Wading depth 2012 TDI DSG

[yarrwarri]

Hi Guys,
Does anyone know what the wading depth through water might be, before driveline & transmission breathers, engine air intake etc are put t risk?
Max

[Transporter]

Probably no more than 300mm, if you google it you should be able to find out exactly.

[tigger73]

Check this thread here: Tiguan wading depth

According to the owner of this vehicle the wading depth is only 200mm, however he went through significantly deeper water. I'm not sure if there was any issues resulting from this but it may be worth asking Arctra how his Tig fared or if he had to overhaul any of the running gear.

[yarrwarri]

Good leads Transporter & Tigger73 - thanks.

Check this thread here: Tiguan wading depth

According to the owner of this vehicle the wading depth is only 200mm, however he went through significantly deeper water. I'm not sure if there was any issues resulting from this but it may be worth asking Arctra how his Tig fared or if he had to overhaul any of the running gear.

[Arctra]

I'm the idiot that took my Tig through SIGNIFICANTLY deeper water than I should have. I had some serious concerns about what damage I might have done so did quite a bit of research and talking to VW mechanics. I am left believing that the main reason why the Tiguan's wading depth is limited because of the electrics. Apparently the breathers on the diffs are designed in such a way that the chances of water being sucked in is very low because there is something of a one-way valve. My concern was that the diff would have been warm when I entered the water and so the water would have cooled it and the air in there would have contracted causing a vacuum. I had assumed that would suck in water but apparently if there was enough of a contraction/vacuum to suck in water it would have been enough to "close" the valve and prevent water being sucked in.

Also, VW have a "sealed for life" gearbox that supposedly never requires an oil change and so the VW dealer will not change the oil. Sounds strange to me but I was told that from the VW Mechanic directly. He reckoned he did a fair amount of offroading and although he would not push his luck in a Tiguan, it is a lot more capable than the specs suggest.

So I don't know if that helps you at all. If it is any consolation it has been about 2 years since I did that water crossing and the Tig is still going fine. I'm on around 87500km's now - I think I was on about 59000km's when I did that deep water crossing.

[Transporter]

Just be careful when crossing the water, even the Touareg, Tiguan's big brother can get its engine hydrolocked in less than 400mm of water, as per this post Hydrolocked my beloved Treg - Club Touareg Forums

Unless I'd have a snorkel that I know it's watertight, I wouldn't cross anything over 200mm.

[Umai Naa!!]

I'm the idiot that took my Tig through SIGNIFICANTLY deeper water than I should have. I had some serious concerns about what damage I might have done so did quite a bit of research and talking to VW mechanics. I am left believing that the main reason why the Tiguan's wading depth is limited because of the electrics. Apparently the breathers on the diffs are designed in such a way that the chances of water being sucked in is very low because there is something of a one-way valve. My concern was that the diff would have been warm when I entered the water and so the water would have cooled it and the air in there would have contracted causing a vacuum. I had assumed that would suck in water but apparently if there was enough of a contraction/vacuum to suck in water it would have been enough to "close" the valve and prevent water being sucked in.

Also, VW have a "sealed for life" gearbox that supposedly never requires an oil change and so the VW dealer will not change the oil. Sounds strange to me but I was told that from the VW Mechanic directly. He reckoned he did a fair amount of offroading and although he would not push his luck in a Tiguan, it is a lot more capable than the specs suggest.

So I don't know if that helps you at all. If it is any consolation it has been about 2 years since I did that water crossing and the Tig is still going fine. I'm on around 87500km's now - I think I was on about 59000km's when I did that deep water crossing.

If you haven't serviced the transmission at 60,000kms, you're running the reliability gauntlet there, too

[Diesel_vert]

The owner's manual should mention something about driving on flooded roads.

If in doubt, the water level should not be above the lowest point of the door sill for most passenger cars (yes, that includes the Tiguan).

[Umai Naa!!]

Yeah, sill height is the norm for Volkswagen. Even the Amarok.

[MGV]

Recall having mine up to the middle of the wheels (30cm?) a few times around 2 years ago crossing a ford over Kororoit Creek at Altona. That was probably around 40000k's ago with no issues.