Water Crossings (Vehicle Preparation)

All water crossings can be fraught with danger &/or disaster.
As you say preparation is the key.

Kevin & myself did this slightly longer than usual water crossing a few years ago, with almost nil effect.
Just had a little water enter the rear foot wells (drivers side mainly) via the drainage holes.
These have since been sealed :)

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vL8nMjaGWw"]Subaru Forester XT flood crossing - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcbpJL0yfm4"]Subaru Forester goes snorkeling! - YouTube[/ame]

Some of you may have seen these before, however, I thought they were worthy of seeing again in this thread :cool:

BTW the entire crossing was walked & we also witnessed a truck cross from the other side before attempting it.

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
All you guys need now is a fish finder and rod holders! Too brave for me.. :)
 
Ok so another must in my opinion if you are likely to get stuck in deep water is a breather for the manual transmission. I am about to do this which involves taking out the dipstick and putting a pipe over the hole and routing it somewhere higher up.


On a side note.
I have noticed that Subarus seem to have rather good door seals which is great for water crossings. However after a crossing water pours out of all the doors which has come in through the holes in the bottom of the doors.

So what I am wondering is just how high up the water needs to fill up the doors before it starts coming into the cabin?

If this is not very high then maybe it would be a smart idea to have some bungs for them in the glove box so if after walking the crossing and you decided it going to be very deep/a bit iffy but you are as still as keen as I would be to give it a crack anyway you can block these holes to extend how long it takes before water starts coming in to the car in the event that the worst happens.
 
Not a bad idea there....
Personally if my foz filled with water upto the seats my life would be over. I'd loose over $1500 worth of stereo equipment, wrecked seats, carpet, interior in general and who knows what electrical items.
Since I work on a large amount of ex-mining vehicles I see just what happens to the electronics. You can be up for thousands. I've seen a 1 year old Prado need 11k worth of new electrical parts(ECU, BCM, window switches, keyless entry systems,key transponders,cluster, etc...). Connections between components lost due to water, mud or the ever worth gangreen.

That said I'll go through a deep puddle here and there and I do enjoy it but when it doesn't go to plan you really can pay the price.
You are right on the door seals though, they aren't too bad for a standard car. I remember one night I was mudding(donuts), it was about 10pm, pitch black, I was pinging off the rev limited and having a ball. Next minute.... the whole passengers side of my Foz fell in a deep mud whole, water/mud went over the bonnet,windscreen, most of the passengers side went in and half way up the f****** windows! Talk about scary, if it wasn't for the momentum I would of lost the car for sure. It was enough to make me think twice about what I was doing.
 
ECU is under the carpet in the passenger foot well AND it's not in a water proofed case.
$(KGrHqNHJ!sE-gEWhe17BPw+tq48PQ~~60_12.JPG


You get water in there and you will brick your foz DEAD!

Always carry a spare!
 
SF Forries have the ECU mounted on the back of the engine near the brake booster. Fortunately they are in a waterproof case with waterproof connections but I would prefer NOT to test its seals! Not sure about the other Forries....

Outbacks/Libs & I think Ls have theirs in the passenger footwell. Wouldnt be so bad if it was waterproofed but why not stick it up under the dash? :confused::shrug:
 
NachaLuva said:
Wouldn't be so bad if it was waterproofed but why not stick it up under the dash? :confused::shrug:
Click to expand...
You could always have it re-located & mounted in the glove box :)
I think thats where Dulagarl has his (might be wrong)
It was moved & done by SKT (the previous owner) when he did the H6 engine mod :cool:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
03+ SG onwards in the foot well, me thinks!

I wonder if you can get a 3+ metre extension loom lead for an SG ECU relocate.

I would put it up in the roof lining!
 
So I have been looking further into just how far the doors have to fill up through the little drainage holes before water will start to come in.
And the answer is.... not very far at all.
In fact the lowest hole into the cabin on sf forester doors in the door speaker which is not very high up at all.
What is more the door does not have much volume below this point meaning that it will quickly fill to this level.
Im sure if you are moving this would not cause much of an issue but if you get stuck or its a long deep crossing then I can see water starting to come into the cabin.

How to seal these holes however im not sure because you dont want to seal them permanently or you will end up with doors full of water.
A manual solution such as bungs isnt ideal because the unexpected always happens unexpectedly.
I think I am going to see what is available in the way of small one way valves. And if that doesnt work I might just make some spring loaded rubber flaps to go over them
 
On my SF, I found that the main ECU is located behind the ash tray, its wrapped in a plastic, I should've taken a pic while installing the DCCDpro wiring...
 
Really?? If your forester an EJ20 or EJ25 model?
Unless i am really unobservant (which is possible) then there is nothing there on mine...
 
Dedman said:
How to seal these holes however im not sure because you dont want to seal them permanently or you will end up with doors full of water.
A manual solution such as bungs isnt ideal because the unexpected always happens unexpectedly.
I think I am going to see what is available in the way of small one way valves. And if that doesnt work I might just make some spring loaded rubber flaps to go over them
Click to expand...

The Leone Touring Wagons have purpose made rubber flap valves on the bottom of the doors to let water out but not in! I saw these years ago and was impressed at how Fuji Industries thought of everything off road on these models. Just wish they had thought of a fully balanced flat six like a Porsche.. :biggrin:
 
Really? Big clap for Fuji industries.
I may have worked out a cheap easy solution for the forester. Will post some pics when I get around to doing it
 
EJ20, I will take a pic as soon as possible :iconwink:
 
My forester in the water, at this moment it was 100 % of origin, street tires.

I did not think that there was so much water, I was lucky that the engine does not take the water...

I would not begin again without snorkel(tuba)!

I just found some water in the rear dif (casier?)

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UazBbts_MM8"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UazBbts_MM8[/ame]
 
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