Breathers for water crossings

[VladTepes]

Has anyone fitted/extended breathers on their Defender for water crossings ?

What needs breathers... diffs, transfer case, gearbox... anything else?

If you have done the work can you explain what I need to do. Please assume I am an idiot and explain it to me as if I was simple. :wink:

I was thinking of running the breather tubes up to the top of the snorkel and looping them over to ensure no rain etc gets in.

Also what of the timing case and ? plugs I hear about. When do I use them (and remove them) - where do they fit and where can I get them, aside from a LR dealer (spit!)

Thanks for your help.

Cheers

[Grimace]

I extended the diff breathers on my rangie, not a hard task just work out were you wanna run the breather line and approx meter required.

I used 3mm ID fuel hose and some cable ties (not much to it) I run the rear up the passenger side linkage along the chassis and up into the top corner of my engine bay. The front come along the front passeenger side radius arm and up next to the rear line to the same corner. I simply made a double loop at the end (about the size of a closed fist) with the opening pointin down and fixed both the lops vertical to the side of the firewall.

Some people have mention to get miniture air filters fitted on the ends or right near the ends aswell..... I simply havnt got round to it but I will do it one day style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

As for the xcase and so forth I might have to bye some more breather line :wink: just gotta find out what size and length b4 i do anything style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif


Anthony

[VladTepes]

Hmm - what is 3mm ID fuel hose?

How do you attach the hose to the breathers in a waterproof manner?

[Phoenix]

Actually I was contemplating this the other day, and thinking that it wouldn't be a bad idea to do on grover.

[incisor]

is what i have done on mine

i used a small pnuematic filter on one end of the hose and a s/s crimp on the other end of the hose.

[incisor]

Originally posted by VladTepes
Hmm - what is 3mm ID fuel hose?

How do you attach the hose to the breathers in a waterproof manner?

3mm internal diameter fuel line

you can use either cable ties or small stainless steel crimps you clip up with pliers.

[VladTepes]

Don't suppose you have any piccies you can upload ?

[Defender200Tdi]

Depending on how deep you want to go, and how much work you want to do, there are potentially 9 breathers to install/extend. They are
1) Rear axle, which currently has a raised intake that teminates above the chassis rail on the left rear.
2) Transfer box which currently terminates on the bulkhead at the back of the rocker cover
3) Gearbox which currently terminates on the bulkhead at the back of the rocker cover
4) Front axle which currently terminates on the bulkhead at the back of the rocker cover
5) Fuel pump currently has a small length of hose about an inch long attached
6) Power steering pump reservoir currently has only a breather hole in the cap
7) Timing cover which currently has no breather facility
8 & 9) Front swivel housings which also currently have no breather facility.

If you check here (http://www.red-ibex.com/breathers.htm) there is an explanation for installing extended breathers for the Power Steering, Timing Cover & Fuel Injection Pump.

The swivel breathers are usually done by replacing the filler plugs (the top ones) with tapered barb fittings and attaching suitable size tubing to them.

The Timing Cover & Bell Housing wading plugs should ordinarily be kept in your vehicle console or toolbox. This is to ensure that both housings have an open drain point to allow any potential oil leak to escape and not contaminate the Timing Belt or the Clutch. Whenever wading is contemplated the plugs should then be fitted and removed either after water has been crossed, or at least at the end of the day.

It seems that the easiest way to extend the existing breather pipes is to cut a small piece off one and take it to a motor shop. They can then supply rubber fuel hose of the correct size to fit tightly over the existing pipe. As long as it's a tight fit :oops: there doesn't seem to be any necessity to use clamps etc.

In reality, I don't think many people bother with breathers for the Fuel Pump, Power Steering Reservoir, Timing Cover or the Swivel Housings unless frequent deep wading is their thing. Most people seem to just extend the existing breathers for the front & rear axles geabox and transfer box up to the top of their snorkels.

Anyway, that's the way I understand it all. Hope it's of some help.


Paul

[VladTepes]

Excellent !

Thanks mate.

Where can I get a set of wading plugs without selling my grandmother?

What depth of water could i safely cross w/out extending breathers etc.


Cheers

VladTepes

[Defender200Tdi]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Where can I get a set of wading plugs without selling my grandmother?[/b][/quote]

First check that they're not already there. You may need to do nothing more than take them out & put them in your toolbox! Failing that, try Rovparts in Adelaide (08 ) 83691322 or Karcraft in Sydney (02) 9739178. Either place will do a lot better than any dealer.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>What depth of water could i safely cross w/out extending breathers etc.[/b][/quote]

This is a good question. In standard form, I reckon the manual is about right i.e., 500mm, but this is because of the location of the air intake. If you have a snorkel, then the next limiting factor is the rear axle breather, which, as I said above, terminates just above the chassis rail in the left rear wheel arch. If you were to extend this, say forward to the rear of the rocker cover where the other three breathers are, then you'd be safe almost up to bonnet height for short periods, and that's probably deep enough for most of us. If your door seals are like mine, then you'll be treading water at that height if you loose momentum!

By the way, I haven't extended any breathers yet on my vehicle. But I live in South Australia and it's so dry here, we get excited driving through a puddle!!


Paul

[weeds]

hey vlad, how did you go with the breathers....

[disco2hse]

hey vlad, how did you go with the breathers....

Probably can't remember :p:p

:wasntme:

[rar110]

I've seen extended breather lines terminate in the engine bay with an in line filter to prevent anything getting sucked into the breather line. A simple effective idea I thought.

[rick130]

Probably can't remember :p:p

:wasntme:

:lol2:

[Ivan]

Vlad

If you want to pop over I can show the extended breathers on my 90. I also have some spare hose too.
Weeds I'll bring some stuff over on Sunday to show how I did mine.
Sorry just realised how old this thread was. Offer still stands though.

Ivan

[isuzutoo-eh]

One of my friends used petrol radio control car air filters on his extended breathers, they are usually a chromed plastic or anodised aluminium housing with foam filter element. Pretty colours like purple and blue! He had them terminate just below roof level behind his jap ute's cab. He was working in the WA mines at the time and reckoned they a good thing.

[lewy]

I used irrigation dripper line from bunnings to repair mine there is two types get the soft plyable type, also you can get joiners etc