Suzukis and Rivers - waterproofing

[dtchch]

Hey guys,

Just got back from a trip up the Rangitata/Hopkins. Went up Saturday morning with intentions of driving up to the Growler hut but came to a fairly deep and swift braid I wasn't too keen to try cross in the Zook.
I have a snorkel but I was worried about the electrics as I've experienced misfire after going thru water before.
The water level would have been over the tyres but I haven't taken it through anything like that before so we decided against it, if we'd had a strop I would have given it a crack.

Just wondering what you have done to make your zook reliable in water? I was thinking of putting the fuse box and coil pack in a water tight plastic lunch box container with the wires sealed where they enter. Other than that do I just get busy with silicon spray?

What sort of water have you taken your zook through?

Cheers

[jervisad]

i carry a can of WD 40 with me and if i have to go through deep water i just spray it liberally on the coil lead distributor and spark plug leads which usually helps heaps cheers

[Pico42]

I emptied a few cans of silicon spray through the engine bay, especially around the plugs and dizzy. There is a one way drain hole in the bottom of the air filter box that lets water back through if you sit in the Arrow River for 15 minutes late at night (may not be exclusive to that river...) that I removed and replaced with a cap head bolt to seal it up. Make sure that snorkel setup is water tight.

I figured out quickly where the drain holes are under the carpet, also figured out to keep electronics up high or even better in a waterproof container (chilly bins work well). Be comfortable with some water inside - it can help you stop floating and thus keep traction. Plus it helps any grass seed in your carpet germinate nicely.

Installed diff breathers to avoid the diff oil turning to porridge.

Deepest flowing water I have been in was flowing over the bonnet (bow wave was up the windscreen). Wouldn't do it without another vehicle there as a quick recovery option - which I needed on that occasion. Vehicle ran the whole time (well, started fine in the river - I had no clutch cable so was starting in gear in the river after turning the engine off while I was hooked up). That depth was before our current lift.

Wheel deep water doesn't concern us too much anymore unless the river bed is loose or quick.

I think you should probably know where some of your internal electrics are (ie ecu, ) but I couldn't say where ours are... It if is the box above the accelerator pedal our has been submerged in the past courtesy of Skippers Creek.

Actually, reading the above, ignore all my contribution. Turns out I am a redneck when it comes 4WDing in water...

[mikeyt1689]

another option for water proofing electrics etc would be stuff called denso tape. its a $hit of a stuff to get off if you need to do any work as it is really waxy but seen it work well on another vehicle... trick is to wrapit on and then wearing gloves(unless you want to take ages washing your hands) smear it in against the box or whatever you are trying to seal. you will see that the wax starts to make a layer... i've tried the snaplock lunch box but it didnt seal up properly even with silicon etc. hope this helps and any plumbing shops will sell it or know where you can get it..

[dtchch]

Cheers guys, good to know you've had them underwater. I wouldn't be game to do it without a second truck but I want to seal it up as well as I can.

I've been reading about getting a thick rubber glove to put over the dissy and lead plugs, lead thru each finger on the glove and the glove covers the dissy - zip ties around each part.

Do I need to seal the fuse box under the bonnet? I might have a look at sealing the ECU and fuse box in the car but I don't really think I'll be crossing rivers up to my nuts in the cabin

[muddyplumber]

Denso tape works a treat,trust me put it round the leads, distributer and any electrical plugs,also some really thick silicon spray seems to work really well.

[dtchch]

Got some denso tape and silicon spray today, that denso stuff is the shit worked real well for covering plugs etc.
Got a heavy PVC glove and zip tied it over the dizzy with the leads going thru the fingers - no water getting in there.
I put denso around the leads into the coil pack, MAF plug, fuse box etc

Pretty confident it'll hold up in water.

[tallsam66]

You also need to go get some ropes ...cant believe you went up there without any ropes between the 2...just plain stupid !!!

[Campbell.s]

Hi

I've had my sj up to the windows luckily it was a short channel so no real drama, as for water proofing dielectric grease is a great thing to have smear it round the bottom of the dizzy cap, were the leads plug in and also onto the spark plugs. As mentioned above silicone spray or wd40 on plugs etc before and after you've been in water just to make sure. Diff, gearbox and transfer case breathers are a must also.

Just remember suzukis do float

[dtchch]

Cheers fellas, got a can of silicon spray in the truck for applying out there. Need to extend breather hoses, where does the rear dif breather hose run to?

Strops are on the list to buy, got a tow hook to put on the front just got to suss mounting it, doesn't quite fit anywhere which is a bugger, i'll need to make a bracket for the chassis rail