I have been in water up to the windshield and it was ok. 96 disco soft top.

 

96 disco soft top.... do go on...

 

The Rio Grand? I grew up in Ionia. That river does like to flood.

 

The Grand River.
You were close.

 

Yeah, I was just dropping some Spanish. I know that's not what it's really called.

 

Thanks for the info guys.

I should have posted I have a D1 V8 gas machine - not a TDI ... so obviously I will be limited by electrical shorting from the ignition and computer system.

As Spike said "FYI-snorkle's for the gas engine are for looks only" - Would that still be a valid modification to ensure the thing that stops you is the your eletrical shorting rather than water in the engine?

I don't plan on water wading but want to be able to to get out of trouble if I need to.

Thanks,
Richard

 

LOL. You need to make a trip out to Rausch Creek for Rovers on the Rocks, Spike.

What you can't tell from my picture is that the right front tire wasn't touching the ground and the left rear tire was only just touching. What looked like a small water hazard where I expected the sides to gently slope in from the edge, actually drops straight off to 6'+.

When someone shot that picture, the truck was teetering so precariously, that the guys I was with thought it would go over if they even opened the back door to get an extra shackle out...

 

wading is not so problematic because you get stopped but because of the mess it makes

assuming your breathers are extended upward so you don't flood your differentials with water, how good are your axle seals? even if they are working, do you really want ditch water in your wheel bearings? Then if you do not have the old school swivel ***** with drain plugs, you have to wonder if your cv grease is clean or if there is pond sludge in there. that's just up to the axles not even under the carpet if you have carpet. Oh sure unless you have the rover that left the factory with precision tolerances, right then, no worries

not saying you shouldn't drive through or be a wimp but that its better to avoid puddles than screw around in them

the more I drive my rover the more I even avoid mud. there's wimpy and then there's the thirty minutes holding the pressure washer wand and shoveling mud off the driveway. I'll take wimpy if I can

 

I prefer crazy obstacles over watercrossings any day, but people love to see trucks drive under water.

 

Just unplug every connector under the hood below the intake that you can find, clean it up good and dap some dielectric in it. You coudl also then go as far as rtv'ing the seals around the connectors but keep in mind youll have to strip them off to disconnect again and might break them, most conenctors on these cars are brittle plastic snap on types.

you will also have to be mindfull of the breather hose locations and thier connection and line integrity. if they are cracked or disconnected, water can leak in. If they are low hanging (such as the rear axle one for sure) consider getting an extension kit and running all the breather lines to a high mounted line on the firewall, or as far as all the way up a snorkle. water in the axles/diff/tranny etc will not have immediate noticable effect, but you will be ruining them all overtime. maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months. especially in cold weather if the water in thier starts to form ice.

third and most important is the air intake. replace the orings and make sure the drain in the box is clear of debris and working. clogged ones might let water build up in the box and stall you half way through the crossing. Or far worse, get pulling in the motor and get in a combustion chamber. It could also let water up INTO the box through the valve. if you will be doing it often, grab a snorkle, but youll have to remove the foam gasket around the box to frame and replace it with rtv or a rubber gasket to be trually water tight. also lok at replacing the oring around the maf.

youll also have to consider the condition of fog lights, headlights and any additional equipemtn like a winch. you could get watter into all those components, causing a short or just filling them with water.

lastly, if water comes in the truck, all the computers are in the bottom right of the kick panel on the passenger side. if they get wet, you could ruin them completly. you could try to mount them higher and build some kind of dish around them to keep water off as a long as possible, but you risk causing a heat buildup as they are all aircooled, and having the wires rub through from being in constant contact with whater you box them up with. plus, there isnt much room down there to begin with, and the wires have little slack. I remember seeing a dedicated plastic case for the ecus a few years ago, but i dont think the company is around anymore.