Super Custom 4x4 1992 wading depth

Hi all,
Just purchased my new (1992) SC and am wondering if anyone knows the wading depth for getting through rivers?
Cheers

I'd say it's the height of the air intake by the driver's door. You might be able to get away with some brief splashes into the intake, as there are several drains and reservoirs that could take on some water before it would make it into the intake manifold.

I know there is a snorkel option, but I don't think it was designed to be watertight, would have to mod that a bit.

The way the plumbing appears to be set up, you would have to fill up the first two plastic reservoirs 17912 & 17913 (the second of which has a small drain at the bottom) before it spills into the air filter housing (which also has a rubber drain port at the bottom), then would have to fill that up before it heads towards the crossover hose, where there is a final reservoir 17805C to catch additional liquid.

Now, if you are like me, and have cracks in one of these plastic reservoirs, then your effective wading depth would be reduced the the height of the damaged reservoir's output.

Yeah, that was my main concern I guess, is the condition of the resovours - and the fact that the filter housing was down behind the front wheel. I'll have a good look around the air box to make sure there isn't any obvious cracks. Thanks heaps for your research!

Ya it’s actually designed that way to take on some water but probably not very much

Hello.

Agree with the above.

There's also a sort of non-return valve at the bottom of part 17912 (first part of convoluted system). I think this is to allow rain water that finds its way in via the main opening to drip out. It should also close if the base is submerged to prevent water getting in that way. I've had to repair this flap on mine.

Part 17913 is made from PP so should be tough but these can be damaged and as you say are a bit exposed. The bottom part of mine has been sprayed with underbody paint. It might make it a bit less likely to get damaged?

I've no real idea what part 1705C does.

Part 17882 is a significant weakness. It has to cope with the flex of the engine on its mounts and sits in quite a hot place. Mine was badly perished and split. This is a problem in that the whole of the filter system is bypassed plus if the inner layer breaks down the bits can get into the engine. If you have any doubt about this bit then swap it out. A length of silicone hose is much cheaper than the OEM hose.

Also...

If you're going through a lot of water check the breather valves on your transmission. There are quite a few. They get gummed up and can get stuck open. It's not uncommon to extend these with lengths of hose higher up in the vehicle if doing a lot of wading. If wading it's also diligent to allow the van to cool a bit. The theory is it prevents the cool shock and lessens water being sucked past seals etc, but I don’t really know. Might make sense to pause while you recce a big crossing but you’d never get anywhere if you stop to cool down before every puddle.

It’s recommended to re-grease the prop shaft if it gets submerged. It might be possible to fit a shroud / bellows to keep water out, but I don’t know.

Another ingress point is the vacuum open end (the open end of the entire system). This is under the driver’s seat then there’s a long metal hose that heads to the 4wd actuator reservoir and solenoids (on selectable 4wd vans the 4wd is actuated and released by vacuum). The tubes then head all the way forward and on to the vacuum pump on the alternator.

The alternator is also a bit vulnerable to wading, but hey ho! While on this rear drum brakes are also a check item after wading.

Final ingress point I can think of is the fuel tank breather. It sits on a little bracket just forward of the tank. The tank is a really clever design but if the breather system is blocked it can cause problems.

Apols for going slightly off-piste but...

HTH!

Great info! Thanks all.