water crossing

[damfran]

hi when i go through water all lights on my dash come on. is there any way to combat htis? apreciate any feedback

[geeves]

Its water in the alternator that causes this As long as the lights go out fairly quickly afterwards dont worry.If they dont an alternator rebuild could be in order. It might also be a loose fan belt but this is unlikly.

[damfran]

thanks for that. yes the lights go out almost straight away ,as soon as i exit water.

[francesco]

I had this problem too.

Recently I have put a brand new Alternator in......I wonder if this will still happen

[Garth]

It's becoming a pretty common occurance for my truck too, the alternator seems to keep going though. Have to flush the mud out to get it back into life sometimes. Don't think it has caused any problems.

[Gobbles]

this happened to me today.....all good fun tho. They went out straight after i was out of the water.

[beetOls]

...and speaking of water crossing...would the stock door rubber (moldings?) enough to prevent water from coming in or do i have to have them replaced with special ones?

[geeves]

No special ones available unless you want to duck tape round the door joins every time you get wet. They are not too bad but mine will leak once the waters 6 inches up the doors but not very much Only get little wet spots around the doors.

[beetOls]

oh...so waterfording (especially for those with snorkels installed) with water up to the hood level will surely involve getting your interior wet huh...pardon for the silly questions! =)

[mudgrip4]

Dashboard lights coming on after a water crossing is normal. Nothing to really worry about. On our trips in Canterbury and Central Otago, we do alot of river work. We basically the riverbeds as our roads to access some remote mountain valleys - one trip alone has 66 river crossings as you wind in and out of the mountains. The dashboard looks like a Christmas tree much of the time, but lights should only stay on for about 30-90 seconds.

Water passing through the alternator is not generally too much of a problem, but there are a couple of occasions you should watch. Be careful about racing through water with sandy or gritty bottom. It looks most impressive but tosses up alot of grit which I can confirm will stuff an alternator. Second thing to watch - logically enough - is deep mudholes with alot of suspended solids in them - thick muddy water. Mud and silt in the water can clog an alternator very quickly. Will also very readily stuff wheel bearings and clog radiators - keep an eye on your radiator core.

Just keep your speed down in rivers, and only do the the bogholes you have to if they're deep and you're likely to spin up alot of mud and end up parked in them.

Re deep river crossings - haven't come across any truck that is 100% waterproof - esp on a long crossing. Duct tape is ok round the doors but if you are into v deep crossings - bonnet depth, then best thing is to spend 25 minutes and take carpets out first. Good luck - Mike.

[James W]

It's usually not to bad if you keep moving, maybe just a little weeping. However if the river is swift the upstream side can get a bit of pressure and you will soon visually see where any leaks are. If you stop mid river then you will most likely get wet carpet. There are things you can do to combat it, like seal up the gear stick rubber boot. Another is to turn the heater/fan on "fresh" and turn the fan on full blast, this will slightly pressurize the cabin, only slightly and useless on a soft top. Be wary of water over the bonnet in this case cos it will hit the fan literaly


Wet Feet

[adrian]

Guys,

Talking of water proofing, there are several wires i need to run through the bulkhead

is there any easy way to do this?? like an existing hole i can easily get wires through,
as i want to keep my car fairly watertight, especially in the bulkhead
(friends land rovers dont care, drill holes anywhere (lets the water OUT!!))

i dont really want to drill it, or cut the existing boots.

it is an auto, so i have thought about where the clutch cable would do through
i might be able to go through there, and then seal it once all the wires are in place.

adrian

[James W]

I've run cables through the existing rubber boots, such as the accelerator cable or wiring loom rungs. Drill a hole a lot smaller than the cable then it makes a nice push fit through the rubber bung/boot. Do this on a flat surface of the bung of course. Add some RTV if you want to be realy sure.

[roscoe46956]

Many moons ago when I was a member of the Quadrive club in CHCH, (Dont think they exist anymore) All our vehicles were petrol back then so waterproofing became an art form.

The only diesels back then were the factory series 2 land Rovers and due to the engines popularity as a boat anchor, there wernt many around.

By far the most effective measure was a simple screen in front of the radiator that could be fitted before a crossing and removed afterwards.

As long as the vehicle remained at a steady speed then the engine remained dry because the screen acted like a dam and formed a trough through which the front of the vehicle traveled.

All crossings were angled down stream where ever possible so you wearnt bulldozing against the current and the current helped push you along.

Carpets wernt around back then and water inside wasnt an issue, it also helped to prevent floating, in fact, the advise was, if you felt the vehicle start to move sideways with the current then open the downstream door to let the water in as quick as possible and this was normally enough to get control back.

A word of advise, If you are forced to ford a river against the current then there is nothing to stop you reversing accross, if you do get into difficulty then its much easier to drive forward to get back out.


Cheers
Roscoe

[Les]

Roscoe series 2 landy diesels thats nightmare stuff took me years to buy another diesel lol.
i still use a radiator blind on the mu i figure its well worth the extra time spent fitting it particularly on west coast rivers they change a lot in an hour or so and i hate walking when i can drive
cheers Les

[Dave]

I mounted a commodore alternator up high on my old Bighorn, left the original on, just disconnected it.
In the off chance that dirty water got into it, I had a seperate windscreen washer tapped into it to help wash the bushes.
Both solved a lot of problems.