Bronco Everglades

Got the snorkel installed on my Badlands today and then immediately had my first ever Everglades sighting. Wild coincidence. In any case, I wanted to pop in here and say thank you so much for y'all's help and encouragement.

Awesome! Lookin All-Pro! Any issues? Is your water bottle zip-tied in?

@friethmiller

@friethmiller Well I am wondering about the seal between that cover piece and the snorkel body that is against the fender there. That little cover piece just snaps on there and doesn't seem to seal well on its own. I'm tempted to use some black RTV silicone to help close it. What's that like on yours?

Annnnd the water bottle is just sitting in a chair in my garage for now. LOL. The shop just removed it and left it for me to deal with, which.... I was surprised by but also didn't care. I can have that as my own project to figure out, since it is low impact. I'll buy a squeegee for now.

Looks great, Paul. Well done...

@friethmiller

Now that I've got it on there and am paying close attention, have you guys had any issues in the rain? I'm failing to see how it doesn't take big gulps of water in heavy rain. Can't find drain holes in the head portion. Pretty tempted to just go ahead and flip the plates.

@friethmiller @FreddieLee

Or the car wash! I'm thinking about doing the same for my upcoming trip. Plus, I've heard that, with the open plate to the rear, you get to hear the turbos spool.

@pandapaul

@pandapaul - I just flipped my snorkel plates at lunch today. We're predicted to have heavy rains today. I'm thinking that may reduce the amount of water going down the snorkel. I've never looked to see where the water might have been going before. Probably into the filter box. Do you know if there's a drain in there? It's kind of defeating the purpose of having a snorkel if you have a hole somewhere down the line. Don't know!

@friethmiller

@friethmiller Yeah I went ahead and flipped mine early morning, and it's running just as well (so far anyway) but with some added nifty noises if I had the window down and was paying attention. An added but mild bonus for a 12 year old like myself who previously owned a WRX. For the water drainage, I did see a spot at the bottom of the air box where water would flow. It's like an upside down cone shape. Mine had a bit of sand and junk in it, and I forgot to go back in with a vacuum to clear it and check if it was actually an opening or not. It might just be a low spot to accumulate small quantities of water away from the filter, but I will make sure to double-check that and let you know. If it's an opening, I may go ahead and seal it with a bit of silicone. If it's sealed though, I can imagine needing to check the air box after significant water exposure (which I should probably do anyway) to make sure none has pooled there. An interesting but completely ridiculous project could be to wire up a water sensor to the air box.....

Aaaaaanyway. I don't know for sure, when it comes to water drainage in the snorkel body itself, it looked like small amounts (rain) might pool at the bottom of the exterior piece without entering the interior side (until it evaporates, which I imagine should be quick with the airflow and heat). Seems like that bottom is slightly lower than where air will actually flow through, so it might allow that minor pooling to happen there before it even enters the engine bay. I guess I could poor some water into the snorkel and find out....When I check the air box, I might go ahead and do that too.

Paul, are you from PandaMotorWorks?

@FreddieLee

Nah, @FreddieLee . I love pandas, so all my usernames in various places tend to include a panda theme.

Ok, gotcha.

@friethmiller

@friethmiller I poured some water into the snorkel and recorded it for science:

Nice video. Thanks. I'd flip your vent (like you have it) and not mess with it.

Based on the fact that my plate doesn't seal completely flat against the snorkel, I'm sure I've had water enter the snorkel during the heavy rain fall in the last few months, but it never resulted any engine issues.

Speaking of air filters, has anyone installed a K&N in their Everglades?

@FreddieLee

Same here, @FreddieLee I am tempted to try to bend it to fit better or silicone around it and call it permanent.

As you tighten the bottom bolt, the cover panel starts to buckle outward and creates a gap on the sides, so the bottom mounting hole just needs to be elongated along the top with a Dremel. I will have a better look at it next week.

Even though there are easy solutions, if someone decided to machine one from aluminum, or make one with a 3D printer (better idea), I'd definitely be a buyer.

Unless you think you're losing significant airflow, I would not create a permanent seal between the snorkel and fender / air inlet hose. If that were an issue, I assume Ford would have simply added a rubber gasket to the assembly.

Unless you live in a state where you have significant rainfall throughout the year, I would not create a permanent seal around the cover panel either. IMO, it detracts from the modularity, and outside of that, I feel better when I get mass airflow from the front as opposed to collected airflow from the rear.

Personally, I'm in California, and with the exception of this year in particular, we might get moderate rainfall for a month, so my vent will be on the front of the snorkel for 10-11 months out of the year.

Yeah for most normal folks in less rainy places who aren't frequently crossing deep water, surely there's no need to seal things further than they are from the factory.

Bronco Everglades

pandapaul

Bronco Everglades

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