Danger of shifting into reverse gear whilst wading

[XJ Junkie]

Anyway, 1st low wouldn't have been your correct gear for the sandy bit. Try 2nd or 3rd low. It should stick with the Disco no problem. Even with the narrow-ish tyres.

[Photokid]

Opps! I see you said it was a Toyota Land Cruiser Pick-up that battled. Did it have the Marie Biscuit stock tyres on?

aftermarket 17inch wider tyres. not sure what width they were

[Photokid]

Anyway, 1st low wouldn't have been your correct gear for the sandy bit. Try 2nd or 3rd low. It should stick with the Disco no problem. Even with the narrow-ish tyres.

Will keep that in mind for the next outing

[hbannink]

I don't think it is reverse only the whole pressing the clutch thing is a bit dodgy. Water and most probably a lot of debris can enter the space between clutch plate and pressure plate or flywheel and it is quite possible to end up with bad or no traction. Strange things happen inside a bell housing if flooded with water

[Photokid]

I don't think it is reverse only the whole pressing the clutch thing is a bit dodgy. Water and most probably a lot of debris can enter the space between clutch plate and pressure plate or flywheel and it is quite possible to end up with bad or no traction. Strange things happen inside a bell housing if flooded with water

thanks for the feedback

[Barto]

As per what hbannink said, but sometimes it's just about the lesser evil.....if you're stuck, what are you going to do, leave it spinning in gear while you attach the recovery equipment? No, you either press the clutch and stop to prep for a recovery, or you press the clutch and select reverse or another gear. Either way you're already done the thing that's the problem, pressing the clutch which kan let water and dirt into the clutch. A worse option would be to keep it in gear and let it stall in the water.

So, in short, selecting reverse is not the real issue, using the clutch is, but when you get stuck, you have no real choice, somehwere between driving out and being recovered, you will have to use the clutch.

[Kalahari Safari]

If you engage reverse, then the engine cranks the other way, which can suck water into the motor through the exhaust

Not the pub here - careful!
.

[rabbiddog]

I suppose it depends on the vehicle and depth of the water.

A friend reversed his Isuzu in deep water and flooded the ECU under the back seats. The water came in through the cab vents which are behind the cab.

[Christo Meissenheimer]

I suppose it depends on the vehicle and depth of the water.

A friend reversed his Isuzu in deep water and flooded the ECU under the back seats. The water came in through the cab vents which are behind the cab.

That is why I like the Fortuner. In Savuti my Dad took the wrong line and went into a elephant hole , the water was just below the left side mirror , likely not the right side, because the air intakes sits there. The water was already seat high when my Dad reversed out. The Fortuner had not problems after it. We only struggled to get everything dry again, to get the smell out. That same day a Ford Ranger went into the same hole , got stuck for more than 2 hours and drowned the Ranger. It is not a nice feeling and I will never wish it upon someone. Likely we did not get stuck in that hole, else the Fortuner would had the same fate as the Ranger. We replaced all the oil in the diffs, transfer case and gearbox after that episode because water got into everthing. We are more than 50000km past that episode ,and if we did not change all the oil , we would have had a lot of problems. Likely Savuti had oil so we could have change everything.

Christo Meissenheimer

[XJ Junkie]

In Savuti my Dad took the wrong line and went into a elephant hole

Luckily the elephant wasn't home

[Christo Meissenheimer]

Haha XJ Junkie My English is horrible. It was elephant bath hole . I don't know the correct term for it.

Christo Meissenheimer

[Gareth]

Luckily the elephant wasn't home

Oh my Hat! I've needed a good laugh all day! Thanks XJ! HA HA!

[XJ Junkie]

Is it like a mole hole, just bigger & under water?

[Barto]

We only struggled to get everything dry again, to get the smell out.

The best way is to strip out the entire interior, because most of that water and smell is in the thick absorbent lining under the carpets and since it sits between the carper and the body it takes forever to dry inside the car. Take it out, give it some air and it dries out quickly.

[Christo Meissenheimer]

Is it like a mole hole, just bigger & under water?

haha no XJ Junkie. Is it like mud bath. Dit is plate water wat staan en dan is daar groot modder gatte onder the water wat die Olifante maak as hulle bad in die water en modder , soos dis basies hulle speel gat. Dit is nie 'n tonnel onder die water nie . Dit was die enigste water plaat wat ons nie geloop het voor ons deur gery het nie en toe gebeur dit. Slim vang sy baas.

Christo Meissenheimer

[Witblitz]

Yip proof that when going through water one needs to walk through it to avoid trying to drive through an elephants jaccuzzi

[albertvl]

If in water, the vehicle must be kept engaged in gear at all times. If revs are applied with the gearbox in neutral, this will result in the spare wheel spinning in the boot.

This must be avoided at all costs, a spinning spare wheel in the boot is really going to mess up the chick that you are kidnapping and it will make a substantial dent on her resale value.

[vanwildernis]

I don't think it is reverse only the whole pressing the clutch thing is a bit dodgy. Water and most probably a lot of debris can enter the space between clutch plate and pressure plate or flywheel and it is quite possible to end up with bad or no traction. Strange things happen inside a bell housing if flooded with water

Should'nt the bell housing be watertight with a vent pipe and drain plug?

I recall something like that with an old Defender I had.

[Barto]

The older landies had a open threaded hole and a second blind threaded hole with a plug in it. When doing a water crossing, you move the plug from the blind hole to the open hole to close off the bell housing.

Unfortunately a failing rear main oil seal is relatively common on a lot of vehicles, so leaving the bellhousing sealed or with a raised breather is a bad idea as leaking oil will fill up the bell housing and contaminate the clutch.

[Die SwartKat]

No jokes in the discussion section Neil, this isn't the pub.

Besides I am sure if he is wading he would have already fitted an exhaust snorkel to prevent that.

Hahahahahaha now that was funny. I'm pi$$ing myself where I sit.