Bronco vs Deep Water ... 3 Broncos Down (Exceeding Maximum Water Fording Depth)

[BlueBronco]

He took a fast nose dive into that water. Watch when he first goes in and floors it.

Only part of the video I watched and seen enough. Very lucky they didn't hydro-lock the motor as the entire front area under the hood is essentially the air intake.

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[Broncotrax]

Maybe people don't full understand the consequences of getting water in the engine through the air box/air filter. It doesn't take much to get in the combustion chamber and hydro lock the engine and create enough damage to ruin it. By ruin it I mean engine replacement = big bucks.
these are good off roaders but NOT aquatic or marine vehicles. It is odd that it was hauled out by a marine vehicle hauling service tho!!

 

[Coldsmoke]

This is what happens when you don't know what you are doing.
He took a fast nose dive into that water. Watch when he first goes in and floors it.

A little research before you drown your 50,000 + dollar baby.

Exactly! You took the words right out of my mouth. It's a poor craftsman who blames their tools.

 

[Jsullivan]

People aren't going to keep brushing this off...this is an issue

When you suck water in your intake filter, the filter sets high up in the engine compartment, you shouldn't be drivng.
You don't stop... Drive slow and steady and keep pushing the water ahead of you.
If the mud and ruts keep you from moving forward than only an idiot thinks they won't have electrical problems with a STOCK vehicle.

 

[NAP51DMustang]

Yeah, but it doesn’t look over the fording depth.

They have 35" tires, water fording depth is 33". The water nearly completely covers the tire. It's over water fording depth.

 

[flip]

If you did the off-roadeo they may have explained (or at least our guide in Texas did to us), the idea with the fording is to crate a front wave which is supposed to mean the engine is in the trough behind the push. I've gone through a few medium depth pools and have found there's a big problem with water splashing up into the compartment around the wheel wells to the point it's able to enter the air inlet drain. My new BL came in and before I do ANY off road driving am going to cut some more splash shields and put them in several different exposed areas.

I get why this people are pissed at an off road vehicle not being able to handle an obstacle it's supposedly rated for. Ford is going to claim the fording wasn't done correctly or driver error, blah, blah, blah. Some of this, IMO, can be helped with additional splash shields to avoid a direct shot. When we go through this stuff the weight of the vehicle displaces a bunch of water and essentially creates a pressurized blast up into the engine compartment from around the wheel openings and grille. Have not seen one of these failures first hand yet but feel like I've got a fairly good idea of one of the causes.

 

[uncledoodoo]

just dive right in, that's always fine (#sarcasm). Fording depth is just under the top of the tire (33 ") and when the wave finally settled it was over that, so that whole engine got submerged. Crossing that deep of water they should not have gone in that hard. I'm not saying there's not a problem with the alternator location, but holy crap, if you'd gone to the off-rodeo, you'd have learned how to ford water better than that (plug for Off-Rodeo).

 

[Razorbak86]

Let’s all observe a moment of silence for @drew707’s last post on the forum two months ago before being beamed up to the Mothership and taken away to Area 51.

 

[sgraing1]

Easy come,Easy go.

 

[TellurideBronco]

Dumb and Dumber in action.

Dumb: Goes into the water too hot, and possibly over the rated water fording depth.

Dumber: The guy or gal who pulled it out of the water. Instead of barely accelerating to build full tension in the tow rope, mashed the go pedal yanking the Bronco with full force out of the water.

 

[killaz05]

Alright well I guess here is a good enough place to explain what happened since the video doesn't show everything. So The reason I went in was because 3 other broncos went in without any real issue. I went in and immediately lost power as you can see the water went over the hood and got into the intake. The motor stalled and I was stuck. The water seals held up for a couple of minutes and then it came in.

The top of the tires are still visible so it was under 35" of water but obviously over the fording depth listed by ford. I am curious to see how the everglades does. The Bronco pulling me out had similar issues with water in the intake from water holes just before getting to this spot.

Once out from the water hole, we pulled the K&N Filter and the motor started up. It sputtered for about a min and then I drove over an hour home. I had no warning lights or anything. Everything is working fine. I checked the diff fluids and trans fluids which all look great. The breather hoses are high up with the front diff and transmission by the brake booster.

The Bronco that pulled me out also just had to clean the air filter and it was fine. The only Bronco that suffered an alternator issue was Buttercup (army green Bronco) and she didn't go through that water hole.

I am not saying what I did was smart by any means. I saw three other broncos go through without much issue and figured it would be a nice video but stuff happens. You live and learn. I understand damage could have occurred and I was worried I hydro-locked the motor. You take a risk every time you take your vehicle off-road but then again you chose how much risk by the path you take.

I don't think I would have had much of an issue if I had a snorkel on there. If I didn't lose power, I would have had much more of a chance.

Everyone will put their 2 cents in on here because its the internet and everyone is a pro but Ford did a great job with the Bronco. I haven't had one issue with it. This was operator error and I have learned from it. It could have been an expensive lesson but thankfully it wasn't.

 

[93_SVT_3503]

I see you're continuing with your typical posting, . One of these days Doug (@Administrator) will just section of a special little forum for your crybaby shit talking posts for you. Do you thrive off of creating these negative posts with your BS?
Sucking water into the intake is driver error and not a design issue. Yeah the alternator does need to be relocated but that has nothing to do with rookie mistakes in several feet of water and Youtube clickbait.

This guy even stated the issue as he was taking the intake apart to check the filter.

Here you can actually see the water pouring back out from under the hood on both sides.

 

[Mattwings]

If you did the off-roadeo they may have explained (or at least our guide in Texas did to us), the idea with the fording is to crate a front wave which is supposed to mean the engine is in the trough behind the push. I've gone through a few medium depth pools and have found there's a big problem with water splashing up into the compartment around the wheel wells to the point it's able to enter the air inlet drain. My new BL came in and before I do ANY off road driving am going to cut some more splash shields and put them in several different exposed areas.

I get why this people are pissed at an off road vehicle not being able to handle an obstacle it's supposedly rated for. Ford is going to claim the fording wasn't done correctly or driver error, blah, blah, blah. Some of this, IMO, can be helped with additional splash shields to avoid a direct shot. When we go through this stuff the weight of the vehicle displaces a bunch of water and essentially creates a pressurized blast up into the engine compartment from around the wheel openings and grille. Have not seen one of these failures first hand yet but feel like I've got a fairly good idea of one of the causes.

Having once been in the automotive electronics/service business, I won’t ever intentionally challenge the fording depth of my Bronco or any other vehicle I own (water and electronics, especially wiring don’t mix well long term), but there are for sure ways to make the Bronco better if you are going to run right up to the max, let us know what you come up with!

 

[vrtical]

Personally if I decided I was going play in ponds I would put a sealed alternator in. I also would prolly not nosedive it in sending water way over the static fording depth, but what do I know this is pretty basic stuff that they show you in the Roadeos just for reference.

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