fording

hey guys,
had a question about fording rivers and things like that. Will it weaken the engine block? Hot metal cool water cracked head? Thanks for the help

Your engine shouldn't be under water. if it is, it's too deep. Find another way across.

No problem with it cracking the block or heads. They dont get hot enough to do that. You could crack a header, pull the fan into the radiator or suck water into the intake and hydrolock it, FUBAR your electronics or get water penetration into your axles, t-case or transmission..

the reason i ask is because my t-stat housing crumbled after replacing it only 6 or 7 months back. I was wrenching it down after replacing the t-stat and it just broke, on my engine block, the bottom hole that holds the housing on crumbled away too. there are only a few threads left. i figured it was all those puddles i have hit that made my block brittle.
then again, i have seen some rigs with snorkels go pretty deep, deep enough to submerge the engine. are cracked headers and other parts craping out just all part of the fun when fording streams and deep puddles? figuring out how to keep my t-stat housing sealed wasnt very fun at all

I dont think your thermostat housing issue was due to water crossings. That area shouldnt be any hotter than 210. I just dont think thats enough to cause it to crack even if you poured ice water on it.
As for the other issues you can have from water and mud. Those things happen, maybe not all the time or even most of the time, but they do happen. There are ways to address them if you really want to. Im no expert on water and mud crossings though, I try to stay away from it.