Pirate 4x4 banner

1990 Chevy 2500 Snorkel problems

6K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  d2stephen 
#1 ·
I have a 1990 Chevy 2500 4x4 that was snorkeled when I bought the truck. However, I'm finding things that I dont exactly like. The oil breather on the valve cover was siliconed shut, I would like to change this by running a tube and snorkeling it. What would be the best method? Should I run it into the already existing snorkel, or should I run it as its own hose?
Also, whenever the truck gets in any contact with water it falls on its face, no power at all, truck just cuts out, even under full throttle. I know the distributor is sealed with silicone, and anything that I can think of that would require being sealed, is sealed. Any ideas why that would be happening?
Any help is greatly appreciated.



Engine bay:



How its ran outside:




Oil breather that was full of silicone that I asked about running into the snorkel somehow:





The little cap hanging off the intake is where I was planning on running the oil breather into:
 
See less See more
3
#5 ·
Doesnt really help the fact that any time I get in contact with even a tiny bit of water the truck boggs like crazy. Anyone have ideas what the heck that could be? I'm going back through and sealing anything that could need to be sealed.
 
#6 ·
Just an idea, but you could leave the truck running and wash under the hood. Looks like it needs it anyway...

Pay attention to what you get wet when it cuts out and there's your problem.

If I had to guess I'd say you have some junk plug wires or such.

The "oil breather" filter thing you have on there is also a no-no. You should plumb it into the snorkel so the motor pulls vacuum from the valve cover.


That snorkle looks pretty hacktacular and I am skeptical that it seals well. If it is all sealed up you should be able to seal the end of it with a thick plastic bag or the like and the motor will stall. When it doesn't you should be able to hear where it is leaking from.

I wonder how many horsepower the racing stripe on the air filter housing is worth...
 
#9 ·
It starts to revv up and down, if I dont touch the throttle it will die. That is at idle.
While driving, it just boggs, kinda misfires too. REALLY sounds like when you get water in the distributor, but like I said, happens even with the smallest amount of water. Plus I know the distributor is sealed very well.

Just an idea, but you could leave the truck running and wash under the hood. Looks like it needs it anyway...

Pay attention to what you get wet when it cuts out and there's your problem.

If I had to guess I'd say you have some junk plug wires or such.

The "oil breather" filter thing you have on there is also a no-no. You should plumb it into the snorkel so the motor pulls vacuum from the valve cover.


That snorkle looks pretty hacktacular and I am skeptical that it seals well. If it is all sealed up you should be able to seal the end of it with a thick plastic bag or the like and the motor will stall. When it doesn't you should be able to hear where it is leaking from.

I wonder how many horsepower the racing stripe on the air filter housing is worth...
I have tried laying under the truck and going through everything one thing at a time with a hose. Nothing happened. The second I got out from under the truck and put it in gear, the problem started back up. Put the truck in park, and it continued to revv up and down until I blipped the throttle, then it idled fine. Until put under load again by me placing it in gear, and it started bogging again.


Thanks for answering the question about the oil breather cap. I THOUGHT that would be the correct thing to do, however I wanted it done the right way, which is why I asked.

The snorkel does work, to my surprise. That was the first thing I tested.


As for the air filter cap adding horsepower, I'm sure it add's atleast 15rwhp. :p

This is a truck I bought from my buddy going into bootcamp, and there will be many, many upgrades/changes now that it's mine. Some of the things i've seen so far have made me sick, others have just had me cracking up.
 
#8 ·
My money says that snorkel isn't sealed at all, it just sucks water in even faster and maybe dirt too. I'd as noted, spray water around an see what shakes loose.
 
#13 ·
i had the same snorkel setup for awhle and it DID NOT work where that stock breather tube is able to bend/flex had small holes around it i guess from flexing etc for so many years, so i would also say that breather is not sealed.. or u have bad plug wires that are jumpin spark once wet..
 
#14 ·
If ya have a TBI motor.... have ya checked that your computer is not getting wet during your dunk sessions? Also, when I lived in florida, we would swap over to electric fans as to not sit there and splash water all over the engine compartment when running some deep H2o. You could shut the fan off on the way in and cut it back on on the way out. If ya have a clutch fan you should still be alright.... good luck!
 
#15 ·
Yeah I'm probably going to have to look into getting new plug wires and plugs here very soon. Might as well take care of it anyways. If it doesnt fix it then atleast its out of the way..

Also i'm pretty sure it is a clutch fan. And I'm almost positive the computer isnt getting wet. I've checked once, wouldnt hurt to check next time.

When Is say comes in contact with water, I dont mean driving in lakes. As most of us know almost every mud event can get very sloppy. The truck acts like that around any kind of water/mud.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top