Totally Waterlogged

[Powerband]

I have a brand new 2000WR400 and thought my riding days were over this weekend.

I was cruising through mud hole after mud hole until the final chapter. I hit a mud hole close to 4 feet deep. I was totally submerged under water. Needless to say, once I got my bike out of the water, it was caked with mud. It had so much water in it that I couldn't kick it over. I only had enough tools with me to pull the muffler and header, water just poored out. I took off the drain plug on my air box and enough water poored out that I thought my bike was finished.

Another small tidbit is that I was deep in the woods and had an extremely rough time pushing the bike back to my truck, which was several major mountains away. That was a NIGHTMARE.

Once I got back to the truck and was able to get to a power wash, I cleaned it up as much as I could there.

When I got home I took off both oil drain plugs, took out the spark plug, pulled the carb off the cylinder and took off the header to open things up. Then I kicked it over about 30 times watching water basically spray out of the cylinder.

Then I drained the carb bowl and of course water came out, put a new oil filter and new oil in the bike and of course a new plug. I then put everything back together and it fired with the first kick. After about 20 kicks and using the lean choke at the end, it fired right up. After riding it for about 30 minutes, I changed the oil again and it was very dirty. I have changed the oil 2 more times after about 1 hour of riding to make sure it is cleaned out.

[This message has been edited by Powerband (edited 05-31-2000).]

[Bryan 1]

I submarined my WR too in Crested Butte last year. Me and the bike were totally under water and my air box was completely full of water. So was the exhaust and engine. I too thought I had ruined the engine. But I got it started and it ran great the rest of the day. I changed the oil twice after that ride but after once it seemed OK.

If you have a little patience, there is no need to push it.

What to do with a WR full of water:

1) Take the seat off the bike

2) Remove the air cleaner, wring it out as well as possible, set it in the sun to dry.

3) Remove the air box drain plug and drain that sucker out. I think I even used my jersey to get all the water out.

4) Remove the carb float bowl drain to remove water from the carb.

5) Remove the tank.

6) Remove the spark plug. Dry it out with your jersey.

7) If possible, wheelie the bike so the nose is straight up. This is necessary to get the water out of the engine and exhaust. I had a riding partner so this wasn't too difficult. Water came gushing out of my exhaust. I've also heard you can turn the bike upside down to do this. You have to get the water out somehow.

8) Kick over the bike with the plug out to get the remaining water out of the cylinder. It will shoot up out of the spark plug hole like a fountain. Be careful or it will hit you in the face (been there done that).

9) Once you think most of the water is out, put the spart plug back in, tank back on, air filter back on, and try to kick it.

10) I attempted to start it then removed the tank and plug again to get more water back out. I had to repeat this step 2 or 3 times before it finally started. Also, since the water messes up the compression, it feels real weird. I didn't have to use the compression release to get it past TDC.

Good luck. Hopefully no one else will have to do this (yeah right).

Bryan...

[Guest Guest]

I too had an underwater experience. It was on my XR650L. I used almost the same procedures you did Bryan except I killed the battery & had to push the bike up & down a field to get the water out of it. Have you ever seen the straight leg procedure to push a bike with another bike, thats what we did.

After a few times up & down the field with no plug, put the plug back in & started right up. Rode the bike straight home, drained the oil, it was white, like milk. Changed the oil twice, bike ran fine for years till I sold it.

Roy

[sbohanon]

i swamped my 1984 jeep cj7 in 8-10 feet of water. dried up the filter, distributor cap and plugs, cranked it over until no more water came out of the plug holes and changed the oil, started the first time. all this on the spot in less than 1 hour. 4-strokes can sure take a beating.

[Powerband]

The problem is that I didn't have enough tools with me to perform the recovery.

[This message has been edited by Powerband (edited 05-31-2000).]

[Kevin_in_New_Hampshire]

One time I fell through the ice while standing on a frozen lake in Minnesota...

[Powerband]

Hey Kevin that reminds me. One time I almost drowned masturbating in the bathtub................ ?

[This message has been edited by Powerband (edited 05-31-2000).]

[Mitch_from_Oz]

Hey Powerband,

Ever thought about installing a snorkle, on ya bike ofcourse. Similar to those used on 4WD's. ?

As far as maturbating in the bath tub, do you ever have problem with getting soap in your eye? Kevvie, after you feel into the frozen lake, how much did they shrivel....

Mitch

[Mike_in_Silicon_valley]

Powerband,

Try using the shower ? . Safety can never be under estimated.

[Lou*]

Instead of pushing the bike around with the spark plug out, if there are a couple of you, it is easier to turn the bike upside down or lay it down, click it into a high gear and turn the back wheel, it will get rid of heaps of water that way. Also saves kick'n & kick'n

& kick'n

[Mike]

I have yet to experience the underwater sensation on my bike, but my 11 yr did that last fall on his xr 100. We were riding in the forest hill area of No Cal and were on some pretty snotty trails (red slippery mud). It was about 40 degrees and we came upon a frozen section on the trail. There was a way around it, however my boy has some pretty big cahonas and went right through it. Broke the ice, buried the bike in ice, water and mud. Not to hard to do on a small XR. He of course could not pull it out, I had to. What a f#%^&*% pain. Over my knees trying to lug the bike out, all the while he is sitting on the side of the trail laughing at his old man. Made him ride the rest of the day with cold wet gear to get back at him. He went around all other frozen trail sections the rest of the day. Sure was cold.

Mike

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98WR White Bros E Series stock head pipe, IMS Tank/seat Pro Tapers Works Connection guards. Stock timing