D40 Wading

I'm looking for wading advice and particularly actual experiences from other Navara owners.

We're planning a trip that will almost certainly involve some wading so I really want to have a good idea on the vehicles and my boundaries before getting in too deep (literally!)

Some notes:

* The rated Nissan wade depth seems a lowly 450mm - but is this purely based on intake positions, or are there low lying electrics that need to be worried about?
* We will definitely be fitting a snorkel - which will hopefully improve intake issues
* My load bed sucks in dust like a good 'un, so I'm sure water will pour in if it reaches that level, which i doubt will be good for the Aux battery, fridge etc not to mention our clothes. Any tips on making this more water resistant
* Does the cab leak - if so, at what depth and how badly?

TIA

-- Rob

I have had mine through water a touch over 1m deep, and got no water in anywhere. I have a snorkel. If you get stuck in the water you will most certainly get a lot of water in, driving through it though you should be right.

I was always told to turn your car off at the edge of the crossing while you assess the situation, walk it first if you can, this time will let your exhaust and diff's etc cool down a little bit first so they are no going in as hot.

I was told similar - for me, the advice was "5 minutes of idling" before crossing, and mostly that's because the turbo needs to cool down.

There are diff breathers that may need raising to prevent the ingress of water (which will cause trouble if it happens, just not straight away). With a snorkel (fitted by someone like ARB, who will test them to ensure they don't leak) and extended diff breathers you'll be much better off.

There's an air outlet at the rear of the D40 STX Dual Cab's cabin behind the left passenger. Air is forced out of this when the windows are closed by positive pressure. I don't believe it's completely watertight but to prevent it opening (water pressure will push to keep the rubber flap closed) you should probably do a water crossing with one of the rear side windows down a little bit - a few mm is all it needs for air to escape.

The rubber seals in the door are good but won't hold out water for long. Movement is essential, there are some important electronics lying on the floor of the cabin under the centre console so you don't want to let too much get in.

Anyway, welcome to the forum!

I've never had any problems, As long as you don't stop dead in the water than the cabin seals should be OK. The worst area as you noted was the tailgate, not much you can really do there as it's quite difficult to seal. I put clothes in plastic bags, then into plastic boxes to keep the dust off.
Depending on when your travelling, I'd be surprised if you would come across many rivers that depth anyway.

I have had water over my bonnet in the D22 but she runs fine and has never had a issue.

Dave.

Thanks for all the info guys - very helpful and much appreciated.

- Rob

Walker

I drove thru the Pentecost River in El Questro with the water lapping over the bonnet. Very scary for me being the first time that deep. The misses kepy telling me to go back (they just don't understand) and the bub was loving it.

I have a home fitted snorkel which helped so i didn't think there would be any issues.

As stated in other posts. Always stop and let everything cool down prior to entering the water (turbo, brakes, diff etc). Prior preparation is the key. Stop, walk the route and then drive thru the crossing at a constant low speed. The bow wave created will keep most of the water out of the engine bay and the vacuum created at the rear of the vehicle 'should' keep the water from entering the tray. NEVER STOP!

If you are worried about water entering the tray then there is a thread around showing how to seal the tailgate.

Good luck and don't forget to tell the misses grab the Jesus bar and hang on

merchant said:

Walker

I drove thru the Pentecost River in El Questro with the water lapping over the bonnet. Very scary for me being the first time that deep. The misses kepy telling me to go back (they just don't understand) and the bub was loving it.

I have a home fitted snorkel which helped so i didn't think there would be any issues.

As stated in other posts. Always stop and let everything cool down prior to entering the water (turbo, brakes, diff etc). Prior preparation is the key. Stop, walk the route and then drive thru the crossing at a constant low speed. The bow wave created will keep most of the water out of the engine bay and the vacuum created at the rear of the vehicle 'should' keep the water from entering the tray. NEVER STOP!

If you are worried about water entering the tray then there is a thread around showing how to seal the tailgate.

Good luck and don't forget to tell the misses grab the Jesus bar and hang on

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I hope you didn't walk the Pentacoast River!. There was a 3 meter croc sitting on the bank as we pulled up to the crossing last year.

Dont put the clutch in either. pick your gear and stay in it. I have heard of people putting the clutch in and water and crap getting in between the clutch and the flywheel and causing lots of grief.

08KINGCAB said:

I hope you didn't walk the Pentacoast River!. There was a 3 meter croc sitting on the bank as we pulled up to the crossing last year.

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What, only one? There were about 5 of the angry little freshies just waiting for us to stall or do something silly so they got a cheap feed. No salties luckily. They would have just chewed the tyres off as we drove thru.

Cheers for the tips guys - where we are going there'll be Hippos as well, just to add to the fun!

Heh folks, we've a stock 2010 D40 st dual cab and brother in law wants us to cross to Pebbly Beach campsite in nth NSW...Via a salt water creek crossing of about 450mm. Maybe 25m width. Other than rust proofing we've nothing added - no raised diff breathers, snorkels or other. Seems like the depth is ok but what about the salt water...more risk and damage than it gets from beach running or much the same? It's my first new car!

450mm is barely enough to wet your hubs. Don't stress. Just give underneath and inside your chasis rails a good rinsing when your back home

andrewcooksley said:

Heh folks, we've a stock 2010 D40 st dual cab and brother in law wants us to cross to Pebbly Beach campsite in nth NSW...Via a salt water creek crossing of about 450mm. Maybe 25m width. Other than rust proofing we've nothing added - no raised diff breathers, snorkels or other. Seems like the depth is ok but what about the salt water...more risk and damage than it gets from beach running or much the same? It's my first new car!

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I agree with ONLOCK.
The only thing you might want to do prior to going, is get under the car and give it a good spray of lanolin, spray it in all the holes in the chassis and anywhere else you want. That will help not only to slow up the salt but make it a shit load easier to clean off.

Many thanks guys. I see the first pairs in this forum said the manu recommend max water depth of 450mm

Many thanks guys. I see the first post on this thread said the Nissan max recommended water depth is 450mm but can't find it confirmed in web browsing. Anyone know how deep is safe without snorkel etc but assuming slow sensible driving?

nathand22 said:

I agree with ONLOCK.
The only thing you might want to do prior to going, is get under the car and give it a good spray of lanolin, spray it in all the holes in the chassis and anywhere else you want. That will help not only to slow up the salt but make it a shit load easier to clean off.

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I considered this but i've heard that sand just sticks like mad to fishoil and lanolin if you spray it and can't get it off. Anyone else have experience in pre beach trip preps?

You're on the money there Al. However, considering that he plans on wading through salt water, I would be fish oiling the. Rap outta the underside. Whereever you can spray it in. Pay particular attention to chassis seams, bolt heads, welds and where any two bits of metal come together.

the sand does stick to the lanolin but i have found that the sand washes off really easy but still leave a small trace of the lanolin.We use to do a similar thing with our moto x bikes before we went racing for the day, but with WD40 the dust would stick to it but when you hit it with the pressure washer they always came up like new, compared to the slight staining you get on the alloy when you dont do it.
Im not sure about the fish oil as i have never used it under the car, but doesn't it stay really tacky? and isnt it really hard to wash off? if it is then the sand will stick in the tacky layer but not be able to be washed off

Yeah, the sand does stick to the fish oil, but it's a small price to pay knowing that there's. I salt water hiding all up in the groves and tricky places to clean.