TD engine they fit in the bottom of the timing belt housing and the bottom of the clutch housing......but thats a 2.5 TD dunno what the newer ones are like.

so just 2x needed in those place?..if i got underneath would I easily spot where they go? ie...what would be there now if I looked? do they just screw in and out by hand?

i believe the plugs to be in the same places in all defenders, im sure someone will be allong shortly to correct me if i am wrong!

Do your breathers have extensions into the snork or are they still stock?

I'm glad someone said that...been seeing 'breathers' get mentioned - and from that you can guess that I dont have them fitted !....explain how I get these fitted please?
Plus + how do I check/would I know , if my previous outings with no plugs / breathers have done any damage?

Look on top of the axles to the passenger side of the diff there should be some sort of outlet, if there is a tube attached to it then you've got breather tubes attached, if there's no tube then you will still have a breather but there's more chance of water getting in to the axle. The only way to check if you've got water in the diffs is to drain them and refill.

The only way to check for damage caused by not having wading plugs fitted is to take things apart, which is a biggie as far as the clutch is concerned but not so difficult with the timing belt cover, but as I said earlier I'm not so familiar with the more modern engines which have a different cover to mine.

Don't know about the plugs - but breathers lead straight into the diffs (IIRC) if you go straight into deep water (i.e. deeper than the tip of the breather) with a hot diff it will cool down rapidly and can suck water into the diff through the breather. It's not a huge problem if you change the diff oil regularly - leaving it there will cause you some grief eventually. A better idea is to extend the breathers up the snorkel - there was a really good post on here a while back, I'll see if I can find it.

'ere you go...

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f7/ex...-2.html?highlight=BREATHER+snorkel#post272179

I have just ordered a breather kit....so would appreciate that!

It's not just the axles/diffs - gearbox and transfer box need them too

you prob have breathers factory fitted anyway, so dont worry too much. what you will need to do though is extend your rear axle as this stops short around the height of the top of the wheel.

where did you get your breathers from?

you wont get to your gearbox or trny box very easily so leave the factory ones in and just extend the pipes from the bulkhead up to the top of your snorkel. (zip tie em on) they will have a kinked bent on them if you cant see em.

blow into them to pressurise them and you should smell oil. if not they are likely to be blocked.

plugs from here. eBay.co.uk: LAND ROVER WADING PLUG.Bellhousing/ Timing cover (item 200082810145 end time 26-Feb-07 22:50:59 GMT)


they just screw in. cambelt cover and bellhousing. you can either run a breather or put a plug on the timing cover.

ONLY use these plugs when your offroad. take them out under normal use.

Hope this helps.

G

I was changing the diff oil in my landy over the weekend, and one of the fill plugs has rusted stuck, so I was trying to fill it through the drain hole, using a tight fitting rubber bung and a squeezy bottle full of oil.

After I had squeezed about a litre of oil in, I pulled the bung out, ready with the drain plug to plug the hole, but all the oil got farted back out again from pressure inside the diff. I guess that means my breather is blocked.

How to clear it? Get an air line on the pipe coming out of the axle and blow it through?