My Arch Enemy Returns...

[webleymk3]

It's back and i drove through it sloooowwwwly this time....

As you can see, it's not just a small puddle!!! I came from the same direction the camera is facing so went through the longer deeper section.

All that said, i do think the Rav's ability to handle water at the air intake is flawed. The same day I took this there were loads of other puddles on roads as well as streams running down them. Following the course of normal driving, I stopped and had a look inside the air filter box and to my horror there was water at the edge of the intake pipe at the bottom of the box, albeit a very small amount! I add that as i was driving through the puddles i was keeping the revs way down to avoid the need for massive air suction at the engine! On inspection of the wheel arch that 'protects' the air intake, its really badly sealed so it's no surprise water can get in!

Seriously folks. we're expecting some serious weather this weekend. if you're oot'n'aboot and are driving through some big puddle etc, take a look at the air intake in the wing and you'll see how wet it gets. also take a look in the air filter box.. I'd be interested to know if it's just me!

Dave

[anchorman]

With the front bumper removed Dave, you can see that the air intake curls round under the headlight;

.....and faces backwards to the inside of the inner wing and emerges behind the headlight facing backwards;

I can only assume that some demic garage had left off an inlet pipe in an earlier life OR you managed to scoop a considerable amount of water into the engine bay and by that I mean virtually filled it to the brim???

[webleymk3]

With the front bumper removed Dave, you can see that the air intake curls round under the headlight;

.....and faces backwards to the inside of the inner wing and emerges behind the headlight facing backwards;

I can only assume that some demic garage had left off an inlet pipe in an earlier life OR you managed to scoop a considerable amount of water into the engine bay and by that I mean virtually filled it to the brim???

Anchs. Your air intake is different to mine:

You can see the wheel arch in the background and daylight between it and the body of the car. this is one the old car. i have looked at my XT5 and it is the same.. Mr T must have fixed it on your model.

[Hoovie]

I think the older RAV4.3 inlet sounds a bit like the RAV4.2 one IIRC. That concerned me I have to say when I ran the 4.2.

And relieved common sense seems to have prevailed on an updated version (especially as it sounds like I am going to be heading into the floods of NE England in a couple of hours :( )

[firemac]

Due to lots of warnings on the AA & Highways Agency websites I decided to do the cross country run from Sheffield to Alsager this afternoon over the Peak. Lots of fun, lots of rain, lots of surface water, a few "floods" but the 3-dr sailed serenely through it all. The only restraining feature was those God-forsaken average speed cameras! B*st*rds!!!!. (And a few Range Rovers driven by idiots).

[Hoovie]

Got some very heay rain about 30 miles north of Morpeth but by the time I got to Newcastle rain was gone but is very foggy (prefer rain to fog any day!)

Seems like the rain has either finished or was heading north now.

[Hoovie]

Driving home, it was clear that the rain HAD moved north. Driving through some VERY deep and long flooded roads, some like Webleys, and some quite a bit worse !

Suddenly came across a flooded section without warning and made a massive water splash by Wooler which got all the warning lights up and RAV entered Limp mode with code P0000 recorded. Pulled over and turned off engine,reset code and then restarted normally and carried on home, and on looking at car this morning, the front bumper had popped out the wheel arch and was a bit 'flappy' so much have got a fair force of water for that to happen!

[webleymk3]

Driving home, it was clear that the rain HAD moved north. Driving through some VERY deep and long flooded roads, some like Webleys, and some quite a bit worse !

Suddenly came across a flooded section without warning and made a massive water splash by Wooler which got all the warning lights up and RAV entered Limp mode with code P0000 recorded. Pulled over and turned off engine,reset code and then restarted normally and carried on home, and on looking at car this morning, the front bumper had popped out the wheel arch and was a bit 'flappy' so much have got a fair force of water for that to happen!

Oh man. That's exactly what happened to me but mine never restarted. The air intake on mine sits just above the wheel arch. I imagine if yours wasn't further into the engine bay as Anchs pics show, you'd have had a dead car!!

[Hoovie]

Having an inlet where yours is really is bad I think!

I didn't check specifically on mine, but as my car is the 150 like Dons, pretty sure the air intake is in same place as his.

I'll be opening up the air filter box later today and checking to see if any water sitting there. Sounds like I got a touch lucky there!!

UPDATE:

Opened up the air box and there is definitely a fair bit of water sitting in the bottom and the bottom of the filter itself is soaking!

Not my area of expertise (nothing is when it comes to engines), but the thickness of the filter and th pad on the bottom would do a very good job to stop water getting into past it to the top. I wonder if I got my warning lights due to air starvation?

Well, whatever it is, will be mopping out the airbox and drying out the filter fully before running the car again.

[webleymk3]

Having an inlet where yours is really is bad I think!

I didn't check specifically on mine, but as my car is the 150 like Dons, pretty sure the air intake is in same place as his.

I'll be opening up the air filter box later today and checking to see if any water sitting there. Sounds like I got a touch lucky there!!

UPDATE:

Opened up the air box and there is definitely a fair bit of water sitting in the bottom and the bottom of the filter itself is soaking!

Not my area of expertise (nothing is when it comes to engines), but the thickness of the filter and th pad on the bottom would do a very good job to stop water getting into past it to the top. I wonder if I got my warning lights due to air starvation?

Well, whatever it is, will be mopping out the airbox and drying out the filter fully before running the car again.

Oh my goodness.. Serious bit of good fortune there mate.. If that water had properly gone through the engine it would never have started again...

[Gods_gift]

If you hydraulically lock an engine it isn't always the end of the world. I've done it to two cars while rallying a pug 106 and a Nova just had to take the plugs out and air filters and leave to dry. Run like crap for 20 minutes but were fine afterward.

I was meaning to ask this is there a snorkel for the 4.3?

[Tech01]

Not a total solution, but drilling a drain-hole in the lowest point of the air-filter box would allow accumulated water to disappear.

Chris

[Hoovie]

No snorkels for RAVs about.

Not a total solution, but drilling a drain-hole in the lowest point of the air-filter box would allow accumulated water to disappear.

Chris

I wondered about doing that actually (though it might conversely allow water to get in more quickly as well) but ..... The design of the Airbox on the current RAV4 would also mean to allow any water to drain out by itself would need a lot of trimming of channels (or a lot of holes).

UPDATE: already a couple of dain holes low down in the air box that would stop a high level of water collecting, but wouldn't allow all to drain away.

Also wondered if there would be any value in fitting a "pre-filter" by the intake (using something like the filters you get on tropical fish tank pumps) to try and stop the initial influx of a water splash?

[Gods_gift]

No snorkels for RAVs about.

Not a total solution, but drilling a drain-hole in the lowest point of the air-filter box would allow accumulated water to disappear.

Chris

I wondered about doing that actually (though it might conversely allow water to get in more quickly as well) but ..... The design of the Airbox on the current RAV4 would also mean to allow any water to drain out by itself would need a lot of trimming of channels (or a lot of holes).

UPDATE: already a couple of dain holes low down in the air box that would stop a high level of water collecting, but wouldn't allow all to drain away.

Also wondered if there would be any value in fitting a "pre-filter" by the intake (using something like the filters you get on tropical fish tank pumps) to try and stop the initial influx of a water splash?

Sound like you need some sort of baffle in the intake that deflects water. Ive not had a look at ours yet but I've never (touch wood) choked the engine in deep water although I have disappeared in a cloud of steam :)

[anchorman]

There is also a big plastic bottle under the bumper Hoovie - right in the bottom where it loops up to the intake. That might be worth checking too.

[Hoovie]

Hi Don.

I cannot see (or feel) that bottle anywhere along the intake.

I presume that is a water collector from the air intake?

[anchorman]

I presume so. Not sure you will get it without taking the bumper off but I would lie underneath and try to peer through the liners. There might be a drain bung in the bottom. I would be very surprised if yours didn't have it.

[junebug1701]

There is also a big plastic bottle under the bumper Hoovie - right in the bottom where it loops up to the intake. That might be worth checking too.

That's what Toyota calls the resonator. It's supposed to muffle the intake sound much like the regular muffler does for the exhaust. I never knew it was there until my insurance adjuster pointed it out to me after a fender bender.

[anchorman]

I think the resonator is elswhere James.

[junebug1701]

I think the resonator is elswhere James.

Well, this is according to toyodiy.com:

17894A RESONATOR, INTAKE AIR, NO.2 P/N 17894‑28110

[anchorman]

The link to the pic doesn't work. Usually the resonator goes between the air filter and the inlet manifold on a petrol. Not sure if the turbo diesel has one but will investigate.

[shcm]

I feel sometimes Toyota use some strange names for things, but a search on "resonator" across all parts on the vehicle, only produces the part number James has listed.

That one used on Diesel from Aug 2008 and also on 1AZFE, 2AZFE

Nothing obvious to me around the manifold, but your expert eye might spot something:

[anchorman]

I trawled that program last night but not good enough to work it out!

That is the part fair enough. Usually they have a resonator on the other side of the filter but that looks strategically placed to catch water in the bottom of that loop. The fact remains that if water made it to the filter it came past that bottle and it is clear for a reason (usually the are black plastic).

[Hoovie]

I trawled that program last night but not good enough to work it out!

That is the part fair enough. Usually they have a resonator on the other side of the filter but that looks strategically placed to catch water in the bottom of that loop. The fact remains that if water made it to the filter it came past that bottle and it is clear for a reason (usually the are black plastic).

If it ever stops raining, I will have a look under the car and see how much water is in that bottle (probably full up!)

Left my Air Filter on top of the tumble dryer (warmest & driest place in the house) and after 4 days it is still noticeably damp, even after losing over 100g in weight from the partial drying out so far.

[junebug1701]

The link to the pic doesn't work. Usually the resonator goes between the air filter and the inlet manifold on a petrol. Not sure if the turbo diesel has one but will investigate.

OK, you should be able to see the pic now. Look in the box at the top left. See part number 17893? That's RESONATOR NO. 1, which is probably the one you're thinking of. The big one at the bottom, RESONATOR NO. 2, is white and looks every bit like the washer fluid reservoir on the opposite side.