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Advice needed re deep water.
https://www.trf.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1253
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Author:  NickG [ Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:59 am ]
Post subject:  Advice needed re deep water.

As a total novice to off-roading I’m having great fun trying out new experiences in the mud and finding many new places around Shropshire that as a road rider I never knew existed.
One thing that is bothering me is deep water. I ride a DRZ 400S and my wife is on a XT250 we’ve been in water up to up to our knees while standing on the pegs, and as yet had no problems. But in the back of my mind there is the worry that if we were to come off or stop, and water gets in to the engine, what should I do.

I must say I’m not a grease monkey by any means so simple advice would be greatly appreciated.

Author:  Strong Right Leg [ Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice needed re deep water.

Hi NickG

Simple advice is that if the water is too deep, don't cross it. Really, you do not want it to be above exhaust/air box height.

If you do get water in the engine/exchaust, ideally, you would need to tip the bike up, so that any water can drain out of the exhaust.

If I'm right, the DRZ doesn't have kick-start. With k/s it's easier, as you'd remove the spark plug, kick over (which will pull out remaining water), drain the carb, put in new spark plug and it should come back to life. This works with the XR400. I'd look at the spark plug and draining the carb on the DRZ as a minimum.

Finally, once you get back home, and on the basis that the oil is a bit milky, you'll need to drain your oil out, clean the tank, and replace with new oil.

I'm sure others will offer their advice, but hopes this helps.

Cheers

Strong Right Leg

Author:  andymac [ Wed Dec 30, 2009 2:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice needed re deep water.

hi, if you drop the bike in deep water and the engine stalls, you must remove the plug before attempting to start it !!!
the piston might hydraulic in the bore and may bend the con rod or even worse !!
remove the air filter/cover and remove any water
drain carb float bowl, "you should carry correct tool for this" !!!!!
tilt or lay bike down on exh side to remove water from it
remove plug/s and turm over engine to force water out of the cylinder "keep your
eyes out of the way"
spray wd40 etc in the cyl and repeat.
spray wd40 etc on plug leads etc and rebuild
the engine should start
if water has filled up light lenses etc this will cause the bulbs to blow ," drain out" ;)

Author:  chrisoncbr [ Wed Dec 30, 2009 3:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice needed re deep water.

The big danger is, if too much water goes into the intake, the piston comes up and tries to compress the water. Water won't compress and so something has to give. It's usually the connecting rod which means a major bottom end engine failure and mucho sponduliks to sort it all out. My mate Ian (fellow Devon TRFer) did it to his KTM and had to wait ages for the repair. :( So, if in doubt, don't cross.

Author:  TimG [ Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice needed re deep water.

It's useful to route/extend the carb breather pipes up into the airbox...it's the pipe(s) which isn't/arn't attached to the drain bowl of the carb.

Author:  Richard Sugden [ Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice needed re deep water.

Nick, I also ride a DRZ and so far I have been lucky enough never to drown it but before I owned mine I saw someone else drown one and I would say this. All the advice given above is sound but don't rely on just carrying any old plug spanner/socket with you for the DRZ.

The spark plug is incredibly difficult to get at unless you have a suitable tool so try this in your shed/garage/garden or whatever before you have to do it for real in the field so to speak!

As long as you can get the plug out though you should be OK. I've seen quite a few drowned bikes over the years (mostly on Strata Florida - which wont be a suprise to anyone who's done it) and only one was damaged and that was because the rider didn't get all of the water out before putting the plug back in. The engine actually fired up but it almost instantly blew the crank case seals (it was a two stroke obviously).

If the worst does happen and you feel yourself going down into the water SHUT THE THROTTLE!!! As long as the motors only ticking over your unlikely to suffer any mechanical damage.

Also if the water is that deep, consider getting off and walking the bike through. This will unload the suspension and raise the air box several inches. It also means that if it starts getting really deep you have the chance to turn around before you disapear ;) Of course the down side is that you do get very wet but then you do get very wet when you fall off in a river as well don't you.

Either way don't let it put you off. This kind of thing is all part of th efun of trail riding.

Cheers

Richard

Author:  NickG [ Thu Dec 31, 2009 11:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice needed re deep water.

All of this has been really useful. I had the spark plug out last night and now appreciate just how much of the bike has to be removed to be able to dig down deep and get it out.
I did mention that I was no grease monkey, so please bear with me. My Clymer manual tells me I have a Mikuni carburettor so when it comes to draining the float bowl, is it just a case of removing the drain screw?

Author:  andymac [ Thu Dec 31, 2009 3:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice needed re deep water.

yes it is, but some carbs also have a large bung/bolt under the float bowl that you can remove to remove any gunge/frogs etc

Author:  NickG [ Fri Jan 01, 2010 11:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice needed re deep water.

Great once again many thanks to all.

Author:  mudfacetony [ Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice needed re deep water.

andymac wrote:
hi, if you drop the bike in deep water and the engine stalls, you must remove the plug before attempting to start it !!!
the piston might hydraulic in the bore and may bend the con rod or even worse !!
remove the air filter/cover and remove any water
drain carb float bowl, "you should carry correct tool for this" !!!!!
tilt or lay bike down on exh side to remove water from it
remove plug/s and turm over engine to force water out of the cylinder "keep your
eyes out of the way"
spray wd40 etc in the cyl and repeat.
spray wd40 etc on plug leads etc and rebuild
the engine should start
if water has filled up light lenses etc this will cause the bulbs to blow ," drain out" ;)



Nick, Andy mac is right with his advice but you could laso empty the exhaust by holding the bike virticle with the front wheel in the air. Up in the North East we have lots of river crossings so are quire used to sorting this kind of problem. however, one guy recently dumped in the water and has seen bikes sorted loads of times but for some reason the group he was with just tried to start the bike with the result of a bent con rod (it was a 2 stroke). Suffice to say, it resulted in an expensive engine re build

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