[karlmarkiewicz]

I have a 95 LWB Vitara, 2 Inch Susupension Lift, and 30 inch muddies, no snorkel. I have a few question regarding how deep i can go with my vitara.

1. I was wondering, if any of the vitara guys would know the max wading depth would be for my car (considering the lift and etc). I can't find it in the manual
2. Does anybody know the lowest electronic component that would die first when going deep?
2a. On this note, I noticed the starter motor hangs fairly low, apart from not being able to start, would submerging the starter motor stop the car mid river crossing?
3. Lastly, how well sealed are the vitaras doors, as in how high up the door would the water have to be to start coming in? As there are alot of cables running under the carpet that I am concerned about.

Cheers.

[Gwagensteve]

Maximum wading depth isn't specified, but for warranty purposes is the bottom of the wheel rim- as in about 125mm.

The only things that will really stop the car if they get wet are the distributor and ecu. Both are at about door handle height.

The starter motor doesn't care if it's in water or not. They work just fine under water.

How deep can you go before water comes in? Quite deep (I'd say mid way between the body fold line and the door handle) so long as you keep moving. Stop in almost any depth water above floor level and it will start to come in. You can't really stop it coming in totally, you can slow it a little, but most things you do to stop it getting in make it harder to get out.

I think about water crossings like this: don't go into any water deeper than you are prepared to have inside the car- because it will happen sooner or later.

Water almost never comes in past the door seals. It will fill the doors and come in past the trim, up around the shifter boots, through grommets in the body.

Steve.

[karlmarkiewicz]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Maximum wading depth isn't specified, but for warranty purposes is the bottom of the wheel rim- as in about 125mm.

The only things that will really stop the car if they get wet are the distributor and ecu. Both are at about door handle height.

The starter motor doesn't care if it's in water or not. They work just fine under water.

How deep can you go before water comes in? Quite deep (I'd say mid way between the body fold line and the door handle) so long as you keep moving. Stop in almost any depth water above floor level and it will start to come in. You can't really stop it coming in totally, you can slow it a little, but most things you do to stop it getting in make it harder to get out.

I think about water crossings like this: don't go into any water deeper than you are prepared to have inside the car- because it will happen sooner or later.

Water almost never comes in past the door seals. It will fill the doors and come in past the trim, up around the shifter boots, through grommets in the body.

Steve.

Thanks for that, helpful info

I have another question. Let's say I have a snorkel, which rules out getting water into the air intake, I still couldn't submerge the engine could I? Because of spark plugs and etc?
I have done water crossings that go over my bonnet, without a snorkel and I was fine (thanks to a blind and a bow way), but I am just thinking, if I have to do a long river crossing, water is bound to get in and around my engine.

[Gwagensteve]

I see you are talking about a V6 vitara, so no distributor and no plug leads.

The car will run with the engine pretty wet. It might start to stumble or misfire a bit, but it shouldn't die totally unless the ecu gets wet, which is in the cabin, behind the dash, next to and above the steering column (roughly)

However, if the engine bay is quite flooded, the car is likely to be floating. And you won't be making controlled progress. It will float nose down. At a guess, it will float about level with the bottom of the tailgate but about 1/2 way up the bonnet. At that point, the car will start filling with water very quickly and you're likely to have an un-fun day out. If you HAVE to cross flowing water that's deeper than about the top of the tyres you really want to go through hooked to car that's already made it through to the other side- snorkel or not.

Standing water (as in a bog hole) might be ok a little deeper, but in the case of a bog hole, if it's that deep, it's likely to be soft/have deep ruts in it and he chances of getting stuck and filling the car with stinky mud is high.

Personally I don't like deep mud or water. I don't care how much water gets in my car, but I don't run a snorkel ( although my intake is in a good spot under bonnet to deal with deep water) but I just don't like it. Bad stuff happens in deep water/mud. It's not much fun.

Just my 2c

Steve.

[karlmarkiewicz]

Gwagensteve wrote:

I see you are talking about a V6 vitara, so no distributor and no plug leads.

The car will run with the engine pretty wet. It might start to stumble or misfire a bit, but it shouldn't die totally unless the ecu gets wet, which is in the cabin, behind the dash, next to and above the steering column (roughly)

However, if the engine bay is quite flooded, the car is likely to be floating. And you won't be making controlled progress. It will float nose down. At a guess, it will float about level with the bottom of the tailgate but about 1/2 way up the bonnet. At that point, the car will start filling with water very quickly and you're likely to have an un-fun day out. If you HAVE to cross flowing water that's deeper than about the top of the tyres you really want to go through hooked to car that's already made it through to the other side- snorkel or not.

Standing water (as in a bog hole) might be ok a little deeper, but in the case of a bog hole, if it's that deep, it's likely to be soft/have deep ruts in it and he chances of getting stuck and filling the car with stinky mud is high.

Personally I don't like deep mud or water. I don't care how much water gets in my car, but I don't run a snorkel ( although my intake is in a good spot under bonnet to deal with deep water) but I just don't like it. Bad stuff happens in deep water/mud. It's not much fun.

Just my 2c

Steve.

Again, awesome info thanks.

Okay, so as long as the ECU is dry and in the air intake is dry, should be fine? I will definitely not be going so deep that my ECU gets wet so that's okay.
What about spark plugs/coil packs getting wet? I have washed my engine bay twice now, and no matter how much precautions I take, even when I cover the coil packs with plastic and tape, I always end up with water In the spark plugs wells resulting in a misfire or two.

Surely if I go deep and water gets into all the spark plug wells the car would stop right? I know its no biggy, just a matter of WD40 in the wells and it will run fine, I just don't wanna stop mid crossing.

[Gwagensteve]

WD-40 on the motor before fording. Always use a radiator blind/tarp. Dielectric grease on the plug boots. If you stop forward momentum, reverse smoothly in one hit until the car is out of the water. Don't chop backwards and forwards- this will flood the engine bay.

In most normal water crossings with a tarp fitted, the top of the motor won't get anywhere near as wet as hosing the motor down.

Steve.

[karlmarkiewicz]

Gwagensteve wrote:

WD-40 on the motor before fording. Always use a radiator blind/tarp. Dielectric grease on the plug boots. If you stop forward momentum, reverse smoothly in one hit until the car is out of the water. Don't chop backwards and forwards- this will flood the engine bay.

In most normal water crossings with a tarp fitted, the top of the motor won't get anywhere near as wet as hosing the motor down.

Steve.

Oo, haven't heard of Dielectric grease on the plug boots, ill have to get some.

Oh really? I usually avoid the plugs and only spray very lightly, but somehow I always end up with water. Which made me think even if water from the crossing splashes over the plugs it will probably get in. Not way of sealing up the plug cover a bit better is there, or is that what the grease can do?

[disco]

Very interesting thread

Water crossings are fun

[Gwagensteve]

Grease might help, but I'm not familiar with the specifics of the h20 plug arrangement.

Water crossings are fun until you get 6" of water in the car, then you think about them differently.

Steve.

[Marko_SJ]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Water crossings are fun until you get 6" of water in the car, then you think about them differently.

Steve.

I agree with this statement, but I suppose they are fun if nothing goes wrong and you are prepared for them. Muddy feet on the pedals sux for the rest of the day though

[disco]

Well 600mm through jim jim was my idea of an awesome water crossing.

[VonDecoy]

My Vit is set up pretty much the same as yours, though I have a snorkel. The waterholes I sometimes go through are about 30" deep.
I've not had any issues with water entering the cabin. Or floating.
Yet....

[karlmarkiewicz]

disco wrote:

Water crossings are fun

I am obsessed with them hahah

Gwagensteve wrote:

Grease might help, but I'm not familiar with the specifics of the h20 plug arrangement.

I might try putting some around there anyway, can't hurt. I just thought there might be someway to maybe seal the cover over them, like a rubber seal or something. I dunno.

The_Amateur wrote:

I agree with this statement, but I suppose they are fun if nothing goes wrong and you are prepared for them. Muddy feet on the pedals sux for the rest of the day though

Well yeah, that is what I am trying to avoid. I want to try and make my car as water resistant as possible. I love water but not throughout my car.

VonDecoy wrote:

My Vit is set up pretty much the same as yours, though I have a snorkel. The waterholes I sometimes go through are about 30" deep.
I've not had any issues with water entering the cabin. Or floating.
Yet....

Is your car setup similar to mine you say? Have you prepared your car in anyway so stop electrical problem and etc?

[karlmarkiewicz]

disco wrote:

Well 600mm through jim jim was my idea of an awesome water crossing.

I have too many electricals inside to turn my cabin into a pool. I'd be freaking out hahah. Plus the clean up is no fun.

[atari4x4]

are you talking about the plastic coil pack covers on each bank? they'd help to keep splashes of water off, but the back side of them are open & if stationary in bonnet deep water they're not going to be doing much... my shorty didn't have a coil pack cover & i never had any problems. i do put a light smear of rubber grease around the top seal part of the coil pack probe, have never bothered to grease the coil pack plugs as they do have an o-ring seal in them.

[karlmarkiewicz]

atari4x4 wrote:

are you talking about the plastic coil pack covers on each bank? they'd help to keep splashes of water off, but the back side of them are open & if stationary in bonnet deep water they're not going to be doing much... my shorty didn't have a coil pack cover & i never had any problems. i do put a light smear of rubber grease around the top seal part of the coil pack probe, have never bothered to grease the coil pack plugs as they do have an o-ring seal in them.

Yeah, the coil pack covers. I thought maybe someone might of modded then so they are closed off, but I dunno.
I just seem to get water in the spark plug well even with a light spray of water. I think Ill just grease around the coil pack like you said. What are your thoughts on a bit of silicone around the tops of the packs as a sealant? Too hot maybe?

[VonDecoy]

Similar. 30' MT's, about 2" lift, EFI.
The major difference is my Snorkel. Oh, and SWB but I hardly think that matters in this comparison.
I haven't prepared my car in any way. And I'm yet to have any problems while crossing.
I've never had to stop while in the water, so I don't know how well the seals would hold up to that sort of treatment.

[karlmarkiewicz]

VonDecoy wrote:

Similar. 30' MT's, about 2" lift, EFI.
The major difference is my Snorkel. Oh, and SWB but I hardly think that matters in this comparison.
I haven't prepared my car in any way. And I'm yet to have any problems while crossing.
I've never had to stop while in the water, so I don't know how well the seals would hold up to that sort of treatment.

Oh okay, yeah, virtually the same apart from SWB.

Never had starter motor problems? Because My starter motor broke due to mud, and i have only have the car for 6 months.
I don't intend on stopping mid crossing so I should be fine for the most part.

[greenzook89]

fresh water and mud are 2 different things, its generally the grit in mud that wrecks components, either way I try to keep my car as dry as possible

[VonDecoy]

No starter problems.
The fan and power steering belts squeaked a lot until they dried out. They were also very old.

I tend to stay out of muddy water if I can. I'm mostly in still fresh water.

[karlmarkiewicz]

greenzook89 wrote:

fresh water and mud are 2 different things, its generally the grit in mud that wrecks components, either way I try to keep my car as dry as possible

Yeah, I have heard that, although some river crossings will inevitably have some sort of mud through out, even if it is just mud that have been stired up from the driver in front. Which is what I am concerned about.

VonDecoy wrote:

No starter problems.
The fan and power steering belts squeaked a lot until they dried out. They were also very old.

I tend to stay out of muddy water if I can. I'm mostly in still fresh water.

Huh, must be pretty lucky, I have only done one deep water crossing and that was in fresh water, I think it was a shitty old starter anyway.