Snorkel fit to 200Tdi 90

[cotefarmboy]

My 200 Tdi 90 arrives this week  :D 

Looking forward to it and have ordered a snorkel (standard type) from MM4x4 for a bargain price of £75, what sort of job is it to fit please? Last one I fitted was a Safari on a Disco 300 Tdi was a real PITA.

Hoping this is simpler.

[zulublue]

Hi Andy,

Some may argue with this, but I can only go on experieance and a costly mistake

I take it this is the snorkel you have purchased http://www.mm-4x4.com/defender-snorkel---fits---25-na--25-turbo--200tdi-2710-p.asp

I used to have one of these fitted to my 90, but first you need to understand or decide the limit of your off roading / fording?

The unit in question comes in several parts but 3 are very important, if you are considering wading in water over the bonnett I would go for another make for these reasons.

1 - You have to silicone the joint on the wing where the snorkel passes through, this can fail
2 - these units have a drain valve which lets water / condensation out. If it can get out it can get in
3 - the 2 plastic parts that go inside the engine bay just push together and IIRC there is no seal

I had one of these units fitted and in a good down pour I went through Packington ford in flood, water was just over my seat. I got to about 20ft from the end and I hydrolocked the engine I had only got the 90 3 day's before I was gutted, but my fault for not testing the snorkel.
I  then set about finding out how the water had got in, I thought the seal between the wing which perhaps added a little but on closer inspection I found the drain vavle was old and did not shut and the more frightening thing was the connection between the plastic housings that fit inside the engine bay.

The design may have changed since mine was put on, im sure someone will confirm

I ripped the snorkel out and got hold of a Southdown unit on their ebay shop, about £75 for all the parts. siliconed all the hose joints then tested the day after, the way to do this is to run your engine then put your hand or something over the top of the snorkel and stall the engine, then listen for air been sucked in from low down (some dont like doing it but it works for me)

The only issue with the southdown unit is where you fit it if you are going to add a roll cage as it brings the snorkel forward on top of the heater, its tight but it can be done.

So it all depends on you useage of your 90, you might think god I have just spent £70 but my mistake cost me £1000 so make the right choice first time.

Mark

P.S. The 200Tdi snorkel should fit on the other side to whats shown on the pic. (so it normally goes passenger side)

[cotefarmboy]

Bummer, thought the price was too good to be true  :(

I guess as long as I take care fitting it and use plenty of sealant and large jubilee clips etc it should be OK? I'll take a closer look when it arrives and if it looks poor I'll send it back.

Cheers for the advice.

[jimthelandyman]

Don't worry just use plenty of silicone everywhere, i have a paddocks snorkel think it is similar i have had the water over my bonnet and coming out of my heater blowers  :D still a couple of bits i need to seal. Was also thinking of connecting it directly to the turbo hose when offroading so that i don't have to seal my airbox.

[Saffy]

The design may have changed since mine was put on, im sure someone will confirm

I had bearmach one,  the 300tdi version is worse where it enters wing and mates to standard setup. I sealed mine but could not test it fully as the standard squarish shaped wing fitting collapses under vacuum and breaks the silicone seals. It stays collapsed until you  take apart and poke it back into shape from the inside!
I was never confident that it would remain sealed long term as silicone stuck to plastic does age and breaks its bond. I did remove the standard LR fittings and weld a pipe section to the metal wing plate of the snorkel so I could attach the hose directly, was a bit tight and looked restrictive for airflow though. After awhile I finally gave in and got a safari snorkel which has much better design in that area and comes with a replacement hose fitting.

[kevinf]

hi there

as every body has said just make sure you seal every joint and plug the drain points,they may be two on the 200
cant remember, theres definitely one under the air filter housing

don't think its a case of the cheaper bits of kit being no good,just recently fitted the mantec plastic jobbie to my td5
and the fit between the wing and snorkel body was very poor,had to apply loads of sealant,and the instructions where one page of pictogram's,tried to test by running the engine with a strong plastic bag over the top of the stack pipe but it either tried to suck the bag down the pipe or if i managed to keep hold of it it just kept sucking holes in the bag,SO fingers crossed
did ring mantec to question the poor fit and lack of instructions,was told i was only the second person to complain about poor fit and the would get back to me     still waiting!

good luck Kevin

[Defender]

As everyone has said, use plenty of sealant.
I fitted a Safari Snorkel to my 200tdi & this only fits to the wing, but comes with a neoprene seal. I did back this up with loads of sealant.
The fitting behind the wing will be in 2 parts & will have a drain valve in it. I took the whole thing out & sealed the 2 sections together with sealant & then wrapped electrical insulation tape around the joint as a extra measure. To block up the drain hole, I found a rubber blanking grommet of the right size & siliconed this in place, then put the whole assembly back in place. Remember to seal the assemble to the back of the wing to prevent water ingress.
Another part that gets overlooked is the air filter assembly. This also has a drain valve on it that will need blanking off as the original 'Dump Valve' never makes a good seal. The end cap on air filter will also need sealing & I got a large rubber 'O' ring for this.
Make sure your rubber & metal intercooler hoses & pipes are all in good nick, with no holes & make sure all the hose clips are good & tight.

[cotefarmboy]

Fitted the bearmach snorkel today, what a pig of a job, you can't get to the moulded bit inside the wing even with the wheelarch off. Sealed it really well to the wing but not sure how well it's sealed to the right-angle section in the wing, poked a load of silicone around the joints and plugged the drain hole too so i can't do any more. Just need to sort out sealing the air filter box and it should be ready.

Also a word of warning, the supplied instructions tell you to drill the top mounting bracket 31cm from the bottom of the screen so i did, then realised that one of the holes won't go through as it is right on the join inside the screen  :( Anyway I widened the hole out to fit one of the 10mm nuts and hammered it in to form a captive nut, worked a treat  :D

[Rasbo]

got a safari snorkel, fitted it myself so i couldn't blame anyone else if it leaked

sealed it up so good it took to paint work off my wing when i removed it.

think should have gone for a mantec tho as the elbo on the safari collects all kinds of rubbish.  also the neo gasket gradually compresses, so put mine in the bin as it was a week point