Snorkel word of warning

**PhilipA** · 17th February 2014, 12:02 PM

The ARB ram type heads and Chinese copies drop quite a bit of the water out of suspension before it goes down the tube.

The idea is the snorkel opening is in the middle of a bigger open area and the water going in through the grille largely hits the rear wall of the head and runs out the drains in 4 places.
I had a LRA snorkel on my RRC with an ARB type head and although the air cleaner got damp in places a couple of times in really heavy rain , it never became sodden.
I have Chinese copy on my TD5 and I noticed that the Chinese had almost faithfully copied the ARB head but had not extended the slots past the flat section at the bottom where the clamp goes to drain the water that collects in the head. So anyone else with a Chinese snorkel should extend the slots.
It is essential to clean all the dead bees, leaves etc out of there periodically also.
I think that your problem was more to do with your snorkel entry design rather than snorkels in general. If you cut it off with a vertical section at the top and fit an ARB head ( sitting vertical) the problem will be reduced greatly probably to the extent of not being a problem any more.
Regards Philip A
BTW I don't believe the ARB/Donaldson heads are like that to provide ram air, they are there to act as a separator for water. I did a test using a Minihelic air pressure gauge on my RRC and found almost no ram effect( maybe 1inch of water) at 80Kmh and that was into a throttled V8. it would probably be nil in a diesel where there is no throttle plate preventing air past..

**benji** · 17th February 2014, 12:44 PM

I'll be going one of the round head to negate ram effect playing with the lpg.

Maybe a hose with a manual valve would be best. Just turn it off when doing crossings.

**Dougal** · 17th February 2014, 01:36 PM

The most ram-air effect you can get at 80km/h is 300Pa (30mm water gauge). At 100km/h that is 460Pa (46mm water gauge). It's so low it's pointless.

But to get that you need completely still air in the collector.

**Keithy P38** · 17th February 2014, 05:51 PM

Thanks for the info!

I might screw in a ball valve and be done with it. As my snorkel head is on the horizontal, I can't improve the design to prevent heavy rain water getting in. It was fine today in moderate rain but I still definitely need to put the valve in.

It would also serve as a warning to anyone going the DIY or stainless route.

Cheers
Keithy

**PhilipA** · 17th February 2014, 07:48 PM

What I do is just silastic the drain burper up about 95% and any water going in from the snorkel will drip out .

You would have to be careful with a hose not to have a rise in it or the water could back up to the level of the rise.
This is all that is necessary unless you are stopped in water and if you have water over the element in a 38A or a TD5 Disco for that matter you will have far more problems than just a wet air filter.
Regards Philip A

**redandy3575** · 18th February 2014, 10:28 PM

Interesting read on the water entry. Can't say i had that problem with mine as of yet, though i did find every now and then a drop or two at the air entry to the box which after a few hours evapourated from the heat of the engine. The company that made it put a small extended 1/3 round roof type lip extending about an inch over the snorkel opening which is meant to draw the water away an off the snorkel with the wind. Though having said that, id be looking at drilling a small drainage hole and plugging it up with a rubber grommet when crossing deep rivers.

**Keithy P38** · 19th February 2014, 09:13 AM

My airbox already has a drainage hole! And it's clear/free of debris! As I mentioned up the top, it was ****ing down with rain - harder than I've ever driven through before! Took the Rangie around town yesterday in moderate rain and the water was draining away fine, the air filter is dry.

**PaulP38a** · 25th February 2014, 10:57 PM

The ill-fated HRA snorkel/RAI had a couple of design features to reduce the effect of rain ingress:
- grille on the head to disperse/slow down rain drops with a couple of drain holes at the head;
- early designs with Safari heads used the existing drain slots;
- "ducks bum" in the air box to allow any excess water to escape.

**996TURBO** · 5th March 2014, 07:29 AM

Had the same problem with my snorkel on a very heavy and stormy rain...

Considering a new snorkel head.

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