Waterproofing / relocating electronics

[wimp]

Anyone ever waterproof their ecu's?
pelican cases perhaps?
any excessive heat issues?

Anyone ever relocate the ecu's?
are extension cables available somewhere?
are the harness plugs available?

thanks for any info

[Ataraxia]

That is definitely on my to do list. I Heard way too many heart breaking ECU trauma stories lately and yours just topped it off, Wimp. I guess Land Rover thought that everybody that does serious water crossings have diesel engines and manual transmissions. (Damn right I'm jealous of them)

Let's be grateful that we don't have alternators mounted on the bottom of our engines like Nissan Xterra's. ewwww

Dan

[ini88]

there is a good article in this June's Four Wheeler Magazine. shows how guys wrap their distributer, and electronics, smear silicone all over parts where water could seep in. makes me kind of want to test it out and see how air tight I can get my water-prone components water-proof.

plus there are a bunch of Land Rovers in that issue which is surprisingly good.

[p76rangie]

Originally Posted by Ataraxia

That is definitely on my to do list. I Heard way too many heart breaking ECU trauma stories lately and yours just topped it off, Wimp. I guess Land Rover thought that everybody that does serious water crossings have diesel engines and manual transmissions. (Damn right I'm jealous of them)

Don't be, the main ECU for the TD5 sits behind the battery under the bonnet. Gets drowned pretty easily.

[wimp]

any issues with ecessive heat generated by the circuit board in the sealed box?

what about putting the stereo amp in there too?

more concerned about heat than anything else. I think the waterproof box will be very easy.

[p76rangie]

Wimp, you are right and that is why it is hard to seal anything from water. Hot air expands and needs to escape. When it cools down, it needs to get air back. The problem with sealing things is that it often traps water in there. So if you are going to try and seal something, make sure you have a decent breather on it so any moisture can get out. There is not many places to can keep things dry if you get stuck in deep water. I have had water up to the bottom of the seat a few times, with the water outside nearly to the door handles. This was only being caught for a couple of minutes. You can imagine how high the water level inside can get if stuck for any length of time.

Just have a game plan for when things get wet.

[OkieRover]

Ozzie at Ozziesoffroad.com moved his ecu's to the bottom of the dash on his Range Rover Classic. If the cables come from the firewall you should be able to at least get them up there. Getting them mounted is probably the fun part.

[wimp]

good points
hmmm
I think I'll look into relocating them

[Roverhound]

The Transmission control unit , the amp and the cd changer are about the only things under the seats as well as the seat electronics in a D2. All the other control units are up under the dash fairly high.
I'm not sure how much heat the tcu would put out, I don't remember any major heat sinks on the board.
I've heard of people using rubbermaid boxes sealed with silicone to protect these.
But any time you have water in the truck, it'll tend to find a way to ruin your day.

[wimp]

the tcu has no heat sinks at all (at least none that I can see)
don't know about the main ecu under the pass side
the cd changer puts out some heat, but that is not car disabling
the amp probably puts out the most of all 4 units, but also not car disabling.
When I get some more time, i'll dive in and post how I solved the prob

thanks for the help!