Snorkel/RAI or wank

Eventually my 110 will have to make good as a remote area expedition vehicle. I can drain water out of things, dry out things and take all sorts of care where needed, but I can't rebuild an Isuzu diesel on a mud flat and I sure can't carry a spare. My snorkel is being made by APT as we speak.

I found when travelling in the Tdi with it's Australian made Safari ''snorkel'' all it did was fill the air filter with crap,the TDCi with it's British made RAI leaves the filter clean.Snorkels/RAI whatever aren't all made equal. Pat

Depends which head you use for the snorkel.
If you use the dome type head pre filter on the safari it runs a lot cleaner.

A couple of observations and experiences from my perspective.
The reason that I fitted a factory RAI to my Disco 3 was that on one occasion I was towed across a reasonably well running stream where there was a risk that the factory intake may have been covered by the water building on the upstream side. Using the straw with a hole in the side analogy above the Disco probably would have been fine with it's perforated intake pipe 50mm higher inside the guard but the fact that a Landcruiser towed me, engine off, across the creek firmed my resolve to get the RAI.

SWMBO's Wrangler has an AEV snorkel fitted and we were crossing the Macquarie river near Hill End with water no deeper than 250-300 mm and a splash went into the forward facing inlet. There ended up being 500ml of water in the sealed airbox and the filter element was soaked. We now run a Donaldson pre cleaner on the snorkel top and have solved that problem with the added benefit of keeping the filter element substantially cleaner. Doesn't look pretty but its certainly effective

Regards,

Tote

Since we're on the topic, which of these RAI / Snorkel heads are the best to use? You have the standard scoop type which is what comes with Safari, Air Tec, etc., then you have the mushroom heads which is what we Defender owners use and are used by a few cruisers as well, then we have those clear plastic bowls (some with filter, some without).

So which among them are the best to use?

The scoop type claims ram air effect but as was just stated, it can also dirty up a filter real quick.

The mushroom heads, they seem to work and have heard little feedback on them.

The clear bowl pops up every now and then and there seems to be even less feedback on them.

From the looks of things, the mushroom heads seem the go but what do all y'all think?

From my perspective the clear bowl ( donaldson) type are cheap at farm machinery suppliers. The downside is that the bowls go yellow very quickly but cost a small amount to replace.
Regards,
Tote

Mantec is the best IMHO,Donaldson are cheap rubbish,they go hard and break within 12 months in direct sunlight. Pat

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 4wheeler

To illustrate the improvement with a well sealed RAI, I just took the ram head off my Safari snorkel, started my 2.2 engine at idle then blanked off the intake. The engine dropped revs immediately and I noticed the snorkel body began collapsing inwards where it covers the intake, so I had to stop.

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That's a bit worrying. I had a 300Tdi with the safari snorkel (moulded plastic) and it would stall if you stuck your palm over the top of the intake (with the ram head off). Either they don't make them like they used to or the 2.2 sucks! (Literally)

If I was doing decent water crossings or driving dusty roads I would definitely have a snorkel. Peace of mind in water crossings, and the ability to have a 'pre' filrer in the snorkel head was great. They are easy to change if they get dirty.

Cheers

Dan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HardCharger

Since we're on the topic, which of these RAI / Snorkel heads are the best to use? ...

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Thanks, I was sort of hoping this thread would turn into something like this.

Now, I do remember from the series 2 days, there was an oil bath that the "air" had to go thru.
Fun days

I'm not saying which is best or worst.

I've had:

* a 75 series land cruiser ute with the standard toyota snorkel - nil issues;
* an 80 series land cruiser ute with safari snorkel - nil issues;
* a GQ Nissan Patrol with safari snorkel - nil issues;
* my current tdci 2014 110 Defender with safari snorkel, standard ram head - nil issues, then changed to Syklone head - still nil issues.

All these vehicles were driven in very dusty off road conditions, and it does seem that the skylone head results in less dust being located in the air box filter material. (at least from my inspections anyway).

Ultimately it's up to you, of course :)