How water/mud tight is the Surf?

[Nick V]

Have downloaded and been watching some video of the fun at the 'Pit' and Reading - can't wait to pick mine up and get down and dirty with it!

I was wondering how water or mud tight the Surf is cos seeing how they look before, what they are doing 'during' and how good they look again after, I would assume they must be pretty good. What sort of things are done to protect the inside of the car, cos although I want to use and abuse mine, I wouldn't be popular with er indoors if I messed up a mint interior

Also how deep can you go in these without a snorkel, without getting water into the engine?

Cheers in advance,

Nick. (Counting down the days )

[Guest]

Have downloaded and been watching some video of the fun at the 'Pit' and Reading - can't wait to pick mine up and get down and dirty with it!

I was wondering how water or mud tight the Surf is cos seeing how they look before, what they are doing 'during' and how good they look again after, I would assume they must be pretty good. What sort of things are done to protect the inside of the car, cos although I want to use and abuse mine, I wouldn't be popular with er indoors if I messed up a mint interior

If it's been looked after then should be pretty good, however check the quality of the door seals - any splits or holes are not going to help. Also check all the grommets where the wiring comes through the bulkhead - most are pretty high up but some may get compromised - if in doubt throw some Silicon bath sealant round it.

Also how deep can you go in these without a snorkel, without getting water into the engine?

The standard air intake exits on the right hand side (from the front) of the passeneger side headlamp. You can take off the pipe to this where it exits the filter and turn the bent piece of tube towards the back of the engine bay which will give you some more depth. However even with this mod don't go much deaper than the middle of the radiator grill unless you are really going slowly. The Surf will create quite a wave at the front.
Cheers in advance,

Nick. (Counting down the days )

[Nick V]

Thanx again Andy

[robnw67]

Doors and stuff

Hi there

I've just checked my doors and the drainage holes are on the outside of the door seals, so if you go wading above the level of the door sills, you're going to flood the door and play havoc with the window winding mechanism, motor and the speakers.

If the doors start to fill with water, the only thing stopping the water getting in is the polythene membrane inside the door - assuming it's intact. If water gets past the membrane, it's going to start destroying the door trim.

How do you protect these items? Or just not bother?

Rob

[TonyN]

Never had a problem, Toys are the most water tight 4x4 around, frequent bumper high wading has never let water in. Had a pickup over bonnet high at Woodlands once, not a drop of water inside.

Your more likely to get rain down the weather strip on top of the door than up the little holes, they're usually plugged up with mud anyway!



The top of the access hole inside the door is a long way up anyway, probably higher than the air intake.



Surfs love Surfin'

[Nick V]

Point well illustrated Tony N

Cheers, Nick

[Robster]

Ahhhh...I love that picture of my trusty Surf!!

However, be warned that shortly after that I exceeded the maximum depth and was stuck for some time in water that was well above the bottom of the doors! See pic attached for this, and also note the tide marks on the bonnet - not a good sign! Also note the "hand on head" syndrome this caused!!

Fortunately she was ok!! As far as getting wet goes, I did have a very small amount of seepage (I should say the surf, not me!) into the drivers footwell - but I was stationary in the water for 10 or 15 minutes, so can't really complain!!

[Koi]

It is me towing him out not a drop of water got inside, spent all day at that site and a fair bit of it was in water.

[Rob]

Mine was almost water tight at the same place (Norfolk). Carpet inside the rear passenger doors got slightly damp but that's cos my seals had mud trapped in them and weren't sealing properly. Spent quite a bit of time in the water too.

[sumo]

The guys are right the surf is water tight as long as the seals are intact and its the only way to clean the properly As you can see they love water just think before you go swimming you got to get home.

sumo.

Oh yeah and no water got inside to make the carpets wet,except from the kids feet.

[Nick V]

All things considered, pretty water tight then

Cheers, Nick

[robnw67]

Water proof?

I'm not saying the Surf isn't water tight - I'm saying that your doors will be full of water and was wondering how you protect against that. By definition, drain holes must be at the lowest point in the door so that water can collect there and exit via the drain hole. So if you submerge the door above the drain hole - it will fill.

Just as a point of interest - I have some details on the Toyota pick up and that recommends a maximum permitted wading depth just short of the axles. I guess that's cos Toyota don't want to have to replace equipment on a new vehicle under warranty that you might screw up by submerging it.

[Muzz67]

I have had water over the bonnet sometimes

I have had water over the bonnet sometimes, and have never had any inside- however I did have to take the headlights out as they were half full!! I sealed the rubber boot on but water still got inside so I drilled a 1mm hole in the botton of the reflector as a drain.

[Robster]

I have had water over the bonnet sometimes, and have never had any inside- however I did have to take the headlights out as they were half full!! I sealed the rubber boot on but water still got inside so I drilled a 1mm hole in the botton of the reflector as a drain.

Yeah, I removed my sidelights and took em in the shower to try and shift all the mud that was left after the muddy water evaporated!! Fitted some sexy blue bulbs in to while I was there!