Silly question about snorkels, car washes & heavy rain

**Jamo** · 10th January 2007, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by ladas

Normally on a snorkel, or on the filter box there is a water trap/flap which allows heavier than air products (ie water) to go through the flap but under normal conditions the 'vacuum' for want of a better word holds the flap shut.

Or in some the water will just collect in the lower pressure area in the bottom of the filter box and just evaporate away over time.

On my D1 c/with snorkel it certainly had this little flap arrangement

Both my vehicles have a similar arrangement.

I drove the D3 through the strom last week with sideways rain (strong enough to releive me of a headlight protector), with no problems.

I also remember driving a snorkel equipped diesel Hilux between Lake Argyle and Kununnurra through a monsoonal storm. I was down to 20kph as I coudln't see much past the bonnet, the car was getting hit by branches and as the storm cleared I started to make out the tailights (on) of another car only 10m in front of me! No water made it to the motor.

ak · 10th January 2007, 02:50 PM

Thanks for the replies everyone, very good info.

**BigJon** · 10th January 2007, 02:52 PM

If you look closely at the snorkel head you will see it has drainage designed into it. The air being relatively light will go around the corner, but the heavy water will hit the back wall and drain (this will only account for rain, not sticking the hose in!).

The air cleaner barrel on my Classic V8 Rangie has a factory fitted "ducks bum" valve to let water drain out.

tombraider · 10th January 2007, 03:25 PM

I've had my engine idling whilst pressure washing my defender and hit the snorkel hard with the jet.

Most sprays out through the dranage holes in the sides...

Engine still hasnt skipped a beat and lots of mud puddles have sent water straight into the snorkel.

**George130** · 10th January 2007, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by shorty943

Yeah mate just a tad. These things are designed to cope with a lot. Just don't be tempted to stick the garden hose down there to give it a wash Some time ago I saw a doco on water injection for ICE's (internal combustion engines). The premise was, that a tiny amount of h2o injected into the cylinder was converted to superheated steam, this supposedly boosted horsepower and reduced fuel consumption. I think they broke it.

Regards

shorty.

We had this setup on an old Datsun 240K. The thing used to hammer! You could run it on higher octane fuel and the water injection kept it cooler as well. I wouldn't do it to a Diesel though.

**ladas** · 10th January 2007, 04:58 PM

"The air cleaner barrel on my Classic V8 Rangie has a factory fitted "ducks bum" valve to let water drain out.

That was the term I was looking for

Ducks Bum

Explains it perfectly.................

**PCH** · 10th January 2007, 06:09 PM

I think you'll find a decent sized drain hole in all airboxes to allow water splashes that make it to the air cleaner to drain out.

The other thing in the design of air boxes that I've seen is that the air intake into the airbox is usually lower that the outlet to the engine which would also help reduce the chance of small amounts of water into the engine

Chris

Thread: Silly question about snorkels, car washes & heavy rain

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