Date: Sat, 16 Dec 1995 23:39:02 -0500
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: drew@interport.net (Derek Drew)
Subject: Re: Deep Water Driving
>>As I drove through this lake the fog lamps next to the turn signal lenzes
>> went dark because they were under
>>water.
>>The van drove right through with no problem. Obviously, as least part of the
>>motor was under water, though obviously not the distributor, or I would have
>>stalled. Anyway, ever since driving through this thing the van no longer
>>idles so perfectly as it has before and sometimes stalls when bone cold on a
>>cold day after starting it. I even have to hit the pedal some times to get
>>it to start.
>===================
>Derek -
>A couple of thoughts come to mind after reading the above (I don't know how
>long ago this happened but I would give serious and immediate attention to the
>following):
>1) You risk sucking water into the engine when going through water that deep
>- if you do and get a cylinder full of incompressible water with a running
>engine you can really break stuff in you engine big time - both internal and
>related to the air flow box, throttle valve assembly, idle stabilizer valve,
>etc. (looks like this didn't happen to you on this occasion but ---).
The syncro comes equipped with a snorkel air intake like the most well
equipped 4x4 rigs, its just that you cannot see this because the snorkel is
hidden inside the body of the vehicle. The snorkel air intake rises up the
inside of the vehicle in the right rear and obtains air for the motor at
about the level of a standing person's face. I don't plan to drive in water
*that* deep.
>2) Many differentials, transmissions, and or transaxels have vents on top -if
>water gets into the unit via the vent or by seeping in some other way - - -
>you may want to drain and refill your gearboxes
The syncro has special tubes attached to both the front and rear air vents
in the transmission differentials. These tubes travel all the way back to
the rear of the vehicle and terminate over the fuel tank at about the same
height as the removeable cover that goes over the engine. The only way to
get water in a syncro transmission is to drive into a puddle deep enough to
submerge the entire engine and wet the rear mattress.
>3) I don't know how submergible and watertight CV boots are to keep water out
>of your CV joints when immersed this way - - - you may want to consider
>inspecting and re-greasing your CV joints.
>4) Lots of stuff attached to the bottom, sides and top of your engine may
>have a rubber boot to keep incidental water out, but not adequate to keep
>things dry from immersion. I would suggest a through examination,
>disassembly, clean, dry and reassemble of all items, connections, etc. that
>were immersed. This also includes steering racks and shift linkages and of
>course, your fog lamp assemblies( wiring, housing, connectors, lenses,
>reflectors).
Good points. But I'll wait till June for this kind of inspection. Its too
cold outside.
Anyway, I have some more puddles to drive into and I don't want to do the
job twice.
Besides, I have more than a year left on my warranty.
>Don't' mean to "rain on your parade" but if any of these occurred, and you
>don't catch them soon (excepting #1, and you'd have known about that
>immediately!)you could be in for some expensive repair work and or potential
>break downs ( and naturally, in accordance with the appropriate corollary to
>Murphy's Law, at the most inconvenient time and place). Maybe you are just
>"living right"!! :-)
Actually, the syncro is quite well equipped from the point of
waterproofness. For example, the relays in the engine compartment are sealed
in watertight boxes and the distributor has a special, factory baggie over
it to keep water out.
Still, if there is a point at which foul weather driving can disable this
vehicle, I'm sure that sooner or later I'll find out what that is!
___________________________________
Derek Drew
drew@interport.net (main address for e-mail)
derekdrew@aol.com (alternate/backup address, checked infrequently)
