One more important thing possibly to consider, in the Snorkel department, that weighs in on $ cost… When some of the more Conservative are thinking: "Nah, I don't really need it...."
Obviously the first thing is saving the engine for water crossings and floods to traverse. Well some of these things depend on how deep your pocket is... I have snorkels on all vehicles, both Toyotas and Mack and the F-250. I have dropped a vehicle in a hole and flooded the engine.... This is the END of a diesel, as the high compression bends all the rods or implodes the pistons with water intake on a few cylinders before it flat locks up.. Be careful and get away with it? Yes, probably, but.... I did in a 2-H motor in 1989 in a Cruiser here in Oz, about $4500 from memory, never mind a $600 recovery bill to extract the Cruiser as well. Could be a long walk out and what a $10-20,000 engine replacement these days? Yes you should walk it first, but in a flood in the cold of winter, try and get someone or see how attractive it is for yourself… Ha! I will creep through slowly and if I hit a hole will be able to back out, with a snorkel that is.
But here is an additional consideration, as when people find out it is a $600 to $750 item depending on the vehicle, they start to question “Do I really need it”… The more conservative travelers might argue no, save the money… I am not so sure, even from the money perspective for two reasons:
First of all understand there is cleaner air up high. There may be a dollar consideration, in that you are saving $ on air filters. They will just go further if fed up out of the bulldust range a bit… No argument there, I do not believe… Some of the air filters are quite expensive, yes the payback is hundreds of thousands of kms... But you do save some of the cost back in air filters, I think that argument is safe...
BUT NOW HERE IS SOMETHING YOU MAY HAVE NOT CONSIDERED, (my own unproven theory, but hear me out...) : Have you ever noticed on long trips, that your Diesel ran better at night? Well I sure have, and I can assure you that this is true, and might even be 5% better on fuel. A diesel struggling a bit with a big load, seems to have a noticeable improvement in power when running at night! How can this be true??? Well it is simple once you figure it out, the air is cooler and more dense at night. Intercoolers due just this, and if you have one, well the difference is not quite so noticeable, but I will suggest it is probably still true.. BUT NO INTERCOOLER? Definitely way noticeable… The night air is cooler, therefore condensed, and yes this does work, and the engine is not running as hot either.. Now ever notice the Snorkel Air Ram up high? I will suggest this forces a little more air in through the filter and could be a microscopic fuel efficiency advantage… You ram force air in, possibly a slight condensed air advantage, definitely an advantage with a partially blocked dirty filter… Has to have a slight efficiency increase on the engine..
Add both of these additional money considerations for longer lasting filters and slightly better fuel economy; I would say are in favour of the expense of a snorkel… And of course the engine protection it provides fording water...
Best Regards from da Ranger, out der somewhere...
