Thread: tdi and water crossings

From experience I can tell you over the Bonnet is no drama on a short crossing, even without a snorkel. In a Defender 300 Tdi I've seen water come in over the windows and flood the vehicle with no ill effect.

As above not really much of a problem with water crossings I've had water 1/2 up the drivers window driving through flood water in North WA(snorkel is fitted)
The other things to consider are the various beathers on diffs, GB and transfer case

I also carry a couple of little brass plugs that screw into the bottom of the timing case cover and bell housing to keep the mud out of them only use them when 4wd in really dusty or muddy conditions tho

depends how high is really high!! up to wipers without snorkel is fine!!

just be careful dont go that deep for long and be ready to shut down real quick if your in water thats got a measured depth of deeper than the headlight bulbs and you run out of motion.

static depths to the top of the parked wipers is easily doable without a snorkle with the right preperation. (and no I dont mean fitting a snorkle)

Originally Posted by vogue

With all the wet weather now and the high water crossings in the Vic high country, i was wondering how do the tdi's fair in deep crossings (ie over the bonnet)? Presuming it had a properly sealed snorkle, is there anything else to watch for? I currently have a petrol Prado 90 and even with a bra on it always plays up after water crossings. And i want a disco bad.

That's because it's a playdo.I've had my disco 1 in water over the bonnet no ingress into the vehicle or the filter box.It was in the Qld floods of this January and the reason was an emergency retrieval of another 4WD ( not LR) that just stopped due to water ingress. My reason was for a rescue of the occupants that included a small child.I had a snorkel which I had previously sealed myself just to "make sure" and it never let me down.Normally I would not have attempted this without a tarp over the front of the bonnet,had none so just had to take the chance.

i'm more refering to anything electrical that may cause problems. I used to have an '89 Rangie and it didn't like the deep water either, and i've heard that a lot of the new diesels out there don't like getting there feet wet.

The electricals are the part that always worries me too, the fan gets wat in it, alternator and fuses etc.

Trying to clean it all out after is or can be a nightmare.

It also may not show straight away what the issues are till 6 months later when things suddenly start going crazy.
Corrosion is another worry and dirty water getting into carpets and upholstery etc.

I may just be soft but I stop when it gets to just under my sill which is rough 450mm.
Owners handbook says 500mm is max wading depth and I pretty much stick to that.
Been called chicken on 2 occasions but guess who had their vehicle going at end of trip. You guessed it, the chicken
My good mates Patrol that he though was unstopable sure was till the snorkel had a leak and as he parked for too long on a crossing as another vehicle had to get going again, it must have leaked somewhat.

He also went back to TJM the installer of his gear but they said suddenly that its a raised air intake and not to be a conversion to make a land vehicle a submarine.
I will never forget that.

Travel with caution and enjoy.

But are the tdi's that much better than the V8's?