YoYoMa

The goal of this thread is to assemble a group of ideas as a guide of how to keep water out of where it dont belong. First of all the most important two: engine and electrical.
As far as the engine is concerned. What are the main areas that one should be concerned about?
Are just new gaskets enough, or should thy all have some sort of sealer too?
In the case of my car, I am doing or have already replaced almost all of the gaskets because there are many water crossings in my area an i have found water where it dont belong. What I am i missing? F/R main seals?

Electrical.
What should one do to water proof the ignition system?
Alternator?
Engine electrical controls?

Drivetrain.
What needs to be done as far as the trans/tcase?
F/R axles/diffs?

wyorunner

iTrader: (1)

the biggest one you forgot was the air intake. the solution is a snorkel of some kind. extend the breathers on the diffs. i dont have anything for electrical water proofing.

mattaway

it's not 100%, but putting a glob of electrical grease on all the electrical connections, plugs, and anything else of the kind is always good.

remember wd40 stands for water displacement after the 40th try

Matt16

There are 3 engine related, and one driveline piece that you don't want to get wet.
1. The intake. Hydrolocking sucks.
2. Distributor. High voltage shorts out easy. How much do you not want to stall out trying to cross a sketchy section of water.
3. The ECU. Gets wet, game over.
4. Differential. Axle breathers are notorious for letting water in if you cross deep water. Extend the front and rear breathers to high up.

Personally, I'd take out the carpets as well. Wet carpet smell horrible after a while. An electric fan would be a good idea so that when you are in deep water, you can turn off the fan as not to spray everything in the engine bay.

Unless the main seals are REALLY shot, I don't think water is going to get back in through there.

toyNG

As usual, 4crawler has the answers to most of these issues. http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...html#Breathers

YoYoMa

Great link! However it does not cover the distributor or ignition coils. What could I do for these?
Spaced on the intake though. I'm gonna look into snorkels a bit bit I don't need a big tall one I don't plan on getting in much over the hood. My Interior is blood red and grey. I was thinking of removing the carpet and spraying Rhino or something that can hose out.

874runnersr5

i guess you could use rtv? around the connectors?

Beaniam

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...ibutor-145965/

StangBanger

When i first got my old 89 extra cab pick up the first thing i did was the submarine test. With no prep work. First thing i noticed was the swimming pool gathering at my feet but i didnt see where the water came from. I got home and took out the seats (thank god they didnt get wet) and ripped out the carpet and hung it to dry (thank god for the Miami heat) I noticed there were 4 drain plugs (toyota must have known what these trucks were in for in the future..lol) one in front of every seat where your feet would go if you sat in the chair. I just used chaulking to seal those bad boys up and once the rug dried put everything bad together. I later found out about the diff breathers and extended those and besides that i never prepped anything else. Never had a problem and i go mudding in the everglades during the wet season. But better safe than sorry that electric grease is great stuff and ive heard spraying the underside with wd40 keeps too much mudd from sticking..

Belize Off Road Team

And of course the starter! ran into that issue when we where flooded out down here. i re-attached the factory breather and sealed it with 3M marine sealant. The electrical...just use dielectric grease on all the plugs/connections.

YoYoMa

How about the alternator? I already have had to replace mine because it is located in such a mud and water prone spot. Is there anything we can do for protection on this?

camo31_10.50

when i pretty much sunk my truck (had water about halfway up the hood..the front was in deeper than the back) the water didnte get into my intake.....it got my battery...as soon as those posts got under water...it killed EVERYTHING...my entire sound system got wet...but there was no power going to it...i just let it dry out turned it all back on..worked fine..

idk if my battery is to blame for it doing that...or if it is just batteries getting submerged....but it killed my entire electrical system...but it didnt fry anything..didnt blow any fuses...just killed the motor imediately..got it out...ant it started right up

Plumbrbob

extend the vent on your distrubuter cap and make sure you have a good seal where the cap meets the body of the distrubuter. I have lost power numerous times becasue i flooded my cap.

diff breathers, home depot basic plumbing fittings & tubing

4crawler mentions tranny breathers but I have never done this and my gear oil seems fine at least I think it is now I need to check it LOL

some sort of snorkle, I have seem guys reroute the the factory air box intake with common plumbing fittings and pipe from home depot to terminate under the cowl leaving the OEM air filter in it original place.

check all your wiring for open chaffed casings

WD-40 is a water repellent my hi-lift is usually the only thing left clean after a day of wheeling cause of the wd-40 I spray on it all the time

regrease all your zurk points under your rig refer to a Service manual to find them all

another thing I want to add is after a day of mud fun take your back tires off and shimmy off your drum get the hose and wash all that mud out of there, if you have disk in the rear never mind

I have no problems with my alternator getting wet or muddy

you might want to pull your carpet it you have it and make sure your body plugs will be able to be worked in and out. since it seems you want to go very deep.

Good luck oh yea bring a spark plug socket and a ratchet in case you hydro lock LOL

firemaniac

A couple of tricks my Dad taught me were to spray hairspray around the distributor and wires (only at the distributor end), with Dielectric in the connectors.
wrap the things that need air flow, but you want to keep mud out of with nylons, it helps keep the gritty stuff out.

And another from good ole Grandpa who used to work on fishing boats all around the world, is to use Dello 400 grease, as he found it to be the most water resistant, even while spraying with a wash-down hose

TOYOTA 1

x2 plumbr bob!

except the alternator, i have fried a few of them!
if anybody figures out a way to water proof those guys, please let me know

Plumbrbob

really? i have one wire for the charge and LMAO dont rag on me too much a spade connector connected to the exciter pin jsut a one wire deal with no rubber boot or a factory connector anymore LOL i have buried that alternator so many times under water its not funny. Iwould like to know what is frying yours making me worry now.

Oh btw i think we had the 5.29 22r not enough power to clean lugs on a 36"super swamper debate? yea I burned up a rod bearing last weekend so that motor was toast for a while got another 22R probally getting 100horse if I am lucky and I have my power band back LOL my bad i guess I got used to the perfomance decrease overtime the rig is rocking now

mattaway

i ruined a week old Napa alternator with water and mud, glad i kept the receipt

YoYoMa

So, the question is: Is it the water or the mud that kills an alternator?

mattaway

not sure really, there was a little bit of both on it

TOYOTA 1

haha, dont worry to much. ive only ruined 2 in the last cauple years or so. though they should last longer than that

yea... i was wondering why i can clean out my tires but you couldnt

haha, thats where ive been getting mine. maybe theres somthing going here

i think its both