I had experienced my kodiak 450 bogging down and eventially stalling out while in water that was about half way up to my gas tank, but not higher then my air filter last time I went riding. This never happen before when i drove through water and was wondering if anyone knew besides the water, what would cause this to happen? Usually it will run through water just fine. I pulled out drain plug for belt and no water came out, so no water got in to cause the stall. I was in the water in an angle where muffler end was under water, and after stalling it did start back up in the water and was able to drive it out, then it drove just fine. I couldn't firgure out why all of the sudden that day going through the same depth water that the atv was acting up like this. Also checked air filter and it was dry. Could it been the fact that I was not giving it anough gas through the water, and when muffler got submerged, it caused engine to stall?

Little stumped here. I've seen videos of my atv going through deep water and still running.

 

I had this happen once. I dove into a fairly deep section and it started running rough. Luckily it made it to the other side. I have also heard of some that had similar problem with snow. My understanding is that steam is being sucked into the carb and that is causing a problem. I guess for us it has to do with how hot the quad is and how you enter the water. If it isn't too deep or too hot then no problem. If you enter slow it might have a chance to cool off before the problem happens. People plowing snow also have had problems with the melting snow creating steam. I don't remember the fix people had for the snow problem and I have not heard of a fix for our problem.

 

How would steam get into carb though? Carb is sealed, no? I thought if anything, maybe it was plug getting wet, but doesn't add up because it was able to start right away. I once rode my KLR 250 through deep water by accident, water that came past engine, and it took over 5 minutes plus to get it started again.

 

The steam is sucked in along with regular air as the quad is running. It has to do with the placement of the air intake.

 

I see, that makes sense. So steam would cause an engine to bog down then. So now that has me wondering if the people who opt to have a snorkle on their atv, are also trying to avoid this issue? I've been through plenty of water before and never had any bogging/stalling issues, and we were riding around for over 3-4 hours before this problem occured so engine was warm enough.

 

Has anyone considered ignition could be getting wet?

I often wondered about this possibility if the plug boot lets some moisture in and if silicone dielectric grease would help.

I personally have not yet ever had any water related issues and I've gone pretty deep many times.

 

I don't think as an ignition issue, cause it bogged down and stalled then when i pushed electric start button it started back up right away. Usually when ignition gets wait, it would not start for awhile, at least until moisture dries up some. But yes that could be possible, but seeing how yamaha has a very good water tight ignition and these atv's can go through mud and water and keep going, it didn't occur to me.

 

snorkel it,trust me it use to happen to my wolverine 450

 

Have you put the water hose to it. My son's kodiak Has a O ring bad between the carb and the motor. It is called carb joint O ring.If it is bad water will get in gas and in motor and not in air box. Put the water hose to it.I am going to put some silicone gasket on mine.His was doing the same thing when water got over the racks.Good luck.

 

You could try taking it in the same water when cold or at least something as deep and see if it acts the same. Mine never died and when I got out of the water it was fine. I would think wet ignition would take a while to go away.