Water in the intake

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

This is more of a fishing expedition to see if anyone else has had a similar drama ... and whether there were any longer term issues that I need to be thinking about.

I went for a water crossing today that shouldn't have been a drama. Half way across I got caught up in some submerged wheel ruts and pushed to the right ... into a much deeper section ... with water up to the washer jets and a wave up over the windscreen :shock: ops: ... and I don't have a snorkel ops: :cry:

The air intake took a big lungfull of water and the engine shut down, just short of the exit. I got winched out and we went through the process of stripping down the V6 topgear and pulling the plugs. There was a lot of water in the intake pipe. The air filter was flooded and the fine mesh filter behind it had extracted most of the dirt particles. There was water up against the shut gate of the air speed doovalackey (that's only my guess ... I don't really know what it is) ... but pulling the plugs out and they were dry ... and spinning the engine over with the plugs out and there was no water in the cylinders. I had also taken out the K&N filter, rinsed it out and sat it in the sun to dry.

Re-assembled everything and it started fine ... pumped a heap of water out of the exhaust pipe ... and ran hard, never missing a beat for the rest of the day. Once we got out on the highway, and I kicked it in the guts to get up to 110, it blew some more crap out the exhaust and settled down to run perfectly.

It's done 100 odd Kms since and should really have dried out any remaining water from the exhaust - I hope.

Tomorrow's jobs include pulling all of the air intake stuff off again and cleaning it all out, cleaning and re-oiling the K&N filter, checking the oil - just in case some got through, and going over all the electrical connections with some CRC.

Is there anything else I should be looking for ???

Thanks, in anticipation
Chippy

[Jon Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Jon]

I would be looking for a place that sold snorkels!
Did you have a radiator blind on?
I have been through some deep water crossings using just a blind, with no problems.

[PeteS Member Find all posts View Profile Close PeteS]

Hi Chippy

Mmmmm, "is there anything else I should be looking for"...... Me thinks look for a snorkel :lol: :lol:

Now you've had the water up to your windscreen (like I did when crossing to Twin Falls in Kakadu), question is, did your alternator voltage race up to 14.1v? Guess your blood pressure was the only item on the aggenda at the time?

On a serious note, I can't say i'm an exSPURT but I think you're spot on with the clean and reclean and just add plenty of Lanotec.
Ooops almost forgot.....................
add a snorkel to your letter to Santa
.
Cheers
PeteS

[bitdist Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bitdist]

Chippy
If you sat in the deep water for a while, it might be worth checking the auto fluid as well. The breather does not go very high up at all, and it would not take much water in to destroy the box
By the way water will go into the auto before it goes into the transfer case (even though they share a breather)
When I get the next one, that is one of the "must do" jobs on the list

[craig Member Find all posts View Profile Close craig]

Check you diffs too

[lc120_man Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close lc120_man]

Chippy,

Lucky you got a Petrol Prado . Personally I would not use K&N fillter offroad at all... It let all the crap in which standard filter won't...
I can find you a link if you want about the perfomance of stooping
particles by filters... K&N was worst....

I think it's time to add a snorkel to your shopping list

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Thanks for the tips guys ...

A snorkel has moved to the top of the shopping list ... with SWMBO's full approval ... she was the one who got to make the kids lunch in the middle of a mud pit, on an ant's nest, and entertain them while they watched dad pull the car apart ops: ... followed very soon by water blind, winch, locker .....

Diff breather hoses are up on the firewall, as high as I can get them, without going for a roof rack mount :lol: - but I haven't got around to raising the trans breather yet. Submersion was only for a matter of seconds - but I will be checking the trans fluid as well.

I certainly learnt a lot. A water blind would have helped but it didn't look that deep when the other guys got through (my mistake). It was totally driver error that got me to the deep bit ... and I reckon we were really lucky to have it shut down when it did - rather than sucking a quantity of water into the pots. Also very lucky that momentum carried us almost all the way through before we came to a stop - we weren't stuck in waist deep water.

We had one more crossing like this later in the afternoon. The others got through - but it had a similar deep bit - and I wasn't prepared to do it all again. There was no other way around, we were 100 metres from the road out and the only other way out of the bush was to turn around and go back the way we had come - NOT. So I shut it down, the lads hooked a few straps together and Leachy towed me through. An inspection immediately afterwards showed everything was dry - phew !

Seeing how much crap got through the filter I think I'll be putting it back in the spare parts box and keeping it only as an emergency spare. I'm about to head down to Repco and get a new paper filter ... to get me through to the next service.

Cheers
Chippy

[clifton Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close clifton]

Hi Chippy,
You have probably checked this! but It might be wise to check the ECU/ECM using a scan gauge for any error messages. The Tojo Check Engine light would probably be illuminated in any case so maybe you got away with it.

Phew Chippy I would be buying a Lotto ticket with the snorkel and Tranny breathers extensions.

[Damien Parker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Damien Parker]

It had to happen sooner or later...

I was very lucky with ours after having it submersed up to bonnet level for the better part of 500 meters with no snorkel. :shock: :?


Was the first thing i bought for the car after that...

After dumping the diff, transfer and gearbox fluids.

I count my lucky stars that i got through that night alive. I did some very foolish things and learnt many lessons.

Are there any pictures of Chippy doing his best to be the New captain of the Prado class attack sub??

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Chippy, sounds like you were very lucky, like LC120 siad i would not use a K&N filter either and i know form my days on the Jeep forum most of the guys an their have the same opinion. Good for the highway runs, car runs nice etc but out in the bush happy to have standard one.
my 2 cents.

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

No Toyo engine light ... perhaps I dodged a bullet there ops:

Captain Chippy's Submarine ops: ops: ops:

All was looking OK until the planet's surface dropped away and the water level didn't. There is one pic that I haven't put up. Bek took a shot from inside the cab, just as we went under, and there is no view out of the windscreen ... just water. I think Jeff's pics (below) give it a bit of perspective though.

















Cheers
Chippy

[Matt Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt]

its looks like you hit it a bit hard too..

water crossings you want to start making that bow wave, not part the red sea. I know it would have been a bit muddy and you wanted the momentum to get thru, but i would have gone in much slower than that..

20/20 hindsight of course, but ive been there and dunked my last 4wd and had to clean out filters and the dizzy.

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Yeah, good point Matt. Like you say, in hindsight, it probably would have kept the tidal wave down and given me a better chance of keeping to the right line and keeping breathing all the way through.

Cheers
Chippy

[Grandeman Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Grandeman]

We tend to be a reactive lot don't we?

I didn't get my snorkel until after my experience in the Newcastle floods... ops:

[Bomber-74 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bomber-74]

I did the same with my first 4WD (4runner). Looking for a specky picture and stop 3/4 way through the hole, got a snorkel a week later. Learnt my lesson and have ordered my snorkel for the Prado. I have the snorkel just need the prado now to fit it to.

Nice pics anyway, good to see people using their vehicles to have fun