I am having an issue with my belt drive system getting water in there. I went riding this past Friday night and I went into a mud/water hole that was about 30' in length and about 3' deep or so. I got about halfway thru and the clutch I could tell started to slip. It was getting water in some how. The intake was MUCH higher than the water level was. Also while I was coming thru the "pit" the bike acted like it was loosing power for some reason. Luckliy it didn't die on me. I had it in low and 4x4. I let off the throttle just a little and kept playing with it and it made it thru. I got out and drained the water out of the PVT case and everything seemed fine after that. I was wondering where the water would be coming in at and what would cause it to bog down and act like it wanted to die? Once I am out of the water, everything runs like normal. I am looking for some answers to try and get this solved.

 

Remove cover and first check your seal around backing plate,then check that the seal behind front clutch is not damaged or torn,plus check that air intake at back of pvt backing plate is secure in the rubber sleeve. Pvt system is Water resistant NOT waterproof as many have found. Some have siliconed covers which makes it a pain to remove later,plus some have snorkled intake and exhaust tubes if they are serious mud doggers.

 

It is strange on my 01 500HO most of the time i can go thru water and notice nothing...but once and a while it will get wet sometimes even on the smallest water puddle.....but on my 08 400 i have never had it get wet yet...

 

The only way the water gets in is the cover seal,hose connections(Two) intake and exhaust tube ,or you just pain in to deep for the intakes,air box and belt housing.

I had water get in the belt housing and cause the belt to slip but it does not affect the running of the motor in anyway. The cheap plastic hose ties were lose so I use stainless hose clamps now.

Water in the air box could bog the motor though.

 

I'm with TLC, I think you must have got water through the breather tube up top, and maybe got a little in the air box through it's tube also. I've got water in my PVT but it was warm out and dried pretty quick, I did feel the belt slip a little. It never affected my motor running, that sounds water in the air box.

 

You have tolearn how to go through water.You can just speed through and splash it everywhere.You have to hold it at a steady speed to keep it out of the intake and exhaust onthe PVT and keep it off your electrics if they are not sealed with grease.

 

just so you guys know, it could have came from the factory w/ a messed up gasket around the cover as mine did on one of my bikes. i found when i took the cover off that it was twisted in a way it wasnt sealing it tight so it may be worth a check to make sure the gasket isnt messed up. imo

 

I'm with Stendori on this one guys, I had the same problem on my '07 800X2, found out the gasket around the cover was no installed properly, and was hacked up, imagine a brand new machine and stuck in the middle of a Water puddle!! Well, I was about ready to go get CEO-Tiller to pull me out in his $500 suit. Anyways, being that the local dealer was closed on Sunday, I had some extra foam window stripping and stuffed that in the channel; got to say about 2000 miles later, no problems!! So, ir the dealer is closed, the hardware store will assist!!

 

I,m going to try that next time, thanks. It was $30 for a gasket and they had to order it last time.

 

you know what really sucked for me , is when i showed the delaer the gasket, i stilll had to pay for a new one myself even though they gave me a discount. thie rin it for the money. oh btw, mine was still under warranty but i took it apart my self if that tells you anything. lol