Snorkel & Rain

[John W]

Driving home at 100 km/h into very heavy rain tonight; had me wondering if any one has ever sucked in too much rain and caused trouble with their Snorkel. I have a D2 TD5 with a Safari and I seem to remember reading somewhere that you have to slow down in heavy rain. Something that I have never done so curious if anyone has ever had trouble. Tell us your story if you have one.

[Grover-98]

I have never had any dramas and wouldn't worry about it but if you are turn the head around so it is facing the back of the vehicle :)

[Sprint]

i doubt you'd actually manage to get enough water in there to do anything more than make the filter a lil damp.....

[John W]

Sounds like myth is busted. From my experience and your posts sounds like someone should tell Safari not to include "slow down in heavy rain" in the instructions.

[Sprint]

think of the velocity of the air going through the snorkle, the size of the water drops getting sucked in, the number of times the air changes direction before it even gets to the filter, everything except water vapour (even then not ALL of the vapour) is going to either fall out of suspension in the snorkle, or its simply going to hit an internal surface and slowly trickle down to the airbox.... where it *should* drain out of the ducks bum vent on the bottom of your airbox.....

*if* you've literally sealed everything so the entire system is watertight right through to the intake manifold, you'll need a fair bit of water to get into the system before it does more than make your air filter soggy

[Grover-98]

Sounds like myth is busted. From my experience and your posts sounds like someone should tell Safari not to include "slow down in heavy rain" in the instructions.

This warning is simply to save their rear ends from any one complaing from something like this happening

[PhilipA]

I have definitely found rain wets the air cleaner element in heavy rain in my RRC with LRA snorkel with ARB type scoop. When I changed my element, it was stretched and misshapen from being wet then drying out, but there were no holes

I now turn mine around while at home on the coast.

If you look, none of the UK snorkels like Mantec have forward facing scoops,and neither do the Toyota factory snorkels.
Regards Philip A

[Yorkie]

i think you will find the safari brand snorkels have a system where the raindrops hit the back of the air ram and then the water feeds down to the outside. check the below link

Safari - Snorkels (http://www.safarisnorkel.com/docs/product.htm)

cheers
yorkie :cool:

[TwoUp]

Took a D2 on a trip as well as others. He his a creek crossing very fast and apart from popping out the headlights, enough water went into the snorkle to stop the car. When we opened the air cleaner box the air cleaner was saturated.

His greatest concern was the sensors under the passenger seat as he sat in the creek awaiting recovery.

Regards,
PeterW

[dandlandyman]

I'm guessing that the Donaldson/MF pre-cleaner snorkel-top may be better in heavy rain, but it'd only really necessary if you're driving in torrential rain on a regular basis. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much - I'm sure they've tested the system under those conditions.

Here's another thought, though. If the rain was heavy enough to cause concern about water ingress, you'd want to drive slower anyway.

Dan.
69 2A 88" pet4, 74 3 109" pet4, 68 2B FC pet6.

[Reads90]

i think you will find the safari brand snorkels have a system where the raindrops hit the back of the air ram and then the water feeds down to the outside. check the below link

Safari - Snorkels (http://www.safarisnorkel.com/docs/product.htm)

cheers
yorkie :cool:


yeah they do have a system to stop rain going down the pipe

[Ace]

This warning is simply to save their rear ends from any one complaing from something like this happening

just like the warning on hair dryers in motels saying not to use them in the shower. :D

I have never had an issue with mine and its sealed up tight with no drain holes.

However next time you do drive in heavy rain just pop the top off the air filter box and have a look see, in all honesty i have never looked.

[waynep]

If you're concerned get a Donaldson pre-cleaner head unit. The air gets sucked in from the bottom so no chance of water entering.
They're only about $40 and very effective at trapping bugs and dust too.

[zulu Delta 534]

Simple humidity is enough to get the filter element damp quite regularly even without the heavy downpour.
Spray off roads from other vehicles probably is a greater worry than the heavy downpour as the water is already atomised at the initial pick up point and therefore extremely hard to separate. The turbulence of the airflow tends to collect and separate most of the large droplets but the air itself will still be pretty damp once it hits the filter element, hence it is wise to check them fairly often.
Of course on the other side of the coin, one hears that moist cool air is a desirable asset to combustion in an engine!!
Dust, often regarded as the main reason for air filtering, does tend to compound the problem at an alarming rate when mixed with high humidity as is often experienced in the tropics during the wetter seasons.
Regards
Glen

[rovercare]

I'm guessing that the Donaldson/MF pre-cleaner snorkel-top may be better in heavy rain, but it'd only really necessary if you're driving in torrential rain on a regular basis. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much - I'm sure they've tested the system under those conditions.

.

My Donaldson pre cleaner fills with water in heavy rain:eek:, needs to be emptied after a few hours of driving, only in HEAVY rain;)

[LandieMan]

The Mantec Snorkel on my 300Tdi has a U-shaped plastic thingo at it's lowest point with a rubber flapped dump valve so that if any moisture get's into the snorkel inlet it would never get to the filter or engine. The dump valve would be 150-200mm below the filter.

I've done plenty of wet weather driving and wading and have never had any issues.

Cheers, Iain

[rovercare]

Hey, I'll go one better, this is taken just now, when I did a few things in town and drove home this arvo, it was teaming down with rain, probably 30mins in it total

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/04/1393.jpg

Keep in mind its a point at the bottom, so it will take ALOT to fill, but goes to show how much water your sucking in



Water injection........cooler air charge.....more fuel.......:twisted:

[PhilipA]

Just a further comment on the "self draining" properties of the ARB type head.

I took mine off last week to test a Donaldson "Topspin" I bought a long time ago.
When I removed the head a great many flies , bugs,seeds, rocks etc etc fell out of the outer drain area. So not only water is thrown into the overflow area and unless you clean it regularly, I am sure it would get completely blocked in a short time.
Now hands up all of you that take off your head regularly? Hmmm not many I think.
Regards Philip A

[Jojo]

Here's another thought, though. If the rain was heavy enough to cause concern about water ingress, you'd want to drive slower anyway.


That's a very valid point!!!
Apart from that, the water entering the snorkel during a downpour (even a prolonged one) is negligible. If you are really concerned, you may wish to fit a cyclone, but I am unsure if one will fit a Safari snorkel.

Cheers

[DEFENDERZOOK]

whoa.....for an instant there i thought you said hiclone.........


i had to go back and re-read it.......

[Jojo]

Just to clarify, I am talking about this item:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/04/1370.jpg

...and not any Hiclone-crap!:mad:!:angel::wasntme:

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Morning Jojo,
has the sun come out yet??:p

I ran a safari for over ten years on the D1 and never experienced a problem,, no misshapen filters, or water-injection,,

[Wortho]

turn the head around so it is facing the back of the vehicle


Safari ram head is just that a Ram head, high pressure inside the head forces water and dust from the snorkel, turn it around and you have a low pressure in the head and you just suck everything straight in.

[Jojo]

Morning Jojo,
has the sun come out yet??:p


Hi Pedro,
yep, sun finally came out. Still chilly though:firedevil:. Sometimes I envy you, I have to confess :cool::).
Cheers