Rx400 Wading Depth

[enginedriver]

With Noah busy on his Ark. Does anyone know or has any one tested the wading depth of a RX400? I got through nearly 12" last night without apparent trouble which is about up to the wheel bolts.

[Boxbrownie]

12" will be no problem at all for the RX, as an example the Ford KA (old model and new) are tested to 300mm, I would be most suprised if the RX would fail to negotiate 18" at least ( or even 24" as long as it is kept moving and not too far or the door seals and body apertures will eventually provide a path for the water to ingress), providing it is driven appropriately through the flood.

The main reason vehicles fail in deep water is down to the driver!

As an aside I am appalled at the number of drivers who in the past bad weather actually swerve into the path of other traffic to avoid puddles of no more than a few inches at the side of the road........what do they think will happen if they wash thier car, will it disolve?

[mcleish]

Last year in my RX300, I waded slowly and in first gear through water that came up to the door mouldings about a quarter of the way up the car door ( must have been about 30 seconds)...but felt like an eternity and I was bricking it !!! but all went well and no problems at all. I would not like to do that frequently, but it was nice to see everyone else doing a u turn and watching me get merrily on my way home , if you attempt this, be sure to go into manual gear mode and STAY in one gear and do not let the gears change or the water will flood into the exhaust pipe !!

[DanD]

Has your car got a manual gearbox?

Also, what would happen with a RX400h, bearing in mind that at "wading speed", the car would be likely to switch to Battery only power?

[Duncan Roberts]

Has your car got a manual gearbox?

Also, what would happen with a RX400h, bearing in mind that at "wading speed", the car would be likely to switch to battery only power?

No RX has a manual gear box surely?

[Boxbrownie]

Has your car got a manual gearbox?

Also, what would happen with a RX400h, bearing in mind that at "wading speed", the car would be likely to switch to battery only power?

No RX has a manual gear box surely?

No, your correct.

The RX400/450h will have gone through the same wading and durability tests as the bog standard convential model, there should be no difference.

[mcleish]

My RX has the semi automatic, so that you can take it out of automatic mode and go up and down the gears manually using the gear stick, I've never heard of a manual RX ever !!!! (there are a lot of people out there who own a RX and do not realise you can use the gear box manually !!).

[DanD]

The RX400h certainly does not have this facility. Does this mean that the RX300 has a "conventional" automatic gearbox as opposed to the step less CVT'box fitted to the RX400h?

[Duncan Roberts]

The RX400h certainly does not have this facility. Does this mean that the RX300 has a "conventional" automatic gearbox as opposed to the step less CVT'box fitted to the RX400h?

Yes, the RX400 also has the engine brake which the RX300/350 lack and which is an extremely useful feature.

[DanD]

Ah. Thanks for the clarification!

[Boxbrownie]

The RX400h certainly does not have this facility. Does this mean that the RX300 has a "conventional" automatic gearbox as opposed to the step less CVT'box fitted to the RX400h?

Yes, the RX400 also has the engine brake which the RX300/350 lack and which is an extremely useful feature.

Engine brake? Maybe the 400 has some different system for engine braking but my RX300 can just be dropped from "drive" to "2" (and then even "1" if required) when engine braking is required.

Not sure what the system the RX400 uses, as its a CVT type box then it should be a very similar effect.

[RonanWhite]

Original 99/03 RX =Conventional 4speed automatic(3+Overdrive) straight gate PRND21 ; top to 3rd via overdrive switch on the side of the Lever.

04/09 U.K. 300 = Conventional 5 speed automatic with a staggered stepped gate marked PRNDS +-  ;S being Sequential NOT Sport.... S acts as overdrive lockout and when on the move and will lock out 5th gear (top) You should always choose S when towing a trailer. In S you can manually go up and down the box from gear 1 to gear 5.

RX 400H 06/09 Original Hybrid with a CVT gearbox. The gate is stepped again , but this time with PRNDB. 
B is for braking and can be used manually while in Drive to slow the vehicle and increase the recharge of the hybrid batteries. It should be used when descending a steep hill either solo or towing. The Prius had this style of gearbox from 2003..., you must remember to put the lever back into D when the road levels out again...

the later RX 450H has a CVT but with artificially inserted stepping points providing a similar gate and Lever to the 2nd generation RX300 mentioned above. ; PRNDS with +- manual selection available, but the nature of a CVT design is infinitely variable gears. Incidentally the 450h CVT doesn’t use cones and belts/chains like other CVTs but uses a planetary gear and one of the Electric motors as a coupling to provide its drive!!! Very cool often misunderstood cars!

 

[ColinBarber]

5 minutes ago, RonanWhite said:

and increase the recharge of the hybrid batteries.

that is a side effect that doesn't always happen and shouldn't be used for that purpose.

[m4rkw]

On 11/24/2012 at 12:15 PM, enginedriver said:

With Noah busy on his Ark. Does anyone know or has any one tested the wading depth of a RX400? I got through nearly 12" last night without apparent trouble which is about up to the wheel bolts.

Best to avoid doing this if you can. As others have said it's unlikely to cause anything too serious, I can't imagine water getting high up enough to get into the transmission, however it can damage wheel bearings. It's usually not immediately apparent either, they might fail 6-12 months later and you may not even realise it was related to driving through water.

Another danger when driving through water that deep is that oncoming traffic may be doing the same thing and cause a wake which can push the water up much higher over your own car.

Generally if I see that much water I turn around, it's just not worth the risk.