Water tight dizzy?

[Mikey0211]

hey guys....

I have always had a few problems with my 110 3.5 V8 when ever it goes through a bit of water... it coughs and splutters and sometimes even stall out all together.

Its not that the water gets high enough to submerge the dizzy but even a splash will let the steam off the engine get in and cause some problems... a quick blow out and she starts straight away...

Ive got my distrubutor off at the moment giving it a good clean and was wondering whether its safe to block off the 2 breather holes at the bottom of the housing and silicone up the cap to make it a bit more water tight.???

I know it CAN be done but not sure whether it SHOULD be done.. am I likely to cause any other problems if I do it???

Cheers

[Andre']

Hi Mikey

I had this problem many years ago & nearly lost my vehicle in the sea, turned out to be a cracked cap, couldnt see it with the eye.

[mike 90 RR]

A spray of Defogger inside the cap
New spark leads // Good quality set
Spray grease (Lanolin) over all electrics ... Cap / Leads /

One story I heard was a hand full of Vasoline over the dizzy & cap prior to water crossing

Hope it helps

Mike

:)

[Blknight.aus]

go buy a cheapy 12v air pump like the one that you use to blow up a mattress. put it inside the cab, link all your breathers together in a small jiffy box add additional lines to the dizzy, starter + bell housing. slowly downsize the output hole on the pump till with the engine running its only putting out about 1psi and plumb that into the jiffy box.

waterproofing done.

[isuzurover]

As long as everything is in good nick, giving the dizzy, plugs and leads a coating of silicone spray or teflon spray should be sufficient (up to the point of complete immersion).

Or convert to electronic (plugpack) ignition, and mount the important bits inside the cabin.

[DeeJay]

I'm not sure what year your County is but my '85 had this problem big time.
The main issue may not be the steam but is your coil in line with the fan blade? I ended up putting a drink bottle inverted over it and sealed up with heaps of sealastic. I then fashioned a removeable splash guard for the Dizzy. It fixed 90% of the problems.

[Armadillo]

Takes me back to my Mini days - used a heavy duty rubber glove (:eek:)...over the dissy with the tips of 4 of the fingers cut for the spark plug leads.......... Now...to find an 8 fingered glove. ;)

[BigJon]

Now...to find an 8 fingered glove. ;)

Nup, nine fingered... unless you aren't counting the thumb :D:p.

[Armadillo]

oops...yep your right...:o.

[Sprint]

of course, you could allways try to hunt down the stainless waterproof sleeve/dizzy cap setup that was availible in the UK for the army V8's......

dont plug the breathers, the dizzy, by nature of operation, creates ionised air, and if you block the breathers, you'll have the devils own time trying to figure out what your new ignition problems are

[camel_landy]

+1 for the spray on silicone grease. I used to use that method on my old V8.

HTH

M

[Sprint]

if i've said it once i've said it a billion times

KEEP SILICONE AWAY FROM CARS

your panelbeater/spraypainter will thank you for it

[Blknight.aus]

you panel beat or spray paint a landy?


since when?

[Sprint]

believe it or not dave, some people actually use a spraygun to apply paint, i know its tradition in the armed forces to apply paint with something resembling a yard broom, but not everyone is in the army!

[camel_landy]

if i've said it once i've said it a billion times

KEEP SILICONE AWAY FROM CARS

your panelbeater/spraypainter will thank you for it

Well, try not to crash it then... :p

M

[Mikey0211]

Well, bit of an update on my problem.......

I had the engine running and gave the dizzy a bit of a spray with the hose... It conked out instantly..... ummmmm i thought..

So, off to MR auto and picked up another dizzy cap and a good set of 9mm leads.......


Walaaaaaa!!!!!!... Put the hose on it again, and she kept purring like a kitten...

So, mabey it was a small crack in the old cap????? or possibly the leads wernt all that good around the boots.... not sure.. what r your thoughts?

[incisor]

what r your thoughts?
long lost memories.... ;)