I have an Xplorer 300 (purchased used about 6 months ago) which has been running flawlessly. I recently tried driving through about 18-24" of water. Shortly after entering the water, the engine remained running fine, however there was no power to the wheels. After exiting the water, the quad began to run normally in about 5 minutes, and has been ok since but I have not been back in the water.

I'm assuming that water entered the PVT housing and caused this problem. Is this normal or should I be looking for a problem such as a faulty gasket or seal on the PVT housing? Would it be something that could be reparired easily by me, or more of a dealer issue? Thank you.

 

scott,
This is normal, if you splash water up too high and it gets into the PVT breather tube. I go thru water up to my racks, but as long as a take it slow and dont't try to fly thru it, I have no problem. Don't go thru too fast, and if you do get water in, just rev the engine at half throttle for about 2 to 3 minutes, the belt and clutches dry up.

 

I think you should put the quad in Neutral and rev it a little to blow the water out. I would check the gasket though, 18-24 inches isn't very deep.
c-ya,

------------------
Andrew Thomas

'99 Scrambler 400 & '99 Trailblazer, both with RCR mods.

 

This is normal, for some riders. Make sure your PVT cover gasket is good, and the cover seals well.

When in the water DON'T LET OFF THE GAS! That's the #1 problem of belts slipping. I have gone though water slow, and water really fast, without having the belt slip. But if I let off the gas, water getsin because there is no air pushing out.

I added a snorkel to my PVT, because I always would let off the gas to stop in water, or someone would get in my way and I would let off, and just for the "insurance" of making sure the belt is dry.

http://www.baselnet.com/atv/mine/mods/pvt/index.htm

 

This happened to me a few times when i first got the bike. Just before i did my clutch kit i had quite a few instances that my belt was getting wet. I figured that when the parts arrive i can remove the cover and see whats what. Much to my dismay when i finally removed the cover i noticed that the foam PVT gasket was poorly installed and water had been getting inside every time i splashed through puddles.

I have my cover of often enough to stock a couple of PVT gaskets in case...i must adjust.

Once your all sealed up go to HTTP://BASELNET.COM/ATV/MINE/
and Adam Dowden will show you have to turn your Polaris into a submarine.

Works for Me.....

Chris Picciotto
99 Scrambler 500 ( The raging slab )

 

quad man,
have you put this snorkel on a sp500? Would you do it the same way? One more thing, do you think it may cause heat build-up because of the length and the fact that it dumps into an area that is not well vented?

 

have you put this snorkel on a sp500? Would you do it the same way?

I haven't tried it on a Sportsman yet, but I might soon. My dad has a Sportsman and hasn't got the belt wet yet, but when he does, I am sure he will want to put the extension on it. I have looked at the Sportsman and the same basic thing could be done, you would just have to route it a little different. I know people are doing it, on mud runs a lot of Xplorer 500's & Sportsman 500's have extensions, I just haven't looked at it real close.

One more thing, do you think it may cause heat build-up because of the length and the fact that it dumps into an area that is not well vented?

I was afriad of that at first, but was willing to try it anyway. So far no problems, and I have put about 400 miles on it doing anything from water to sport riding, and it's usally really hot outside here in Texas. I haven't had the cover melt or get gooey yet, and it doesn't feel any hotter than stock.

On my Scrambler the tube is pretty straight forward and only bends when looping up though the fender & back down. The tube is larger diameter than stock, so it flows good air, I have put my hand there and felt it before. The air exits where there is plenty of space for it go down without getting obstructed, you just have to see it I guess.

I won't guarentee it will work perfect for you like it has me, but I haven't had any trouble. If your Sportsman has EBS be careful, it makes more heat in the clutches than a non-EBS.

You can re-use your stock PVT cover gasket if you take the cover off, just make sure it's cleaned good and seats well. I am sure if you take it on & off a lot then a new one would be good though.

Good luck.

 

I have a scrambler 500 and when I first got it, it had problems with a wet belt. The cover looked like it was sealed good so I started looking else where. I ended up taking my airbox out to get to the carb and that is when I noticed that the other vent pipe leading into the pvt cover was not even tightened.This is the tube under the airbox, you can not get to it unless you take the airbox out. I think polaris over looked this one. I screwed it tight and I have not had any problems yet. Later, Steve

 

Steve, where exactly does that tube lead? I know which one you are talking about, but I thought it just ran down to the motor somewhere because when I took my clutches apart I couldn't find that it lead to the clutches.

 

Quad_man is right about not letting off the throttle, on my SP500 my PVT took a big gulp of water when I hit a shallow water crossing. I let off the throttle as soon as I hit the water and the only place where it looks like the water entered was the PVT exhaust snorkel.