waterproofing electrical components

[sicks570]

Anyone waterproofed their computer and fuse/relay boxes? If so how?

Thanks,

Anthony

 

[Foxracin]

You can move the computer up a little higher behind the glove box door. Not water proofing per say but moves it up higher in case you go in deep water.

 

[sicks570]

i need a little more than that. i flooded it out over the steering column this weekend. i really want to fully water proof everything although relocation is a great option too.

 

[little x]

I had a friend waterproof the computer in his trooper. He just took it apart and siliconed the seam before he screwed it back together. Then siliconed over all the vents/ slits/ holes in the case. It lasted for a few years until he sold the truck. Probably not too good for heat dissipation, but that's how he did it. You could just extend the harness and put the computer on top of the dash, or even better, on the ceiling.

 

[Foxracin]

i need a little more than that. i flooded it out over the steering column this weekend. i really want to fully water proof everything although relocation is a great option too.

Haha. Yea thats kind of deep. Any pics? Id like to have seen that.

 

[sicks570]

i was thinking just siliconing the seals would work but im not sure about the harness pig tail. ive been thinking about just relocating the computer to way way higher ground like mentioned. i actually relocated the spanish oaks(about 180 wires in the harness) eec in my 06 mustang GT(what a ***** of a job) without any problems so i would feel pretty good about doing this eec iv.


i wish we had pics of my truck but we would have trashed just about any camera for sure. it was insane. we were riding out to a friends f150 that we had to leave with a blown radiator hose the day before(i have pics of his 93 f150 with 6" suspension lift and 35s following me with water above the headlights). my computer was a little iffy from getting sunk the day before and the truck stalled in about 5 ft of water. the truck was actually floating at first but water started coming in through the drain holes i put in the floor and then the windows and the truck sank to about the top of the steering wheel. we had to leave it there and walk half a mile in and out of whats basically swamp land with 4 gallons of water, a tool box, a jump box and my german shepherd to the f150, fix it and drive it back to tow the explorer out. believe it or not it or not it fired right up on the first crank after we drained the truck and ran great for about another hour the whole way back to our camp site. the truck stopped running again and it took me a while to realize that the under dash fuse box was full of water because the bottom cap was still on and acting like a bowl. I pulled it off and left the truck there over night to dry out. i went back for it tonight and it fired right up and ran like a champ the whole way home. i cant get over the ass kicking this truck has taken. i just want to make it a little more water proof so i can kick its ass even harder!

 

[little x]

Sounds like one hell of an adventure!

Since your comfortable extending the harness I'd just bolt it to the ceiling and forget about it.

 

[jmdirk]

If your ex is an auto, go get your tranny flushed asap.

The water ruins the friction material causing it to slip and overheat. The water also lower the boiling tempertaure of the fluid which can caus eit to boil out the dipstick tube. It tends to splash on the exhaust which then catches on fire when you're doing 60 miles an hour down the freeway.

Don't ask how I know all this...

 

[sicks570]

it was one hell of an adventure. i have some video of before it got stuck with water above the windshield for over 200 yards while we are driving through it and water at the side window level while alligators are swimming next to us!

LOL about the tranny fluid fire that really sucks. my x is a stick. ive never managed to keep an auto in one piece in anything ive owned so i purposely bought a stick. i still need to flush it. the shifting was noticeably harder last night than ever before any my buddy just locked his slide gear to 1st in his jeep because of too much water in the tranny. i have my front end vent above the roof line zip tied to my snorkel. i think im going to take my rear vent and T it into the tranny vent and T them both into the front end one.

 

[Foxracin]

So where are the pics and video you talk about. Let us see them.

 

[YBCold]

maybe RTV sealant around edges and stuff?

 

[sicks570]

yeah i was originally thinking about just rtving the seams of the computer but the harness connector isnt water proof and those pins are so close together that i dunno if it would get wet in through there.

videos are on my gfs camera. the cable is at her place and shes never there so it might be a bit before i can get the video. i only have pics are of my buddys f150 thats about 6" higher than my truck following me through the stuff. those pics are on facebook and i dunno how to link to them on here. is there a way to upload pics to this site so i can post them up? the only pictures i have of my truck is me and my gf and the dog standing with the truck with a clear waterline at the passenger window.

 

[YBCold]

maybe saran wrap the around the connector its kinda bootlegged but sometimes it helps but its not really heavy duty though.

 

[sicks570]

thats actually not a bad idea im not sure how well it melts with heat but i could try to melt some in there maybe

again these pics are from the day before the real sinking of my truck. they really dont do justice to what i did to it but they at least show you what i put my x through when i ride.


this one is of my friends f150 which is 5-6 inches higher following me through a hole.

this one is of where his f150 took water to the distributor. i made it the whole way through this, the water got over a ft deeper than the front of his truck in the pic by the time i made it through it.

this one is me, the gf and my dog danica. its from the night before the sinking too while we were waiting for the f150 to dry out. you can clearly see the waterline on the passenger side of the truck which was the shallower side of the truck because i tend to stick to the right edge of the holes since the gf, computer and relay box are all on on that side of the truck. its got a 6" front lift in the front and SOA in the back with 33" tires and im 6ft 2in to put it in perspective.

we left the girls and camera at the campsite the next day when the real sinking happened.


Anthony

 

[little x]

Don't use RTV, it hold oils in, but water seeps through after a while (you need to change your diff fluid, even with extended breathers I bet there is water in there). Use window and door silicone. It's made to keep out water, RTV isn't.

 

[YBCold]

hm i wish i knew that before.

 

[sicks570]

thanks for all the advice. interesting idea with the window silicone. it makes a lot of sense. i had to tear the front end apart friday night before all this crap happened anyway to replace a broken front axle. i wish i known this then. i'll probably just put a really thick bead around the front end rather than tear it all apart again. it was a **** job to begin with and ended up even worse after i broke my finger with a 3lb sledge.

i dont know why ford bothered putting that stupid hinge on the front diff when the radius arm is in the way anyway. it would be way easier to just have made it so you pulled it out backwards. you have to pull the driveshaft to swing it open anyway so its not like it saves you anything to be able to swing it open in my opinion.

im probably going to really go to town water proofing and relocating everything over the next month or so and get some real video of the truck running where it was really deep once its done.

 

[Brian1]

Looks like you should just buy a boat

I dunked my Explorer last fall in a hole and it was not fun. Killed my starter and I had to spend a ton of time cleaning up the mess it left. I just carry a spare computer I picked up in a junkyard from the same year Explorer

 

[sicks570]

i have a boat and i wouldnt put it anywhere near the **** i put my explorer in

im going to go junkyarding this weekend for a computer, a coil pack and a spare maf and anything else i can think of electrical that might get hurt.

 

[little x]

I generally carry a spare MAF (just the electrical part), coil pack, and alternator, I have yet to purchase a spare computer, but will some day.