Lesson learned.

[meiamaro]

If this is in wrong spot please move. ;D
My lesson learnt was last weekend.
A few mates and i crossed the same river in to diffrent
locations about 20klms apart, 1st crossing no biggy
dirve in water up to bonnet got bogged on exit,mate snacthed me out.Easy.NOT.
2nd crossing,water flowing faster but nice rocky bottom
cool.So i thought,spent about 1&1/2 hrs having lunch
and swimming recovery gear accross river.
I'm now attached to my mates super truck, 8) lockers,muddies,5" of lift and he's attached by his winch
to another vehical the other side who is going to pull us through.
If i happen to get stuck he just hits the winch and presto we crawl out.Sounds to easy. ::)
So of we go, and two car lenghs in mine coughs and stops and the vehical on the other side reverse's of the road into a hole. My mates super truck goe's roaring out of the river
and gets stuck in the soft sand because i'm not pulling my wieght.
I'm left wallowing around in about 1mtr of flowing river like a fishing loure.NOT HAPPY JAN.
So by the time they get me out the water is level with the trans tunnel and there is bbq shapes' floating about.
So why did she stop,well on the first crossing she sucked a heap of water into the fuel tank.And while travelling the 20klms and sitting for lunch ect, the diesel floated above the water,filled the fuel line's, and put the spark out when it was needed most.I now have one very smelly Patrol interior Hanging over my fence,seats in the patio area.
And it whont stop raining(bloody wet season.)
Its my fault,I never checked the fitment of fuel tank cap or breather or the snorkle for that matter(there was water in th pre-cleaner too) when i bought the Patrol second hand.It could have been worse,i could have been up for an engine instead of smelly carpet and a red face.
So people when you buy a 4WD with accessore's already fitted,double check them or it could get expenssive.

Cheers Ian.

[miketanja]

Geez - the hard way to learn!

[Troppo]

Terrible thing to happen. Great story though. Would have been good on video. ;)

[meiamaro]

Yes it was an adventure for sure.
so far without counting the inconveniance of diving to work
in a 4x4 with no inetior(while it dries).
Having to drain everything and now the starter brushe's
have gone.Must have done 20klm on the starter i recone,flushing fuel and trying to get he to start when wet.

But hey, i'd be back out tomorrow if i could.

Cheers Ian.

[dhula]

Well done ian,
a never say die attitide and the wish, na want to get back no the bush and enjoy.

;D

[Lux orr]

AT least you weren't up for an expensive repair bill!!

[Gumby]

Wow, that would get the sfinckter going 10 to the dozen being stuck in that water, i'd say you were very lucky not to hurt yourselfs and the bus, good effort but... ;)

[hando]

I am wondering what sort of fish would go for a patrol lure

[crustyundies]

I think the bbq shapes would have been good burley ;D

[meiamaro]

Well it has all turned to SH#T. :'(

She now has a nice(not)vented block,and a
2 piece conrod.

Looks like she did have some damage after all.

Bugger.

Ian.

[brokelux]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[meiamaro]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
[/quote

Iknow Iknow :'( :'( :'(]

[Patrolman Pat]

>:( sh!t happens. Good luck with it.

"I'm now attached to my mates super truck, lockers,muddies,5" of lift and he's attached by his winch
to another vehical the other side who is going to pull us through." Can't get my head around this recovery though. If your mate has a winch why not just get him to winch you out, easier and safer than tring to drag you across the river while he's attached to a third vehicle by his winch. Sounds too complicated, or am I missing something.

[meiamaro]

>:( sh!t happens. Good luck with it.

"I'm now attached to my mates super truck, lockers,muddies,5" of lift and he's attached by his winch
to another vehical the other side who is going to pull us through." Can't get my head around this recovery though. If your mate has a winch why not just get him to winch you out, easier and safer than tring to drag you across the river while he's attached to a third vehicle by his winch. Sounds too complicated, or am I missing something.

The river that we crossed was just over 1 meter deep
and flowing and over 30meters wide,To much for a lone vehicel.(wagon).
We thought that the weight of the two together would be better.
If i had not stopped all would be good as i was makeg ground under my own power. My mates winch was about 10 meters too short
so we attached to the third vehical as a moving anchor.
And Dark clouds were on there way,it floods quick up here.
I hope this makes sense.
And as said lesson learned.

Cheers Ian.

and now the starter brushe's have gone.


were they gone, or had it hydrauliced up preventing it from turning over??

If mine got a belly full of water and wouldnt turn over, I'd be looking futher than the starter...but like you said, lesson learned. Hope u get it back off the road soon :)

[crankycruiser]

Spewing..

Shame ya didnt get some pics tho ;)

[meiamaro]

and now the starter brushe's have gone.


were they gone, or had it hydrauliced up preventing it from turning over??

If mine got a belly full of water and wouldnt turn over, I'd be looking futher than the starter...but like you said, lesson learned. Hope u get it back off the road soon :)

When she stopped in the river i did not try to start her.
i waited (with the water)and once i was out we pulled the glow plugs before trying to start her. The starter started to play up a few days later.wich i pulled and repaired,brushes & a new soliniod.

Now a re-sealing of the old girl is under way,with extra attention
to all area's.

Cheers Ian

[meiamaro]

Spewing..

Shame ya didnt get some pics tho ;)

Got a few of the first vehicel to cross.
Will have to figure out how to post them?

Ian.

[Alistair]

so how do you avoid your fuel tank sucking in water? like just serch for the breather and make sure its run up high?

[Peter @ Aawen4x4]

Lots of people don't even do that, just ignore it and hope it doesn't go wrong!!

But yeah, you really need to find the breather and extend it up high enough that it won't suck water in when it goes under!! You should have a NON-Vented fuel tank cap too, as the vent in that will let a significant amount of water in once it's held under the surface!! Check the vents on charcoal cannisters too!!

Anything that has a breather or vent and that is likely (or even UN-likely) to go under water in any crossing you attempt should either be routed higher, or sealed for the crossing!! You realise that normal vented battery caps don't stop river water (or salt water) getting into the battery and diluting everything?? That can be a problem, but luckily it needs to be fairly deep water and the battery usually keeps it charge for a while before dying!!

Have Fun now, raising all the breathers!

[Alistair]

well i knew i had to do diffs, just recently foudn out about the transfer case, and now the fuel tank.

do diesels have a charcol canister???

also is there any thing else i should look at rasing the breather with???

[Peter @ Aawen4x4]

Diesels don't have charcoal cannisters, they belong to petrol engines and emission control!

[Peter @ Aawen4x4]

On a Patrol, the vent for the fuel tank is clipped to the inside of the chassis rail along side the filler pipes, and then its run up and under the cover around the filler pipes and fast fill o/flow. The bit of plastic that looks like a mini fuel filter clipped to the chassis rail is a 1way valve to stop moisture etc getting in, but it only works for air borne moisture, not solid water!! The top end if the breather is hooked to leave the open end of the tubing hanging down.

All that is wonderful stuff, unless you overfill your fuel tank and the fuel expands and forces its way out of the breather pipe. This is prone to happen if you always try to get that last 2 litres in so that you can see the fuel in the filler neck!! Once the fuel has forced its way OUT of the breather, the moisture valve no longer works AT ALL!! But all is not lost, it is quite easy to either slip the end off that little valve (be careful, it is likely to be very brittle!) or to just cut and join another section of tubing onto the end. Make sure it is long enough to reach up the inside of the 'D' pillar, and if you remove the 'positive airlow' vent on the back pillar, you can pull the tubing up high enough to hook over the top of that before replacing it!!

I usually put one of those little osmotic breather ends on, or just a small fuel filter, and make sure that the end of the tubing hangs down, so anything going in has to be sucked up and over the hump before running into the tank. doing this will bring the vent up to the level of mid windscreen, and if you are crossing water much deeper than that, you really should be looking at a whole lot of other sealing and venting options!! Ohh!! and making sure that you have a manually openable sunroof for those rapid exits when the car drowns, or so you can at least stand on the steering wheel and both breathe and see as you drive the car fully submerged!! Dont laugh, I've seen it!!