[david95]

I did a search, there is probably some stuff on this but i didnt find it. I want to water/mud proof my truck as best as i can. I know the first step is extending the vent lines but after that?? Can you seal the distributor cap? -david

 

[Fireguy50]

Personally I think you ahve the wrong truck for that task.

The computer is too low, and there are several creature comforts that will make it dificult to venture into the mud/water and not make a big mess.

You can get a dust cover from a Ford car in the junkyard for the dizzy.
But to make it "waterproof" there is lots of electrical work to be done. It wouldn't be a daily driver anymore, lots of sergery under the dash and under the hood.

 

[rem_243]

You can't make it waterproof, but you can help make it water resistant.

 

[ilvnh140]

This is a good link for the vent lines.

http://soderblom.net/bronco/tech/

This guy did a good job. It will take about 3 or 4hrs, but is well worth it.

 

[Davids78Bronco]

Any vehicle can be water "proofed" and still be kept driveable. The computer can be moved, or sealed, the connections can get sealed with silicone. the biggest concern would be the intake. If a snorkel isn't a consideration, then the intake should be faced towards the rear of the engine bay, and away from possible splashing from the tires and fan. Which also brings up another good point, make sure you have a clutch fan in good working order, or have swapped to switchable electric fans

Run the vent lines as far up as possible, and either cap them with inline fuel filters, or run a deep S-shape to them.... sort of like a long P-trap that your sinks and toilet has, this way, any water trapped can be easily drained - I prefer the filter tho, as any residual water in the vent hose, can run down into the diffs and gearboxes

 

[juggernaut89]

you can spray WD-40 in the distributor to dispurse the water. WD-40 can be used in places like that to keep out water.

I read a post on a Distributor cover/boot off a mustang i bought one on ebay

 

[Fireguy50]

Look at my site, look at my product page, look at the knowledge I have learned so raf!


Now, my opinion is that Ford EFI is not ideal for frequent water adventures. They did not make very good connectors, so everything will get mositure and age quickly. You have to add a LOT of silicone to seal up the computer in it's stokc location.


I sugest a different vehicle if you really want to do this offen. OR at least an older bronco. Lots of work to convert to a quality water truck. IT can be done if you wanted.

Just warning you. :beer

 

[smoothcharlene]

If that's true, you can make billions if you'll go to work for military vehicle contractors. They spend years trying to make HMMWVs and similar trucks capable of SERIOUS off-roading and they're still more than most people can handle without several hours of instruction on how to drive them.

Plus, you're only scratching the surface with vent lines and moving delicate electronics to higher ground:
1) hubs can't be vented thru lines, so they'll ALWAYS suck in water when you ford.
2) exhaust manifolds made of cast iron can't take the thermal shock of fording - neither can catalytic converters or the aluminized coating on the rest of the exhaust system, which will start rusting FAST.
3) the stock fan isn't built to push water, and it's too close to the radiator (on some applications) to dip. It'll bend itself forward trying to push water back, and when you get out of the river, your engine will be air-cooled until it seizes up.
4) adding a snorkel to the intake is great if you get EVERY little port; there are 2 vent holes in the bottom of the EFI filter box and the rest of the plastic parts are fit fairly loosely, so you'll have to seal them, too.
5) the tailpipe has to have a snorkel also because the engine won't run with the kind of backpressure it would get in a couple of feet of water.
6) unless you're going totally commando, you've also got to provide air to the smog pump or it'll fill your exhaust with water no matter how well the intake & tailpipe are sealed/snorkeled.

That's not the WHOLE list, but it's enough to make the point.

Ok, here goes...........first of all I think you are taking this a little to the extreme, BUT I can see your point. However If you repack the bearings in the hubs after you go wheeling everytime water shouldn't be a problem.

Dielectric grease does wonders for electrical fittings and can make them water resistant.

Computer can be moved.

Smog pump....what's that??? Don't have one took it off.

If your serious about fording water then you don't have to worry about stock fan pushing water because you would have switched it to an electric one.

Running Headers, so cast exhaust manifold = no worry to me, also no cat so again no worry.

Have a carbed engine so snorkel was interesting, BUT have one and it does work.

Oh and exaust backpressure....I've been through several creeks up to my sidemarkers deep in water shortly after building my snorkel to "test" it out. Now I had 35's and 6" lift so that's pretty f'n high. Water was coming through doors, and floor where xfercase shifter is...........never had a sputter. Did loose significant power due to added backpressure, but hit the gas a little harder and went through.

My bronco is NOT waterproof and that wasn't my intention, HOWEVER it is damn near, and very very very (read VERY) water resistant. It can be done, and can still be driven daily.

http://www.superford.org/registry/index.php?vID=2265

No pics of me in any serious water, but can see the snorkel's that were built

 

[smoothcharlene]

I did a search, there is probably some stuff on this but i didnt find it. I want to water/mud proof my truck as best as i can. I know the first step is extending the vent lines but after that?? Can you seal the distributor cap? -david

First thing to do is def. extend vent lines. David is right about putting a filter in them. Now remember that your hubs will take in water, and the bearings should be repacked after every wheeling trip. It only takes a puddle and a lil mud to seize these up.

Sealing the Dist cap..... I actually ran a bead of silicone around it. Not sure if it's the best idea on a daily driver, but my truck sees mostly trail time.

As I mentioned before, dielectric grease works great on all electrical fittings, battery terminals etc. I unplugged every electrical terminal i could find and loaded it w/ dielectric grease.

Relocate your computer if you will be getting into water anywhere near this deep. Can be a costly adventure.

also either run a snorkel, or reroute your intake as far away from the front of the truck as possible....much like David suggested. Again depends on how carried away you want to get. Can even cut a hole through firewall and run intake into cab.

I am sure I'm missing some, but I just got home from working overnight at work, and am tired. I'm off to bed....good morning all.:beer

 

[Fireguy50]

Re: Re: Waterproofing

Sealing the Dist cap..... I actually ran a bead of silicone around it. Not sure if it's the best idea on a daily driver, but my truck sees mostly trail time.

As I mentioned before, dielectric grease works great on all electrical fittings, battery terminals etc. I unplugged every electrical terminal i could find and loaded it w/ dielectric grease.

Relocate your computer if you will be getting into water anywhere near this deep. Can be a costly adventure.

Just to make sure I understand this. You have an 82 Bronco with less than half the electrical system as his 95. :shrug :goodfinge

Sealing the dizzy is a very bad idea for EFI vehicles. I tried it once, had to replace the entire thing :cry

Dielectric grease is a good idea, but would have to be done offen.

 

[Davids78Bronco]

He's right, Jason. Totally sealing off the distributor isn't a good idea. I can't remember if it's an ionic field that's created in the cap :shrug but I do know if needs a vent of some sort. BUT, that can be taken care of, with a length of 1/8" polyurethane hose, and could be tapped into the air intake hose of the snorkel... if there is one

Diaelectric grease is a good idea, from the plug wire boots, to the electrical connections and the battery terminals that you've mentioned



Also, David, plan on replacing the seals more often, depending on how often you get in deep water, as the water and dirt will chew up the axle and Tcase seals. And plan on replacing the gear oil everytime you get in hub-deep water

If you're planning on getting in water that deep, switch to 4-low before you even get in. This will keep the RPMs up, keeping the water out of the exhaust, and allow you to have better control of the torque that you'll need to get through



I never meant to suggest any vehicle could be made water PROOF, hence the " " around the word, but it can definitely be done to minimize the amount of water taken in. If I could double up my seals, I would. Better yet, I'd like to find some double lipped seals, that would certainly be better than any other stock replacement seals

 

[DeepSeaSnake]

charlene,
Do you have any under hood shots of that snorkel setup? Im in an 80 w/302 Im interested in how you piped those. they look really good by the way:toothless

 

[smoothcharlene]

I understand that my bronco has nowhere near the amount of electircal system that a 95 has, BUT the above statement about making any vehicle water proof

"If that's true, you can make billions if you'll go to work for military vehicle contractors. "

is bogus. I understand that a 95 would be much more work, BUT if he's interested in simply making his bronco much more water "resistant" then I feel we should help in anyway to answer the question as to how, not simply tell him it can't be done. It can be done, just depends on the amt. of work and $$ one wants to involve. Oh and BTW, My bronco isn't waterproof, and I'm sure my homemade snorkel kit will not allow me to consistently ford water of great depths, HOWEVER it will allow me to do more water crossings and go through deeper holes w/o near as much concern of stalling out.

 

[smoothcharlene]

Oh and David, I do have the Dist. Cap Vented into the snorkel kit. Was late (actually early) when I typed my original response and I just got off of a long night of work. simply omitted that piece of information

 

[smoothcharlene]

charlene,
Do you have any under hood shots of that snorkel setup? Im in an 80 w/302 Im interested in how you piped those. they look really good by the way:toothless

Thanks, I do have a few underhood pics, I'll have to find them. I found an aircleaner off of an old lincoln that had two "snorkels" to the front grill. I sealed it to the carb w/ a bead of silioln. Then did some plumbing work into the cowl w/ some flexible air intake (can be bought at autozone). I sealed that to the ABS pipe w/ some more silicone. and ran the pipe up the A pilars. I sealed everything w/ silcone again and again.

AGAIN I'm not claiming this to be waterproof, BUT it sure as shit doesn't suck in any water. You can really feel the air suck through the top of the snorkel when you give it some gas.

The reason I went w/ a dual snorkel, is becuase I've done some engine work, and have headers and a free flowing exhaust. I wanted as much air to get to the intake as possible. and was conerned that a single 3" pipe would possibly smog out the engine. Probably wouldn't have, but that was my reasoning.

 

[Davids78Bronco]

Oh and David, I do have the Dist. Cap Vented into the snorkel kit. Was late (actually early) when I typed my original response and I just got off of a long night of work. simply omitted that piece of information

That's what I figured

 

[Fireguy50]

you still can't silicone a EFI TFI dizzy even if it is vented. I won't react well

 

[Davids78Bronco]

And, that would be, because ... ?

 

[Fireguy50]

See this: http://www.tfisettlement.com/

Ford lost cause the TFI is not a stable design, very fragil electrical system.
any screwing with the TFI or Dizzy will cause almost certian DOOM :banghead

 

[Davids78Bronco]

The lawsuit means squat to me. I do recall DBlue having a problem with his once, but what's so wrong with those that they'll cause certain DOOM ? I'm not going to read thru that whole link, nor am I going to research it's problems. I'm just looking for the quick and easy answer, as to why the distributor couldn't be vented. It's a hole in the cap, for cryin out loud, not a hole in the distributor

School me, efi guru, for I am TFI-challenged!