Thread: Water in the cabin - Dealing with it or preventing it?

Fly screen tube into the gaps in the door seals and then seal up the gap.

I agree with Slunnie re the door seals.
Obviously minimising water ingress is the way to go, soaked carpets etc are no fun.... apart from anything else they will stink.
The speaker cones are made of some sort of plastic and don't seem to be too badly effected (mine have been wet a few times).
If you're going to get stuck in a 'real' river crossing, be aware that your auto transmission ECU is under the passenger seat! Pretty exy if it gets wet but it's ok as long as the water in the car is less than say 6" deep
The obvious other things are... do you have a snorkel fitted?
Also at least for deeper crossings, a tarp over the front of the car is a good idea to stop the water hitting the fan and spraying it all over the ECU.

Oh, one more thing...... make sure you out the aircon to 'recirc' or you'll get water coming in through the vents. It doesn't take a very deep crossing to get water running up over the bonnet of a D2.

In woolworths they sell clear plastic food storage boxes with blue clip on lids (4 clips, one per side) and an oring seal. There's one large enough to fit the auto ecu in but still fit under the seat.

You'll need to (ideally) remove the seat and then unbolt the ecu, drill the base of the box to suit the bolts and fit with washers with silastic to the box. Then place the ecu inside the box. You'll also need a large grommet to fit the wiring through, drill an appropriate sized hole for the grommet in the side of the box and pass wiring then grommet through hole. Seal everything and bolt down the ecu.

In another thread it's mentioned to leave it for general running without a lid and only fit for crossings.

I gave my work HI-LUX a swim in the Barnett River on the Gibb River Road last week. The River was running at a measley 800mm. All was going well untill 3/4 of the way across it got stuck in soft sand. That's where it stayed for 20mins until I got it snatched out. The cabin 200mm of water throughout. It destroyed the following, Sat phone dock, Brand new uhf, 2 front speakers, my ego and so on. The best way to stop any of this happening is to ensure evrything electronic is placed up as high as possible.
My new HI-LUX was waitng for me when I returned to Derby already fitted with the above elctronics plus more. This vehicle willl soon go to auto lecs to have the floor bound electronics mounted on a Milford type barrier over the rear window. Other than the electronic damage the vehicle suffered zero lasting effects. It was all dried out by the wonderful Kimberley climate and back in service 3 days later.
Cheers
Rob

Originally Posted by wardy1

The obvious other things are... do you have a snorkel fitted?
Also at least for deeper crossings, a tarp over the front of the car is a good idea to stop the water hitting the fan and spraying it all over the ECU.

Oh, one more thing...... make sure you out the aircon to 'recirc' or you'll get water coming in through the vents. It doesn't take a very deep crossing to get water running up over the bonnet of a D2.

Not presently but i have a few tough choices! I can get my UHF sorted out or my snorkel sorted out first, and at this current point i have more need for the uhf, so if i rocked up with a snorkel my mother would probably have conniptions.
It's 1st on my list now that i have bullbar and UHF sorted out.

Cheers for all the input guys, ill find a quiet day and turn my landie into an ad hoc submarine

Cheers
Muppet

How would you go, getting a dead auto ecu, cutting out the socket from the housing and also another plug/section of harness from a donor vehicle and making an extension to relocate the ecu? Any issue in longer runs of wiring?

Originally Posted by clubagreenie

How would you go, getting a dead auto ecu, cutting out the socket from the housing and also another plug/section of harness from a donor vehicle and making an extension to relocate the ecu? Any issue in longer runs of wiring?

Also interested in this notion. It is in a horrible spot at the moment. Only LR can make a car that allows oil to get in the ECU lol. How far could/would we relocate it? What's ideal? So many questions.

Well I was referring to the auto ECU under the passengers seat but I'd do a TD's ECU as well if someone sent me the harness and ECU to cut up. It's not a hard thing, just time consuming. So does anyone have a dead auto ECU from a D2 I can start prototyping on? Plus suggestions on where to relocate (under dash behind glovebox (would it fit?))

Back on the door seals, I used clear tubing from the fish shop, and lubed it up and slide it right around the seal. It helped to push the seal out some back into it's more original round (rather than flattened/ovalised shape). Gave a little more resistance in shutting the door but can still close with a firm push of one hand. Just used a hand tube of silastic with the nozzle left long and fine to squirt in around the two lower joins in the seal. Minimal, judicious use seals the gap, glues the tube in place but still allows removal for future replacement of flattened plastic.