Water Resistant P38

[PeterAllen]

Hi All,
I am thinking about ways to make my P38 more resistant to wading damage by waterproofing various electrical items in the engine bay and the computer under the drivers seat. I have seen a number of folk get stuck and drown their vehicles in reasonably shallow water and figure there must be a better way to protect the vehicle electrics and air intake to allow some confidence when doing water crossings. Has anyone accomplished this? If so please advise what was done. Mods do not need to be permanent fixtures and could be short or long term solutions. Anyone?

[Keithy P38]

Mulgo do a raised ecu kit for the new defenders, surely it can be done for P38's!

Other essentials would be raised air intake and a good hit of wd40 on the coils and sensors pre crossing.

[PeterAllen]

Thanks Keith.
I was thinking of a sealable plastic box of suitable size ( Tupperware) style to sit the Becm in under the drivers seat with the appropriate cable access holes suitably sealed up with a sealable lid that could easily be installed when required. coiuld even line the bottom with some absorbent material incase of slight leaks to stop any possible pooling. Not that I have any intention of water getting inside but have seen footage of leaks that have created havoc for the unwary. Better to be prepared.
I have read on a uk site that there is adequate cable length to relocate the becm to the inside wall under the dash, but I would prefer to leave it where it is but in a watertight container.

[Hoges]

Thanks Keith.
I was thinking of a sealable plastic box of suitable size ( Tupperware) style to sit the Becm in under the drivers seat with the appropriate cable access holes suitably sealed up with a sealable lid that could easily be installed when required. coiuld even line the bottom with some absorbent material incase of slight leaks to stop any possible pooling. Not that I have any intention of water getting inside but have seen footage of leaks that have created havoc for the unwary. Better to be prepared.
I have read on a uk site that there is adequate cable length to relocate the becm to the inside wall under the dash, but I would prefer to leave it where it is but in a watertight container.

The top of the BECM is a huge heat sink. Putting it in a tupperware box is inviting it to cook itself internally... Best bet is to raise the EAS to max height and don't exceed max depth of water... or don't cross flooded roads:angel:

[benji]

THere's probably very little to worry about in the engine bay. I degreased mine the other day and gave it an absolute hammering with the pressure washer, especially anything electrical.

It started and ran fine, and whilst running I gave it another go just to see what would happen - nothing.
There's a drain hole in the bottom of the fusebox and ecu housings which i'd be sealing up. Then looking at the gaskets around the fuse box and ecu housing lids - as a tiny bit of water got through; but that's with the pressure nozel 6 inches away.

A couple of years ago we went out for a day with the Subaru club. One of the blokes got his forester bogged up to the review mirrors; and after towing out (after a good 10 minutes in there) there wasn't a drop of water in the cabin.

Have been wondering every since about blocking off the door drain holes and ...the rest?

[Keithy P38]

If you are going to block the drain hole I would make it something removable (a bung) so water escapes when washing the car, etc.

But that does sound like a good idea, blocking the drains. Especially the ecu ones.

I wonder what else might let water in? Spare wheel well?

[Razza's Rangie]

Hey!

I have had my range rover up to the top of the bonnet in water whilst crossing the daintree river a few times now, ive been stuck in the middle of a river, and ive crossed a few rivers on the way to cape tribulation.

I dont have a raised air intake,
I havent water proofed my ECU or any other electrics

I have driven with caution and after training
I have walked each crossing and stuck to my plan (yep even the daintree with the bloody crocs)
I have always had my recovery gear ready and attached
I have always traveled with other vehicles just in case.

the p38 is a very very capable vehicle which can far exceed the limits set in the handbook. Drive sensibly and with caution, and if you don't think that you will make the crossing, consider sending someone with a snorkel over first to tow you over, or Don't cross the river and find another way over it.

I know Paul from hardrange.com makes a raised air intake for the p38 for extra piece of mind and if you contact your local marine motor guys (like the boating places) they usually have guys that can waterproof ECU's because they use this for outboard motors, just remember it needs to DISSIPATE HEAT and BE WATERPROOF for the ECU.

The only problem with moving the ecu to "higher ground" is that i think that there are thirteen ( im not sure this is just a guess) different conectors in the BECM!!! so thats a massive loom going back up under the dash, not impossible but a hard task no doubt.

Anyhow hope that helps somewhat?
Cheers
Ryan

[benji]

I havn't had water over hub height on the p38 yet, but have had it a few inches above the windscreen wipers on my 93 :angel:

I completely agree Razza, the p38s are hugely capable, and if you can keep traction with a good bow wave, water entering the cabin or the engine bay is rarely a problem; but I have been diffed out with water halfway up the doors and it doesn't take long for water to make it's way in (the door latch is another entry point as I found out...)

In the past i've blocked off door drains with gaffa tape, and it works a treat. I forgot to take it off one time, and it held the water perfectly.

I wonder if the door seals would be water tight as they're so much better than the classics.

[FANTOM P38]

After my own little episode recently involving water getting inside & into BECM, I did a bit of looking into various entry points to see what I could do to prevent this from occuring again.
Sadly there isn't much hope, even taping drain holes in door ( I reckon this was my entry point ) you would only be delaying the inevitable as just above them are the front speakers which would also allow access and I don't think there is much that could be done unless you were to remove them & seal up holes!
So moral of story don't get stuck in deep water!

If you do, scream out to your mates to get you out pronto before water level rises inside. Ain't that right Dave.

[PeterAllen]

From what I can see the BECM is pretty well tucked away under the drivers seat and I have felt little if any heat generated from the outside top of the unit. I hear what is said about the top of the BECM being a large heat sink but given the poor general air circulation under the seat shouldn't there be some heat felt from the top? Can't see why housing the unit in an open top plastic container would be an issue and then when doing a water crossing putting a lid on it, would cause any problems.
Thanks all for your other suggestions

[Keithy P38]

I think you could do it mate. I might look into it myself!

[DT-P38]

I think you could do it mate. I might look into it myself!

I agree.

Never taken mine out but watched and assisted with Fantoms drowning recovery and I reckon its a very do-able mod.

Now to find some LR branded Tupperware!!!

[Keithy P38]

My first P38 suffered that fate also. Water was over the bonnet. It took about 5mins for the water to get high enough in the cab to send the becm crazy, what I think did more damage was the relays in the engine bay being flooded. I got mine running again but it was not happy.

[benji]

With the BECM overheating, you could always extend the small hose that goes to the vent between your legs down to the BECM box.

I used 3M gaffa tape ($25 a roll), and it worked perfectly. I rained in the proceeding few days and there was a lot of water in the rear doors, and it didn't leak a bit. I honestly feel like this solution would hold.

[poleonpom]

you could also install a boat sump pump, it won't stop the inevitable, but it may buy you a bit of extra time

Sent from my WM8850-mid using Tapatalk 2

[PaulP38a]

A sealed tupperware box would give you a few minutes breathing space for the BeCM, and you would need to do same under the passenger seat for the EAS, TC and EAT ECU's. Then there is the SRS ECU at the rear of the cubby box.

From experience I can tell you that water certainly gets in through the drain holes in the doors, so taping them up is a wise move. It also gets in through the bungs in the spare wheel well. I am pretty sure it can get in through the transmission selector and the duck's bums on the a/c drain. Someone told me that there is a hole low on the firewall that lets water in too.

My thoughts are that the real solution lies in a manual kill switch mounted high on the dash which cuts power from the battery completely. Electrical stuff that gets wet can be dried out with metho and sunlight if it is not fused. Electrical stuff that still has power applied when it gets wet is less likely to be recoverable.

I'd love to see a TAFE project to relocate the low sitting ECU's to a box in the rear roof area. This would possibly be accompanied by a switch to kill power in the door and seat electrics, and the speakers.

The electrical sounds of my old P38 drowning in 2008 still haunt me to this day ;)

[wanglemoose]

these things dont seem to let water in like other rovers, ive had min bout 8 inches up the windscreen, but didnt get bogged or stop moving, and had no water inside the cab. i would have thought it would have come in through the vents at the bottom of the windscreen but i might have just been lucky. a big emergency stop button on the dash, like used on earthmoving machinery, would probably be the safest option. if theres no power going through anything when it gets wet then it will be fine after it gets dried out.