Snorkel and Diff Breathers for VW 4motion T6 Transporter

[@simonphin6027]

Really Appreciated, Alex. You're a font, and generous source, of ongoing education.

[@4motionadventures934]

Thanks Simon. Doing our best to share the love unconditionally. Our vision is to create a platform for good folk around the world to glean info and for us to gather intel to help us and others get the most out of their Kombi campers. Thanks again for your kind words and support. Cheers. Alex.

[@tjalkebouma1544]

Good to have you guys back on the channel.

[@4motionadventures934]

Tjalke. Thanks for your message. We are pumped and have big plans for 2022. Thanks again. Have a good one. Cheers. Alex and Olga.

[@paulclutterbuck4307]

Hey Alex, thanks for the Video. Do you have just the one Trakkadu but NSW & QLD plates? Cheers, Paul.

[@4motionadventures934]

Hey Paul. Thanks for your comment. Just the one Trakkadu. We move to QLD recently is all hence the new plates. Cheers. Alex

[@TheGameIsUp1984]

Awesome mate, love catching up on your van mods and travels. Just wondering if you have added any additional sealing around doors/hatch in the likelihood that you may head into deeper water...?

[@4motionadventures934]

Thanks Ian. Not as yet. We Hope we never have to worry about the water being that high. The gear is there more as a prevention rather than cure in case we go a little deeper than the 300mil. Plus we get cleaner air and less dust on those long outback roads. We will keep you posted on what we find as we venture out and about. Thanks for watching and supporting us. Very much appreciated. We have a stack of stuff coming soon so keep a look out for those. Have a great week. Cheers. Alex.

[@davidr7236]

Great summary Alex, you must have been practicing in lockdown as your presenting skills aren't rusty at all! Top install job. What do you think of the noise that all snorkels inevitably have? I'll have to catch up on the mod & hunt for some places we can demo.

[@4motionadventures934]

Thanks David. Appreciate your kind words. We have not experienced any noice coming from the snorkel head yet so seems to be good to far. Looking forward to seeing your vids. Have a good one. Cheers. Alex.

[@forgottenknowledge8917]

"Locked down" and "released." Lol I wasn't locked down. I continued with life as normal.

[@steinjohansen3142]

Do you know the reason why your snorkel intake is facing forward? (On Seikels website they marked it an importent note that the intake is facing back at all time)

[@4motionadventures934]

According to bravo snorkelS they insist that the snorkel faces forward I can’t speak to why Seikel want theirs facing back at all times From a logical point of view we want as much air going into the engine as possible not less You only have to look at every single 4wd on the planet including the amarok and notice all the snorkels face forward There must be some reason but I just don’t know what it is Seikel are a reputable company who make great products so there must be a reason I do know that VW may void your warranty if you do not use a Seikel snorkel hence I got my bravo snorkel fitted out of warranty The price point was the initial reason I went with bravo plus the fact they make snorkels for many other vehicles including Mercedes’ Benz so you have to think they know what they are doing So far no issues If you find out the reason please let me know Cheers Alex

[@steinjohansen3142]

@@4motionadventures934 I´ve been searching the subject, and found no benefits of having the intake facing forward. In fact some tests reveal increased fuel consumption and increased coolant temperatures. Land Rover Discovery offer a oem "raised air intake", and it´s facing backward. Scania XT offer a "high air intake", and it ´s facing sideways. None of them claim other benefits than less dust, and they don´t offer front faced option. If they had any proof of benefits of a forward facing intake, don´t you think they would offer it? They both pin point that the elevated air intake doesn´t affect the original wading depth. I assume electrics and ventilations of differencials, gearbox and engine are the reasons for that. A forward facing intake act like a funnel to entrap more dust, rain and snow. Common sense tell that you should turn the funnel away from that "shit-flow" In danger to appear a bit grim you can say that the "rocket scientist´s" claiming better wading depth, increased power and better fuel economy are advertising scammers or novices that swallow advertising scams. Other subjects to note: Difference of temperature inside a white and a black after only 1 hour in the sun is 6°C. Difference between both sounddampening mat and Armaflex insulation vs only Armaflex is whopping 5 db in favor to only using Armaflex. (That suprised me!)

[@4motionadventures934]

@@steinjohansen3142 thanks mate Great info and definitely food for thought Thanks for sharing Cheers

[@4motionadventures934]

@@steinjohansen3142 your information promoted me to give this some more thought In our VW the factory air intake is forward facing and placed in the worst spot if you ask me for the potential of dust and water ingress ie right at the front of the vehicle near the drivers side driving light Therefore in my view having the air intake lifted out of where most of the dust and water can enter the airbox starts to make sense and in our case it’s facing the same direction as the factory air intake albeit higher up and out of harms way Also I note there is a hole to allow any excess water that enters the air box to drain out before it has a chance to enter the engine In any event food for thought Thanks again for your information I have certainly learned something from your investigations so keep the intel coming Always open to learning Cheers Alex

[@steinjohansen3142]

@@4motionadventures934 Many cars, including yours are made in right hand drive countries, hence the positioning of the air intake. I´ve search a bit more, and I found no real tests to actually proof any advantages to have a snorkel. Safari have a useless "test" on YT on a dyno bench where they measure hp and torque before and after fitting their´s snorkel. It only confirm the fact that a none restricted and bigger air intake make more power and torque. Regarding cooler air the higher up there is a thumb-rule that say; the temperatur differs 0,5-1°C per 100 meters stright upwards" Then, how significant is 0,5m? An other thing to consider; a higher mounted, larger and unrestricted air intake provides more microscopic dust-filled and a more humid air to enter the air filterbox. The tinyer particals are more likely to get trough the filter and into the engine than the bigger particles. Mercedes Benz G Wagen have another soulution to increase wading depth. In this video a head engineer at Mercedes explain at 2:35 kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5TCeIOtp7dlf5Y Seikel is a "premium partner" of VW, and claim their products meet VW´s requirements. (and they pin point backward facing snorkel.) My thoughts: MB, LR and Scania are big scale manufactors who make vehicles meant for off road driving. They put a large amount of money in research to find optimal solutions for engines fuel economy, power, torque, longer service-intervals and lifespan. If a forward facing rised air intake was in any way better, don´t you think they at least offer it as an option? Anyway, it would be awesome if you preformed a test regarding back/forward facing snorkel. Suggestion to a simple test: - Measure fuel consumption (on your onbord computer) - Tape two identical pieces of a coffee-filter (moisted with spraycan oil to let oncoming dust attatch) one in the front and one in the back, just below the intake. It would be fun if you taped one where the original air intake is to compare. - Attach one thermometer beside the filters on the snorkel, and one at the original air intake. If you have a OBD-reader you can make the test even more detailed and scientific. Obd can tell you about the difference of the exhaust temperature between for and backward- facing intake. I think a video like that would get high up on a YT wiewing rank-list. ;-) Cheers.

[@sueneilson896]

How high do the standard diff and gearbox breather tubes go? Must be a bit higher than the 300mm recommended max fording height.

[@4motionadventures934]

Sue. The diff breathers sit up high in the engine bay however we still don’t recommend going any higher than the manufactures recommended 300mil even with a lift. It only takes a tea spoon of water to get into the engine to damage things. The main reason we installed the snorkel is to rescue dust getting into the air box and of course give us that little bit of security should we personally make the choice to go a little deeper than what is recommended. Cheers. Alex.

[@sueneilson896]

@@4motionadventures934 …how high are the factory std diff breathers? Should be easy to extend them .

[@4motionadventures934]

@@sueneilson896 sue I don’t know the exact position however I understand The current diff and gearbox breathers are near the diff and gearbox housing. Someone recently told me they Ordered a universal Diff breather kit for $50 over $830 for a Siekel kit. That’s a massive difference in price. I would speak with a 4wd specialist for what best for ypur van. Another option that we recommend is stopping at a water crossing for about 20min to allow the oil in the diffs to cool down. The problem is when you dunk a hot steel box in freezing cold water they tend to want to suck in water. Hope this help helps. Let me know what you end up doing so we can keep sharing intel ! Cheers

[@sueneilson896]

@@4motionadventures934 .. OK. will get underneath and have a look.

[@4motionadventures934]

@@sueneilson896 👍👏👏

[@ChristopherBourez]

what about rain ? does the rain goes into the snorkel ?

[@4motionadventures934]

Christopher. Yes. Rain can enter the snorkel just like it can enter the original breather point which is situated near the front drivers side driving light but…. The air box has a drain point to allow any water that makes its way in to drain out before it can enter the engine and cause damage. If you look at almost every 4wd on the road they all have snorkels so it’s been well thought out and you won’t have a problem. Cheers. Alex

[@ChristopherBourez]

@@4motionadventures934 thanks for your answer! Could you please confirm me where the drain point is ? Is it in the snorkel or after the original breather point ? Can water enter through the drain point when crossing a river ?

[@4motionadventures934]

The drain point is at the bottom of the original air box. Yes water can enter the drain point if you go through a deep river crossing but…. The recommended wading depth for the transporter is 300 mil so it’s unlikely you will have a problem at this depth. Plus the risk of driving through deep water is that the van is likely to float. We have the snorkel to help breathe in fresh air without dust and also protect us just in case we dip our van into deeper crossings but of course we have a 2inch lift and also higher tyres but again we only recommend following the manufactures recommendations. Hope this helps. Cheers. Alex.