waterproofing

[derian06]

A new range rover is able to cross up to 3ft. I'm sure a hummer on 35's could do the same.


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[08H3]

Please tell us you have pics???:corn:

Sorry...no pics. Just as my own safety editorial, this wasn't some random unkown water hole. Our property has two fords. The one (that was crossed at that depth) has a concrete bottom so the risk is fairly minimal. I wouldn't advise blasting into an unknown pool.

 

[alrock]

You know, I used to wheel with a guy that would say those very words. As I mentioned elsewhere, I had a 74 Blazer on 44" tires. One of my tricks I'd pull on him is drive into a hole like that, put it in 2wd, dig until the rear was on the ground, put it back in 4wd then drive out....

Have I ever mentioned I'm kind of a bastard? :horns:

I'm pretty sure that's why we like having you around

A new range rover is able to cross up to 3ft. I'm sure a hummer on 35's could do the same.


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A new range rover is able to cross up to 3ft. I'm sure a hummer on 35's could do the same.
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Umm, that's the kind of loose logic that gets people into trouble (plus it's 33.5"). They are not engineered the same and have differing capabilities with each one having benefits and drawbacks. Your assumption is no different than saying a Porsche 918 can lap Nurburgring in under seven minutes, thus a BMW can do the same.

I've had my H3 in water deeper than 36 inches for a few moments and that led to some trouble. I would never ford at length deep water and 36" would make me uncomfortable. 36" fully buries your tires if you are on 35s. Take a look at your H3 and consider that situation. My passenger door will let in a bit of water when the bottom seal is dunked for 30 seconds. The BCM is essentially at floor height on the passenger side and 36" is probably about 6" up the side of your door.

This is probably as deep as I'll ever ford and I'll likely avoid this deep in the future. This was about 30" for 100'. The truck was light but stable. Some water wetted the passenger footwell but none got into any mechanicals or electronics.

 

[derian06]

I'm pretty sure that's why we like having you around


Umm, that's the kind of loose logic that gets people into trouble (plus it's 33.5"). They are not engineered the same and have differing capabilities with each one having benefits and drawbacks. Your assumption is no different than saying a Porsche 918 can lap Nurburgring in under seven minutes, thus a BMW can do the same.

I've had my H3 in water deeper than 36 inches for a few moments and that led to some trouble. I would never ford at length deep water and 36" would make me uncomfortable. 36" fully buries your tires if you are on 35s. Take a look at your H3 and consider that situation. My passenger door will let in a bit of water when the bottom seal is dunked for 30 seconds. The BCM is essentially at floor height on the passenger side and 36" is probably about 6" up the side of your door.

This is probably as deep as I'll ever ford and I'll likely avoid this deep in the future. This was about 30" for 100'. The truck was light but stable. Some water wetted the passenger footwell but none got into any mechanicals or electronics.

Agreed, my logic wasn't correct.


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[High Five H2]

I know this thread is well over a year old, but I had some things to add and I didn't want to start a whole new thread.

I live in the middle of west Texas, and when it rains out here, it floods. 2 weeks ago it rained really hard and the water was deep enough and flowing strong enough to take off one of my center caps and bend the front license plate completely up. I had water up to my headlights. I opened the door and the water was right below the door sills. According to the literature, the H3 can ford up to 24" of water. I haven't measured to see if I was below that or not. I was pretty nervous and I turned around and went another way. I'm pretty sure I was below 24" though. However, I still had a check engine light for about a day, until everything dried out. My 3 isn't my DD, I have a work car for that, but it's not exactly my weekend warrior either. I'm not really into deep water crossings, but I thought it would be handy to waterproof everything under the hood regardless. More than once, a car going WAY too fast would pass me or something and make huge waves. At one point, I nearly got rear-ended by a suburban being driven, apparently, by a NASCAR driver who was texting. That person made huge waves and nearly hit me in the process. Thing like that we can't control, which is why I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Here's what I've gathered so far:

- E-fan with off switch
- Run intake tubing higher (either functional hood intake or snorkel. I'm partial to the hood intake personally)
- Differential/T-case breather tubes higher
- Di-electric grease on electrical connections
- Waterproof BCM - not sure how to do this. I read one another thread that was started by Bebe and she was looking for ways: http://www.hummer4x4offroad.com/forum/showthread.php?3058-Waterproofing-the-BCM
- fuse box - not sure here, either. Where the wires come out the side is definitely not waterproof and the internals seem particularly vulnerable.
- Missing anything else?

Another reason I'm asking is because I want to make a functional hood louver without risking water damage.

Ok, thanks for the input. Like someone said above, waterproofing is needed for a dedicated off-road rig and I'm moving my 3 in that direction.

 

[woodwardsh3]

In the hummer h3 book, it said up to 2 feet of water can be crossed, so if they say 2 feet then 2 1/2 feet should be good to right.

 

[High Five H2]

I wouldn't risk it, but they probably did round down did a bit.

I measured just down, and I was probably in 16" of water when I opened my door. I'm pretty sure I got in deeper than that tho. If it was deep enough to bend my license plate up, then it was around 2 feet.

 

[08H3]

I really doubt your CEL was due to the water. I've honestly made hundreds of water crossings at more than 16" inches with no issue ever. Still, unless you were 100% aware of all the circumstances of the crossing, you mentioned it was flowing quickly and even 16" can be dangerous.

 

[High Five H2]

I'll see if I can pull the codes. it would be interesting to trouble shoot, at least, even if they are gone now. They went away by themselves was the strange thing.

 

[Big2dabank]

I wouldn't base your decision to do a water crossing solely on wether or not your rig is waterproofed. You need to be comfortable with what you can cross. I've been in some pretty deep stuff and as long as you know the conditions of the bottom and can maintain traction and forward momentum, you can create a wake in front of your rig that actually lowers water along side the rig. I also carry a small zebco with a large weight and stopper set at my comfort depth, I just pitch it across the water several times and if the bobber stays on top of the water, I know the depth is less than my fording max, which is set at 42" for me. However, once you get stuck all bets are off, no matter how water proof you think you are, water is coming in. Hydraulics are a bitch to over come and water will migrate through the tiniest of holes.

[video=youtube_share;K6SzN18AQdc]https://youtu.be/K6SzN18AQdc[/video]

 

[Big2dabank]

I'll see if I can pull the codes. it would be interesting to trouble shoot, at least, even if they are gone now. They went away by themselves was the strange thing.

Evap canister and vent valve can have issues due to water and cause a CEL temporarily.