Breather Hoses and water crossings
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I do a lot of hood-deep water crossings. Here's my experience:
Water ingress will only be a problem if you get stuck. Door seals, distributors and other components will hold up longer than you might expect. Note that you should do you watter crossings as slowly as possible. The temperature difference between your diffs and the water will cause a vacuum and it will suck a little water through the seals. You can also warp rotors and do a lot of harm if you dont stop before you enter the water and go slowly.
If you plan on doing water crossings, get a snorkel and make sure you properly install it.
You definitely need to extend breathers for both your differentials, transmission and transfer case at least up to your firewall.
If you don't, then a simple, relatively shallow 30-second crossing can cause water ingress for the rear diff. The other's aren't much of an issue because the Trans and TC breathers are on top of the units and the front breather is almost always raised to one of the fenders from factory.
Sealing the distributor and other units is a bad idea. This will cause condensation to stay trapped if it should appear. I've seen this happen due to temp differences. We drive 80 and 90 series Cruisers which have distributors and have only had wet dizzys once or twice when going into very deep water (windshield deep) by mistake. If you're dead set on "sealing" your distributor, plumb a line from a compressor into it and turn the compressor on when doing the water crossing. The positive pressure will keep water out.
Sealing door gaps and such is not necessary. If you get to the point when door seals fail, you'll have water entering through drain holes, electrical grommets, shifter boots, etc as well.
All this being said, be very careful when doing water crossings. Before attempting it, walk it. Getting stuck in the water will get you in trouble. Beware of strong currents. Always have a recovery plan ready beforehand and be quick when recovering the vehicle. The quicker you retrieve a drowned vehicle the less damage you'll have and consequently less work you have to do afterwards. Trailside repairs and fluid changes are risky.
Water ingress will only be a problem if you get stuck. Door seals, distributors and other components will hold up longer than you might expect. Note that you should do you watter crossings as slowly as possible. The temperature difference between your diffs and the water will cause a vacuum and it will suck a little water through the seals. You can also warp rotors and do a lot of harm if you dont stop before you enter the water and go slowly.
If you plan on doing water crossings, get a snorkel and make sure you properly install it.
You definitely need to extend breathers for both your differentials, transmission and transfer case at least up to your firewall.
If you don't, then a simple, relatively shallow 30-second crossing can cause water ingress for the rear diff. The other's aren't much of an issue because the Trans and TC breathers are on top of the units and the front breather is almost always raised to one of the fenders from factory.
Sealing the distributor and other units is a bad idea. This will cause condensation to stay trapped if it should appear. I've seen this happen due to temp differences. We drive 80 and 90 series Cruisers which have distributors and have only had wet dizzys once or twice when going into very deep water (windshield deep) by mistake. If you're dead set on "sealing" your distributor, plumb a line from a compressor into it and turn the compressor on when doing the water crossing. The positive pressure will keep water out.
Sealing door gaps and such is not necessary. If you get to the point when door seals fail, you'll have water entering through drain holes, electrical grommets, shifter boots, etc as well.
All this being said, be very careful when doing water crossings. Before attempting it, walk it. Getting stuck in the water will get you in trouble. Beware of strong currents. Always have a recovery plan ready beforehand and be quick when recovering the vehicle. The quicker you retrieve a drowned vehicle the less damage you'll have and consequently less work you have to do afterwards. Trailside repairs and fluid changes are risky.
