Fitting a snorkel

Hi there,

i purchased an Offtrek "snorkel" of Ebay the other week and am just looking at how i install it. mounting it on the wing i have no issues with but not sure how to connect it up to the air intake pipes. It came with the pictured rubber hose and metal insert which i assume attaches to the bottom of the snorkel inside the wing



but then i am unclear what it attaches to. is it the part circled in Yellow which seems right given the length of the above piece. but then that leaves the convoluted pipe and Plastic thing (circled in blue) which appears to me to have a wire gauze underneath it which will let water in!!



so that , to me, makes it a raised air intake rather than a true snorkel, i.e. i couldn't go any deeper in water than the height of the plastic piece. is there a replacement for that whole section that would make it truly watertight?

cheers hive mind, you're the best.

Steve

I think the gauze bit shoudl have a rubber birds beak on it, also called a dump valve, if you want a truly effective snorkel then that part needs sealing up.

lynall said:

I think the gauze bit shoudl have a rubber birds beak on it, also called a dump valve, if you want a truly effective snorkel then that part needs sealing up.

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yeah i've been looking on Ebay, they seem to refer to them as a water trap, i assume to let excess water out rather than in. i'll take a look from underneath to see if it really is gauze, i just reached down to see what i could feel

Well i fitted it today, the pipe goes into the convoluted pipe marked in yellow with the reducer between. pipes were a faff to get off as caked mud had turned to concrete, but once of and washed they softened to make it easier. needed a bit of bulldog BDX to make them a bit more slippy. not helped by a previous owner not fitting the jubilee clip onto the water trap very well but i got that off in the end and replaced all the jubilees with new clips. just got to fit one remaining clip over the reducer as one failed when i was fitting it, but by the time i was finished i couldn't be arsed to do any more having spent the morning being a contortionist!!!

drfoster said:

Well i fitted it today, the pipe goes into the convoluted pipe marked in yellow with the reducer between. pipes were a faff to get off as caked mud had turned to concrete, but once of and washed they softened to make it easier. needed a bit of bulldog BDX to make them a bit more slippy. not helped by a previous owner not fitting the jubilee clip onto the water trap very well but i got that off in the end and replaced all the jubilees with new clips. just got to fit one remaining clip over the reducer as one failed when i was fitting it, but by the time i was finished i couldn't be arsed to do any more having spent the morning being a contortionist!!!
View attachment 316495View attachment 316496View attachment 316497View attachment 316498

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Looking good. Although the first thing you need to do now is remove the green stickers so it is just the black plastic! Bit of brake cleaner will get them off cleanly!

Have you fully sealed everything else and extended the a le/gesrbox breathers? Or are you not planning on deep wading?

dag019 said:

Looking good. Although the first thing you need to do now is remove the green stickers so it is just the black plastic! Bit of brake cleaner will get them off cleanly!

Have you fully sealed everything else and extended the a le/gesrbox breathers? Or are you not planning on deep wading?

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i added the stickers as they came not fitted!! i did consider not fitting them but decided to, i can always remove them at a later date. the kit also came with a panel grommet but i can't work out where it actually goes!!
i haven't extended the breathers yet, thats next on the list.

drfoster said:

i added the stickers as they came not fitted!! i did consider not fitting them but decided to, i can always remove them at a later date. the kit also came with a panel grommet but i can't work out where it actually goes!!
i haven't extended the breathers yet, thats next on the list.

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No need for the fancy breather kits, just buy some 6mm od nylon tubing and a handful of 6mm push fit connectors.

lynall said:

No need for the fancy breather kits, just buy some 6mm od nylon tubing and a handful of 6mm push fit connectors.

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This one ^^. You can also get manifold to joint them all into one and then run a single pipe to the top of the snorkel.

drfoster said:

added the stickers as they came not fitted!!

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In that case I apologise for criticising your questionable fashion choice!!

lynall said:

No need for the fancy breather kits, just buy some 6mm od nylon tubing and a handful of 6mm push fit connectors.

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any idea where i order these from? and don't you need a special cover for the timing belt?

dag019 said:

This one ^^. You can also get manifold to joint them all into one and then run a single pipe to the top of the snorkel.



In that case I apologise for criticising your questionable fashion choice!!

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yeah i#ve seen the kits on gwyn lewis, they look like a good idea.
i'm still in two minds about the badges

drfoster said:

any idea where i order these from? and don't you need a special cover for the timing belt?

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I use one of these LINK. And then ordered the correct size fittings to screw into the axles (I can’t remember the size). I also use a 2 into 1 y-piece for the gear bos/transfer box as they are next to each other and don’t need one each. I haven’t bothered with the timing case one as the special cover replaced the air con tensioned cover which I plan on using to mount a compressor.

drfoster said:

any idea where i order these from? and don't you need a special cover for the timing belt?

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Ebay, timing cover is also on Ebay.

Look at the pictures and it will show you a pipe layout.
Others, cheaper, are available.

drfoster said:

any idea where i order these from? and don't you need a special cover for the timing belt?

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Ebay search the words I used above, 6mm nylon pipe, 6mm pushfit.
Pushfits join existing pipe to new pipe.

You do not actually need the special cover so long as you fit and remove the wading plug when not needed.

dag019 said:

I use one of these LINK. And then ordered the correct size fittings to screw into the axles (I can’t remember the size). I also use a 2 into 1 y-piece for the gear bos/transfer box as they are next to each other and don’t need one each. I haven’t bothered with the timing case one as the special cover replaced the air con tensioned cover which I plan on using to mount a compressor.

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I think axles are 1/8 bsp thread.

lynall said:

I think the gauze bit shoudl have a rubber birds beak on it, also called a dump valve, if you want a truly effective snorkel then that part needs sealing up.

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i found this, but its on the air filter lid at the bottom, i assume as a one way valve to let water out.

One thing i've noticed , and it might just be me, is that before i fitted the snorkel i would get quite a bit of black smoke from the exhaust, particularly when clogging it, suggesting running a bit over fuelled, since fitting the snorkel this seems to have got much less but the engine doesn't seem as pokey! if you know what i mean. i suppose more air will be flowing in to the air filter (K&N) currently, which might now be evening out the fuel/air mixture.
I don't think the engine has any other tuning etc. e.g. boost pin, boost ring etc.

anyone else experienced this? i guess its a good thing to have less visual smoke anyway.

cheers

Steve

drfoster said:

i found this, but its on the air filter lid at the bottom, i assume as a one way valve to let water out.
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Thats the dump valve, I think I superglued mine up, then filled it with silicone, then refitted it.

drfoster said:

One thing i've noticed , and it might just be me, is that before i fitted the snorkel i would get quite a bit of black smoke from the exhaust, particularly when clogging it, suggesting running a bit over fuelled, since fitting the snorkel this seems to have got much less but the engine doesn't seem as pokey! if you know what i mean. i suppose more air will be flowing in to the air filter (K&N) currently, which might now be evening out the fuel/air mixture.
I don't think the engine has any other tuning etc. e.g. boost pin, boost ring etc.

anyone else experienced this? i guess its a good thing to have less visual smoke anyway.

cheers

Steve

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On my 200tdi with the snorkel connected there is a small but definate power loss, especially on long hills, on the 200 you can reach in and unclip the hose that runs from the wing to the air filter and the small power loss disappears, so yes they defo cause a restriction to the air flow.

Mine is a genuine Safari one, so I asked them and their reply was the snorkel should cause a ram air effect mitigating any flow restrictions, but from my motorbike days I remember the vehicle had to be doing circa 140mph for the ram air effect to make any difference!

So in my opinion they talk bollocks, and as they quoted the ram air stuff, you just know they have used that reply before, suggesting to me that is not the first time people have enquired about a snorkel and power loss.

lynall said:

On my 200tdi with the snorkel connected there is a small but definate power loss, especially on long hills, on the 200 you can reach in and unclip the hose that runs from the wing to the air filter and the small power loss disappears, so yes they defo cause a restriction to the air flow.

Mine is a genuine Safari one, so I asked them and their reply was the snorkel should cause a ram air effect mitigating any flow restrictions, but from my motorbike days I remember the vehicle had to be doing circa 140mph for the ram air effect to make any difference!

So in my opinion they talk bollocks, and as they quoted the ram air stuff, you just know they have used that reply before, suggesting to me that is not the first time people have enquired about a snorkel and power loss.

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Ah i see, i'm glad its not just me that thinks this. i'm also going to change the airfilter to a standard one and see if that makes a difference. i'm not dissatisfied with it at all and to be honest if it gives a bit more mpg as i'm driving it more sensibly then thats a win win in my book
cheers