mikestewart395 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Sitting at work watching youtube, I see a lot of snorkeled vehicles going hood deep in the rivers, i was wonder about the air cleaner. My truck is old and even with the air cleaner bolted, clamped, and 2 fly nuts, it still wiggles a little. I'm not sure it would be water tight in a situation like that. A snorkel is in the near future, I'm not going hood deep, but I have crossed a couple of puddles that turned into an oh @#it moment. Anywho, should I use a liquid gasket to seal the cleaner basket to the throttle body? Getting the rest of the setup water tight is simple, but the cleaner kind of always seemed a weak link in the chain. Just wondering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I'm not familiar with how it all mounts up, but I imagine there's some kind of rubber gasket that's supposed to go between the TB and the air cleaner. If the rubber is shot, then yes, it could very well suck in water there (and it probably is sucking in air). If there was a rubber bit, Rob might be able to find you one. Or you could just take the cleaner into an auto parts place and ask if they had a gasket that looks sorta like this. If you want to roll your own, some kind of RTV would probably do the job. Just make sure it's heat rated (fuel rated wouldn't hurt either). I'd stay away from non-hardening gasket goop since it would probably just squeeze out as the cleaner moved around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikestewart395 Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 Yes, there is a rubber gasket there, I just looked at it. As a precaution I think I will use an RTV. I like the red stuff, it's heat rated to use on heads, so it should do the trick. I don't plan doing a submarine but like I said I have puddle jumped in known areas in the forest before, but had a butt puckering moment diving in and some jackaz with 44's had dug out the middle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Sounds like a plan. Something I've heard about RTV, you can apply it, put the parts together finger tight, then tighten fully once it's cured, and that way the resulting gasket has a bit of pressure on it, and you're not just banking on the surface adhesion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikestewart395 Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 I have used it on commercial mower carbs I rebuilt. It has held up flawlessly for me so far. My biggest fear is hydro locking an engine. The last time I fell in a water trap I shut the engine down just in time. Removing the air cleaner I seen it was sucking in water .I don't want this to ever happen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I can see why you're worried, looks like you were pretty close there! It's a good thing the cleaner dishes up in the middle. The MPFI trucks have the air filter box on the driver's fender, and I've heard of people putting a sock in there to absorb a little water if it does happen to get in. Looks like the TBI air cleaner is a little tight for that, but I imagine it wouldn't be too tough to add some kind of sump to it. I'd have to look at where the air filter sits, but I imagine you could drill a hole where the water pools, solder a steel jar lid underneath, screw the jar in, and have basically a catch container for the cleaner to drain into, which you could check after water crossings to see if your snorkel's leaking. Then again, I'm probably overthinking a problem that's as simple as putting a snorkel on there and sealing it up properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I'm sure it's been done, but right now I've got my AC pump out PC the truck. It's sure tempting to make a new bracket and put the alternator in its place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikestewart395 Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 Over thinking isn't bad sometimes. I know some people even build an air box as a go to between the carb/TB and the snorkel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikestewart395 Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 (edited) I thought about building one like this And my GOD!!! Can someone please tell me why snorkels are so overpriced! These River Raiders are from the range of 400-600 bucks. It's a plastic tube for christ's sake. Edited June 25, 2014 by mikestewart395 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Presumably the Jeeper market can bear it, but yeah, even if I had that kind of money laying around, I'd be packing a PVC tube with sand and trying my luck with torch bending. Looks like that Patrol (?) doesn't have an air cleaner on the TB like what yours has, so the airbox is necessary anyway. The owner probably went custom to free up some space, or to get around sealing up all the resonator holes etc in the stock box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikestewart395 Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 Ah. Makes sense. I will be cruising the isles of Home Depot in the morning looking for something to make the Hummer style mushroom cap with. I think I'm going to run the line through the cowl and up do some sort of mushroom top. Looks like a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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