2nd gen V6 water ingestion?

tried searching "water ingestion" and didn't get much, so....

I'm getting into my first rainy season (never will describe anly L.A. weather as "winter") in my new V6 pre-runner (off-road pkg).

Since it looks like the stock intale pulls air from the RHS front wheel well, I'm wondering about the possibility of sucking up dangerous amounts of water when crossing puddles.

Also, are the 265 A/Ts prone to hydroplaning? (I've been driving a coupe with low-pros and Toyo Proxes with good channeling for the last 5 years) The tread looks like it shouldn't have any issues with wet traction, but there is an awful lot of air in those things, and they're spec'd for lower pressure than what I've been running on the rocket sled.

 

Are you talking about puddles or deep water (whilst 4 wheeling)?

I would think that the engineers at Toyota have elimnated the chances of puddle water getting sucked into the engine. Possibly why you didn't find anything when searching. I think you'll be fine.

 

thanks guys.

I had kind of envisioned the possibility of the wheel kicking up water into the well right about where the air intake seems to be pulling from.

might just be that I'm an engineer myself and prone to overthinking sometimes, although I had a '97 V6 a while back which had a couple bits where it lookled like the guys at Toyota had outsmarted themselves (oil fill directly above the alternator and the cupholders located directly above the head unit are the main two that stand out in memory).

 

It'll be fine... first night I took it home we had a huge storm and I found some huge parking lot puddles to tear through at about 40mph kicking up about 20' waves.

As for the hydroplaning.... you need to be careful about the rear of the truck, it can slide out on water pretty easily as there's no weight on the tires. It'll handle very well in the rain but you just need to get a feel for it... it's way diffrent than low pro's on a sports car (I came from a lowered G35 so been there). With the exception of the back wanting to kick out pretty easy... it feels a lot more stable to me.

Also keep in mind your rear dif is open, not LSD.

 

the intake is in a pretty good hiding spot. if travel through deep water at a steady speed the wake helps push the waterline down lower around the front wheels. the air isn't pulled directly from the wheel well.
also, the actual intake is designed to remove a some water if it gets sucked it in.
there is a video demonstrating this on FJs on the toyota site.

 

theres always water traps in intakes anyways. Woudln't worry about it unless you're doing a short ram style CAI.

 

When your truck ingests a dangerous amount of water...You'll know it - because it'll STALL. If you search for - "Hydrolock" or "Hydrolocking", you'll find more information.

You don't have to worry about general driving or puddles. If you start diving into mud holes and deep water, then you could possibly hydrolock. The best advice when you do and the truck stalls, DO NOT TURN THE KEY!!!!

 

I did that on my old ranger for about 15 minutes, kept cranking the key and eventually it turned over. Ran for about 15 minute on only 3 cylinders, eventually pulled out of it no problems.

 

You were LUCKY.

If there's water in the cylinders and you try to start the truck, you'll bend a rod and TOTAL the engine.

 

Yup, I know it... LoL I was young and didn't know anything at the time. Probably didn't have it that bad, betting I just fouled the plugs more than anything. I went through a 3 foot deep puddle at about 20 mph trying to be a hot shot. Made it through, but the intake on the older rangers is right on the grill, too much water and it went straight through the water trap. Fouled it up once I got out of the puddle.

 

I came from a lowered G35 as well, with 255's up front and 285's in the rear, so it would hydroplane pretty easily.

The one thing i don't like about my taco is somehow when driving through puddles, half of the water ends up on the windshield, temporarily blinding you at the precise moment when you hydroplane.

 

I have noticed that mine does the same, as soon as I hit a bigger puddle the spray always tends to go right on the windshield...just wierd.

 

I've seen the "after" of a hydrolocked engine, a former coworker had a piston with a boomerang shaped rod attached as a paperweight from an old Honda which had managed to fill an entire cylinder. That's why I was so concerned about the possibility of it happenening to me....

 

My other car (which has been my DD for the last five years) is a lowered RX-8 with 245s all around. I was always really careful on the stock tires and haven't noticed any wet traction or hydroplaning issues since I switched to Toyo Proxes T1-Rs, although the car does manage to kick the bulk of any puddles I hit right into my windsheild (I was hoping the Off-Road PreRunner would be high enough to avoid that somewhat)

 

When or if it happens, you'll know it. The engine will stall.

I've been offroading for 8 years and have helped revive many vehicles that hydrolocked. Only one situation, the guy turned the key and he bent a rod. He was EXTREMELY lucky that his insurance company covered everything - since the truck was a complete loss.