Deep water crossing be prepared

[burristracy]

Deep water, easy do it yourself fixes.

A few do it yourself fixes for deep water crossing,on 91-94? explorers. First go buy about 35 feet of quarter inch vacuume hose. Then find the breather tubes on front and rear diffs.tranny,transfer case.Now be careful when routing them, try to stay away from hot spots and moving parts . Keep in mind when routing diff hoses that they must have quite a bit of slack so the diff can go through its full travel. Hint #1 to keep the diff hoses from flopping around buy 2 throttle return springs and hang the slack from these.You can route them a couple of places I:E through a hole drilled into the bottom of the jack storage but i suggest near the top of the master brake master cyl booster. Make sure when you tie the ends up to bend the ends in a gentel upside down j so that water can not pour directly in.Next get rid of the fresh air intake hose that connects to the radiator core support and runs into the filter housing.This hose will suck water into the filter/motor.
Preformance might suffer a bit because warmer air instead of colder air will be sucked into the motor,but this will raise the intake 8 inches and prevent the wave of water you push in front of your bumper from being sucked up.And last but not least you can take the rectangle air horn from the freshair intake and turn it upsidedown so it point up and back. Some sheetmetel screws and silicone , and u too can be a sub commander.HINT#2 go slow of u might break a fan blade or worse suck the fan into the radiator. Water is thicker than air and the fan doesent like being a prop.With these mods You can cross still water to about 4 inches under the hood.DIVE DIVE DIVE

 

[InNeed]

After doing all of this I will be able to submerse my explorer until the water is half way up the body? Do you have to do anything to the exaust or can it still function while submersed? Do the doors leak it your explorer? This is all new to me and very interesting. Thanks,
Matt

 

[EB Bauer]

I have gone through my share of water.....mainly you want to be concerned about the intake first......don't let water get into the intake. next do the breather tube mod. you won't want water in there. the exaust is ok to have under water but you don't want to turn the engine off. my doors don't leak. but normally I am flying through the water to fast. I have pics of me in the water if you want me to post them. hope that helps

 

[HIX]

Come awn! Everyone knows the isn't any water in New Mexico!

 

[EB Bauer]

Okay......puddles. Is that better? What can I say.......I try.

Dead Link Removed

 

[Gary Steeber]

Scott Bauer ,

That is one HUMUNGUS puddle, here in California that's an ocean.

 

[Brian1]

And to think that i have video of Scott going through that "puddle"! I was amazed that he did not hydrolock.

 

[oharris]

Water Sports

Originally posted by InNeed
After doing all of this I will be able to submerse my explorer until the water is half way up the body? Do you have to do anything to the exaust or can it still function while submersed? Do the doors leak it your explorer? This is all new to me and very interesting. Thanks,
Matt

Last summer I drove my Explorer through a river that was about 30" deep at it's deepest point. The water level was about 6-8" above the floor boards. The door seals held and the truck started to float a bit. Just got a little damp near each door jamb and around the floor shifter. I didn't do anything suggested above, and I got water in the front diff, tranny and transfercase. My air intake was only about 1" above the water level. I changed all the fluids when I got home, and everything was fine. Wouldn't do it again though without some preparation.

Some other tips for driving through water. Go slowly and don't depress the clutch. You can get sand in between the disk and flywheel/pressue plate.

Oliver Harris
'94 Explorer XLT 5sp