So, here is what happened I went to cross a raging creek (bad idea) and the current took me away about 100 feet down river before I jumped in and stopped the four wheeler. I pushed it to a spot where the current wasn't very strong and I walked home. I called a couple friends to help me get it out of the creek. We pulled it out and then began to remove the air filter. We tipped the four wheeler backwards and about an inch of water gathered in the air box. We let that drain out and then pulled the spark plug and pulled the recoil about a dozen or so times and we could see something spraying out the top of the cylinder (not sure if it was gas, water, or both). We tipped it back again and a bit more water went into the air box. We checked for spark and it still had spark. We pulled it for about 5 minutes and it started for a little bit and then died but for all the other pulls it sounded like it wanted to start. Eventually we got it to start and idle on about 1/2 choke but when you hit the throttle it would die. We towed it to my friend’s house and he put a splash of some sort of water remover in the gas tank. My brother trailered the crippled quad back to our house and it will idle on about 1/2 choke but no more and if you push the gas more than a touch it dies. Any idea what is wrong or how to fix it? Anything is helpful and very much appreciated!!

 

lol .... oh man this story sounds familar, check out my thread "need help bringin back the lt 230 to life" or somethin like that cept i waited like 2 yrs to do anything about it lol .... you will have to drain the gas tank and let it sit with gas top off in a dry hot area (somewhere where it wont get dust or dirt in it) new spark plug, drain the oil, new oil filter, drain carb, take the air filter box right off and let the dry out in the sun for a day.. put new CHEAP oil in it crank it a few times and drain that to flush out any water or crap.

you wait to long you will have a **** load of problems as i do now.
hopefully you live somewhere nice and hot lol to dry all that crap out.

 

Actually we revved it up a lot in neutral and some nasty water came out the tailpipe and it runs fine now. But any warning signs I should keep an eye out for?

 

I would at the very least change the oil ASAP, water will most likely be in the oil, and the water does not lubricate. If you dont change your oil, you could expect bearing issues, or a work piston skirt, etc...

Also, at the very least, I would drain the gas out of the fuel bowl, all you do is turn the screw on the bottom of the float bowl and the fuel runs out the hose on the bottom.