My new Selectable air intake with a little extra...

[fleurys]

Well everyone that knows me a bit knows that I’m paranoid when it comes to water crossing with my truck… I’m just chicken sh*t for this because having a blown engine would probably means for me the end of the truck since I do not have the facility to change an engine neither the kind of money to invest on a repair of that magnitude on a 200Km truck… I’m not saying it’s not feasible, but only that this is my limit as far as repair costs on my vehicle…

So my dilemma is that I wanted to be able to go in deeper water without sacrificing engine performance and did not wanted to drill in the body panels….

I opted to relocate or actually add an air intake that would be higher in the engine bay (copied on new4x4r !) but wanted to keep the original air intake for when I’m not offroading. The little extra comes from the fact that I wanted to be advised in some way if water reaches the air box. So I installed a little gizmo that lets the current pass when both of it’s contact points are submerged in water. When the water reaches a level in the air box which is about 2 inches shy of the air inlet (MAF), a buzzer and a red led will do their stuff and advise me that I’ll soon be in deeper trouble if I don’t get out of the water hole !! That part is what I needed to be confident when passing water holes… I know it may sound a little weird or unnecessary, but like I said, water is not my friend when it comes to my pathy…besides, this gizmo costs 30$ buck….

Now instead of completely blocking the original air intake hole in the air box, I opted to put a “screw cap” that I can put when I wheel and unscrew when I don’t. Since the new air inlet is 1.5 inch in diameter, I felt uncomfortable simply replacing the 2.5 inches original hole. So this way I have 2 X 1.5 inch holes when I don’t offroad and 1 X 1.5 inch when I do.

The new air inlet is behind the engine about 2 inches lower than the top of the hood. I felt that this was the absolute maximum water height I was willing to go. I said to myself that if I’m in water this deep, I have bigger problems then water in the engine…(like water inside and the truck would probably start to float at that point)!

Everything was made from the plumbing section at my local hardware store. As for the hose, I used Something that would resists the high heat of the engine bay..a radiator hose with some kind of of metal spring inside that will keep the diameter of the hose when curved. I also bought a universal gasket material kit in order to make a small gasket for the air box.

The hole in the air box was blocked using a piece of hdpe plastic I had laying around. Urethane and silicone was used for water proofing and abs glue for plastic to plastic connections.

Here are a few pictures with key steps but you can see the whole shebang here: http://s435.photobucket.com/albums/qq71/steve_fleury3/snorkel/?albumview=slideshow


ps. A big thanks again to my friend martin who did the electrics and helped me across the board during this long day !

part of items needed:


air box removed:


What will block the original air box hole:


Without the screw cap:


With the screw cap:


Hole in the air box:


New air inlet done:


Water sensor in:


Everything plugged:




Here's a video of the noise and light when water would go in. :
https://photos.smugmug.com/Snorkel/i-7BHRVJX/0/0028b853/640/CIMG0768-640.mp4

Edited February 4, 2019 by fleurys

[Precise1]

HAHAHA!! I love it!!

 

So I installed a little gizmo that lets the current pass when both of it’s contact points are submerged in water. When the water reaches a level in the air box which is about 2 inches shy of the air inlet (MAF), a buzzer and a red led will do their stuff and advise me that I’ll soon be in deeper trouble if I don’t get out of the water hole !!

 

Only flaw that I see is that when you hear the buzzer, I doubt you will have time to get out of the water hole as it will probably only take seconds for the air box to fill up more, but it should give you time to take your foot off the gas and shut off the motor. Then your second problem of the truck filling with water becomes real...

 

Still, it is a great idea!! It looks as though you could have installed 2 1.5" lines instead of one, any reason why not??

 

I too am cautious with deep water, and are looking at intake modifications, so don't feel alone!!

 

B

[fleurys]

HAHAHA!! I love it!!

 

 

 

Only flaw that I see is that when you hear the buzzer, I doubt you will have time to get out of the water hole as it will probably only take seconds for the air box to fill up more, but it should give you time to take your foot off the gas and shut off the motor. Then your second problem of the truck filling with water becomes real...

 

Still, it is a great idea!! It looks as though you could have installed 2 1.5" lines instead of one, any reason why not??

 

I too am cautious with deep water, and are looking at intake modifications, so don't feel alone!!

 

B

 

 

Well, If water goes into the air box that high it's because something is not right because technically the only hole in it is where the sensor wire goes out. I left it there so that the water can drain once out. On the other hand if the water has come up to that level just by going in from the small hole in the bottom, it means I have been in a deep water hole for a freaking long time...and 2 more inches will give me plenty of time if you account the time it would take a little hole like that to fill the air box.... In my opinion, at least I have a choice now...I know what is going on before it's too late and my engine gets damaged.... I would rather kill the engine and be stuck with a drying task of the whole truck than killing it and be stuck in the middle of nowhere... My truck would stink the whole trip but at least I would be able to continue on my own power...

 

As for 2 lines, since when i offroad a rarely pass 2.5 3k rpm in 4LO, the engine does not need as much air as it would normally at 5 or 6k...and frankly the space is very limited around the air box.... The good news is that I can easily unscrew the cap in the air box and I'm back with 2 air inlet in 1 minute when I,m out of the trail....so no restriction..actually the combination of my 2 x 1.5 gives better air intake that my single 2.5...

[Precise1]

Sorry, I was thinking that if you got water in the air box, you probably sucked it in with more to come, not some slow leak.

 

Still, like I said, I like the idea and completely agree with you about rather having a wet truck than a non running one!!

 

B

[Nickj]

Nice!

 

Do your model Pathys have the pre-air box under the fender? Some of our OZ models do and although not perfect for air flow, they seem to do a great job in deepish water. The inlet is almost level with the top of under side of the fender and has good self drainage.

I did this to mine for additional air flow, but like yours with the ability to block it for water crossings.

 

http://Well, after a trip to LPGas1 for a tune up last year to find they drilled 2 x 25mm holes in the bottom of the air box to allow better air flow, i decided to follow Geoff57 and do a better job than they did. It cost less than $20!

 

Before

 

I used a black poly "riser pipe" and cap of about 60mm diam. The cap is used for water crossings to seal the new air intake up to stop water ingress. The end of the pipe protrudes through the hole into the inner guard. I held the pipe in and sealed up the gaps with Silasek which I bought from Mitre10.

 

The parts. They are rural water pipe fittings available from your rural parts shop. about 60mm diam.

 

Removed the airbox and mark the direction of the hole with some tape so that I knew which angle to drill it on. I used a 2 5/8 hole saw to cut the hole, it was a litttle bigger than the pipe but I wasn't going to buy the right size. the Silasek takes up the small gap.

 

Finished item, please excuse the sun glare in the pic, the Silasek doesn't really make a mess, just looks that way. :roll:

 

 

Nick