on our hawkeye, when we go through cold water a bit too quick it makes the motor sputter for about 60 seconds and then it's fine. anyone got any ideas on what the problem might be??the water is not getting into the intake and the airbox is dry.

 

Well i have had trouble from day one with ours(jetting issue) finally got it figured out though thank god. Sputtering how? Does it die? what if you keep the throttle on or give it more gas does it do it? I have had my wife on hers up to the seat in water and no problem with water. Could it be a spark short, try putting the water hose on the plug wire when it is running see if it sputters. Does it do it at all anyother times. Ours was bad in tight technical uphill sections. It is all fixed now though and it goes 51MPH that may be a shock as others seem thats to fast for it but it does. I have had the whole bike apart so if you can give me some more details i would try to help!

It is a great bike once all the bugs get worked out though.

Erik trailblazzers@shaw.ca

 

I had the same thing happen this weekend. I was following my step dad on his Honda Rancher 4x4 through some deep water, actually i think i was floating some (with the assist of my new big 25" mud grips) and mine started sputtering in the deep stuff, his Honda ran rock steady, but mine sputtered (kind of like it was going to stall) both times i followed him in the water that came up near the spark plug area (as soon as i got out of the deep water it ran fine). My first thought was that somehow the water was bothering my spark plug but yet wasn't bothering his, i'm glad mine isn't the only one that sputters in deep water. I wonder if our ignition system provides a weaker spark and that causes the interference when water gets on the plug wire. I'll have to try spraying it with water as suggested and see what happens.

 

You say you had your Hawkeye up to the seat in water and all was good....Thats good to hear. I stopped my son from following me through a hole that had my Sp500 up to the seat, because I wasn't sure how water tight this Hawk was. Have you done lots of water/mud crossings with the Hawk? Have you had any problems in the water/mud??

 

when it starts to sputter it does'nt die but it acts like the jetting is out of wack again.then in about 30-60 seconds it is right back to normal.it loses all power and just kind of chugs.this weekend i'm going out again but i'm gonna put dielectric silicone on all the connectors and plug wire.hopfully this helps.if we can get all the bugs out for polaris they are going to have a great quad because when it's running good it's a blast to ride.

 

You maybe "super cooling" your engine ... this rapid cooling can change the size of the carb, block, and head, just enough to my the engine run rough until they settle out. This isn't normaly seen in water cooled engines ... but can be seen in air cooled engines.

 

My stepdads Rancher 330 is air cooled, i simply followed right behind him and the engine sputtered and sounded like it wanted to stall/hitting a rev limiter, his was perfectly fine, it did that twice.

 

Well my wife follows me everywhere i go with my sportsman 500. The secret is when you go through the water with the big bike the little one can tuck in behind and let the big bike be the water pusher!!

We have never had a problem with the hawkeye in regards to water crossings like i said up to the seat, just had the problems with the jetting but now i am running a 140.00 main jet! with all other stock parts on the carb.

Erik trailblazzers@shaw.ca

 

If you think it happens when water gets near the plug,put some dielectric greese in that plug boot and see what happens.Water might be getting in the plug boot screwing up the spark.

 

I think i am overdoing it but i use dielectric grease on all connections electrical i put it on every few weeks or as needed. i hope you can figure this out!