I purchased a 92 Mitsubishi Mighty Max V6 a few months back, and finally had a chance to test it's and my abilities. Here in Squamish, B.C. Canada, it rains a heck of a lot in the winter, so I'm wondering what I need to watch out for when hitting water.....DEEP water. Yesterday I drove through a series of large puddles (muddy water), and eventually hit one that was about 100 feet long, and over the bumper deep. the ruck has 31's and no lift, so I'm guessing the water was about 3 feet (was just over the top of tires) The truck did great in every puddle, but I need to know the limits of the truck...without finding out the hard way!

I checked under the hood after the last crossing and everything was soaked, including the air filter...and it appeared as though the fan shot mudy water all across the underside of the hood.

So what do i need to watch out for when driving in these situations? In terms of not damaging my new loved Mitsu?

Wet air filter is scary. you cant compress fluid so if you get it into your engine you can potentially do some major damage. A snorkel is ideal but i just bend my intake boot up to my cowling. The fan hitting the water can also do damage to the fan itself as well as the rad. If the blades on the fan get bent it can damage the rad. Best thing to do is get an electric fan with a kill switch so you can shut it off before you get into the water. water is ok in your drum brakes but if you get mud in them it acts as a polishing compound and wears them down quickly.
I'm sure others will chime in but thats all i can think for now.
Oh yeah, and have fun. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yeah, don't get water up to your headlights. The air intake is right behind the P/S headlight. If you do end up hydrolocking your engine and it stalls don't try to restart. Get winched out and pull the spark plugs out before you try to crank the engine. With the spark plugs out there will be an avenue where the water can escape. If you try to restart it with water in the cylinders and the plugs not out you can do some serious damage. As mentioned, your cylinders won't compress water and something's gotta give.

And ditto on the fan. When you're in water deep enough, the blades will try to bend forward in the water and can start tearing into your radiator.

Wow! Thanks for the quick responses! Well.....it seems as though everything is ok then. Blades don't apear to be bent....and I'm wondering if maybe the dirty water across the underside of the hood was just from splashing and not from a turning fan....I don't think the truck was hot enough for the fan to be on...only at halfway on the temp guage. I just opened the air filter box up and it doesnt appear to have gotten wet on the actual filter..just the filter box. Whew! Close one.

What about the transmission? Do these trannys have a breather hole in them that can fill with water? How about wheel bearings?

Its snorkel time. My filter has been wet and muddy before too.

Ah yes, forgot to mention that as well. I don't what the arrangement is on the Mighty Max, but on the Gen I Montero the breathers for the tranny/t-case are through the shifters. The rear diff has a breather that goes up into the frame and the front diff just has a breather with a check-valve that always seems to not work ideally. I routed mine with extended breathers up to the top of the engine bay.

If you get water in your gearboxes you'll want to change your fluid as soon as possible. Wheelbearings should probably be re-lubed as well. How often? I'd say do it more often than not.....eventually you'll see how well your bearings are sealed up and you can adjust your post-water-crossing maintenance schedule from there.

The 4cyl manual tranny has a breather cap on the top of the main housing. When I had my tranny out the last time, I drilled and tapped it for an NPT fitting and vented it up to the engine compartment. The t-case breathes through the boot.