Sinking your quad

[AkNomad]

Should you ever sink your quad to a point where it dies and is almost completely under water, follow these tips and you should be able to ride it back to your truck/home.

Pull the drain plug on your airbox and let it drain completely, leave the plug off

Pull off your air filter and squeeze all the water out of it and open your carb drain screw and drain your carb of water.

Pull your spark plug.

Tip your wheeler so the front is straight up in the air, this will drain your exhaust of any water. Once it drains, lower the quad back on all 4 wheels.

Now be careful when doing this part. Wait a few minutes after lowering the atv, then get your tool kit out and loosen the oil drain plug. Slowly unscrew it until water starts to flow (and it will flow), once you start to see a little oil then put the plug back in loosely. Let it set for another 5 minutes then repeat the process 2-3 more times or until you have nothing but oil coming out.

Now hit the start switch and watch for water coming out of your spark plug hole. Continue to do this until you feel it is safe to put the plug back in. Now fire up your rig and let it run while giving it small amounts of throttle. Should take about 10 minutes or so but it should return back to normal and then you should be able to ride it out.

I sunk my Foreman in a semi fast flowing glacial creek this weekend and I did all the above and was able to ride it back to the truck with no ill effects. When I got home I drained all the oil out and flushed it 3 times with clean oil and she runs as good as new. You might want to check your differentials to make sure the oil is clean and doesn't have any water in it.

 

[Marauder01]

did the same thing to my buddies 2011 Foreman 500 a few weekends ago in the saddle hills area...

takes a little less than an hour to get it all primed and ready to roll smoothly again..

meanwhile, i did the same thing to my bike.. simply drained airbox, drained carb... and start.. about 5 mins lol

 

[AkNomad]

I was surprised I was able to ride it out, you should have seen the water than was inside my engine, airbox and exhaust. I've owned this atv since it was new and this was the first time anything like this has happened to me. Normally I'll wade out in my waders to check the depth but the water looked relatively harmless so I skipped doing that, won't happen again that's for sure.

 

[Marauder01]

yeah, the "puddle" my friend went into was relatively small...

then he sank into the rut... game changer right there! lol

 

[Sofa king]

I have had 2 friends swamp theirs, we did whats stated above to both of them only we changed the oil in the field and did 6 oil changes when we got home. 1 is a can am 800 and one is a can am 650.

The 800 was swamped in really dirty water, its been running like a top for 2 years now.


The 650 was clean water (about as clean as you could hope for) after we got it going sounded great, drove out over 30 km. Got home changed the oil 6 times, still seemed to be running normal. Next ride it went 2km before it went into limp mode (the rad was freshly cleaned). Let it cool down, fired it back up and its knocking and banging like a mofo. Anyhow the motor is NFG now. Not sure why, we did the same thing to both of them.

Someone told me he must have gave it throttle when it was full of water but I was there and I really don't think he did.

Needless to say the rest of us snorkeled ours now. Moral of the story is, don't swamp them to begin with. (LOL yeah right)

 

[psullivan]

did the same, and drained the clutch on our Sportsman. And 5 km down the trail the next ride the motor blew.

 

[Marauder01]

argh it is ruff hey?


i suppose the idea is snorkle it before you try to turn your ATV into a boat

 

[TheMuffinMan]

I think the whole issue with your machine grenading on the next ride after swamping it has to do with water collecting on top of the head beneath the valve cover. There are little pockets on top of the head that are designed to hold oil so that the top end isn't dry on start-up. They can be hard to flush out even after frequent oil changes and if there is water in them it will cause rust spots to form on your cam lobes, rockers, and journals if left to sit for a while. Obviously pulling the cylinder head would be the best way to clean it but if that isn't in the cards I would drain the oil, pull the valve cover off, invert the entire machine and thoroughly clean the top of the head off with contact cleaner as soon as you get it home. Just be sure to use a cleaner that is safe to use on rubber parts or you can damage your valve seals.

 

[rzrgade]

I can not stress enough,do this ONLY if you have to get it running to get home.....If you can tow it home/back with out starting you are much better off.....Drain as much water as possible,tow it back and then flush it properly.

Might save you a few thousand bucks !!

 

[Marauder01]

i will suggest to my friend to pull his valve cover off and have a look now...

might save him alot of $$$$$$$$$$$

 

[AkNomad]

I can not stress enough,do this ONLY if you have to get it running to get home.....If you can tow it home/back with out starting you are much better off.....Drain as much water as possible,tow it back and then flush it properly.

Might save you a few thousand bucks !!

Yes, I agree, I would have towed mine but I had no choice, no tow strap and we were 27 miles from the truck. Another option is to do all of the above and make sure you carry extra oil, at least your running with some clean oil and you can flush it out when you get home.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

My solution to this is to not let it happen,.. I know some will say sometimes it's unpreventable,.. I say water in my engine IS preventable(unless head gasket of course)

Reason being is my insurance covers everything BUT water submersion.

 

[drew562]

Back when I was younger and crazier my brother and I rode foreman 450s when they were the sh$t. I would play in water constantly and swamped both are machines atleast 50 times each. Can't kill the Hondas. I used to pull the plug so she wouldnt hydraulic. Pull the Dip stick and turn it over till it was not over full.Ride it hard and the water in the engine steam out leaving them low on oil. Top it up and go. Hard to believe they never blew. The key is to not have it swamp while wide open throttle. That's how you bend rods and cranks. Now I also run snorkels. And if u r close to swamping jump off and hold the quad up so it floats. Either way swamping sucks!!!

 

[quadboy55]

You have a Honda and it surprises you that it started? It's a HONDA! They always start. :d

 

[drew562]

You have a Honda and it surprises you that it started? It's a HONDA! They always start. :d

Had Hondas. And was confident it would always start. To bad they haven't kept up with the times and twin cylinders. Not enough power for me. No I have Can ham that I don't like. Lol. But it rips

 

[quadboy55]

Had Hondas. And was confident it would always start. To bad they haven't kept up with the times and twin cylinders. Not enough power for me. No I have Can ham that I don't like. Lol. But it rips

Yep, I've owned a Foreman and a FourTrax. Most reliable on the market.

I do agree, no Kahoomba when you hit the gas.

 

[rzrgade]

Back when I was younger and crazier my brother and I rode foreman 450s when they were the sh$t. I would play in water constantly and swamped both are machines atleast 50 times each. Can't kill the Hondas. I used to pull the plug so she wouldnt hydraulic. Pull the Dip stick and turn it over till it was not over full.Ride it hard and the water in the engine steam out leaving them low on oil. Top it up and go. Hard to believe they never blew. The key is to not have it swamp while wide open throttle. That's how you bend rods and cranks. Now I also run snorkels. And if u r close to swamping jump off and hold the quad up so it floats. Either way swamping sucks!!!

Change your picture , i wanna see a RZR under your name......lol

 

[kbrunlees]

I just have to gloat, installed the BRP XMR snorkle kit and put it to the test this weekend. Found a crossing over a beaver dam that after I got through that next guy(on a bike) chew it up that I had to go through the pond to get back. In she went popped up like a cork and chew her way through and got to the other side without a hiccup. Thanks DaveB! It was a blast and an absolute thrill BOO Yahhhh!:d

 

[doorfx]

Now this is sinking a quad.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8qwP5yszBc&feature=youtu.be[/media]

 

[mustange70]

This is where a two stroke is awesome .

Always remember, if there's any chance of any oil or crap in the water you're draining out on the trail to clean it up , hate to be "that guy" but don't forget (fyi if you are near dirt/gravel roads, and you have no absolute way to clean up the oil do the draining of fluids there, the oil is a dust suspresent and is the same thing counties do on the backroads infront of houses and such, and it minimizes chances of ecological damage.)

Happy trails.