Ok my friend and I were out riding today and he decided to try to cross this small river, he was stuck in the soft bottom almost immediatly. He has a winch on the front and nothing close enough to hook it to, so I tried to go through a spot that looked more solid to I could get in front of him and pull him out. Well, I picked the wrong spot and it turned out softer than were he was, therefore I dug myself into a deeper mess. In the effort of trying to get it out, my back end went into a deeper hole and died out with the muffler and battery under. We had to call someone else with a winch to come pull us both out.

I am sure it is full of water and definately not running. How do I go about fixing it? Where do I start and what all should I do?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Ryan

 

Drain and change the oil. Pull the plug and dry out the cylinder. If the air filter got wet, change it.

Once it runs for a few minutes, change the oil again. Keep changing the oil until it is no longer milky in any way.

Unless you sucked water into your cylinder head while it was running you should be OK.

Jaybee

 

Thanks Jay,

It is fixed and running like new.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] The airbox was filled with water so I had to take that apart and clean it. The exhaust had some mud in it so I took that apart and cleaned it. The oil was nasty at first, but only required one flushing. The cylinder was actually suprisingly dry. I put in a new spark plug. Then I took it for a quick rip down the block and back with no exhaust and no air filter, talk about freaking loud and noticably more powerful. Then I put the pipe back on and I will get the new air filter monday. Like I said already runs like new.

Thanks,

Ryan

 

I stalled my Recon in a creek once. I tipped the quad up on end to let it drain. I had to change the oil at least 3 times before it was clear. Just a tiny bit of water will make it cloudy. I'd check your oil again and then again and then maybe again.

You might want to check the rear end oil also. Just to be safe.

 

go ahead and check your valves while you are at it (not good to run with no exhaust)

i would change the oil again after a little bit (maybe even a round of flushing with a little deisel)

check the vent tubes for the diferentials,,,make sure water didnt make it into those

 

Bing,

I only drove it 100 yards, that wouldn't screw up the valves would it?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img]

I guess I word it wrong about one flushing of th oil, I drained it, refilled it and then ran it for a bit, then drained it again, then refilled. After I run it for a bit tommorow, I will change it again.

Vent tubes for the differentials.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] Thanks I didn't even think about that.

Ryan

 

I had quite a reputation as a submarine commander when I had my 89 Honda fourtrax 4x4. I was really amazed that if you could get through it quick enough you could actually drive the whole thing underwater for a few seconds. One particular spot was deep enough so that the entire wheeler would be submerged for a second or two before it would climb back out the other side. Of course if you couldn't blast through quick enough you were in trouble. I have had that 4 wheeler totally submerged to the point where it wasn't even visible from the surface. I would slog into the water, tie on a tow strap and have someone pull me out. I would drain the carb, clean out the airbox then crank her over and pump the water out of the exhaust and get it running and be back on my way in under 10 minutes usually. I would change the oil and filter when I came home and I never had any trouble with it. I really miss riding around in the water and mud.

Gonna be a real adjustment when I buy a new big bore 4x4 in the next few months (probably a BF 750 if someone doesn't some out with a new model before then) There is going to be a huge difference between a 300 cc 89 Honda fourtrax and a 750 Brute Force. I can't wait.

 

the old fourtrax 300s are tanks

one of the best quads ever imo

 

easy to check the valves,,why not give em a glance

rule of thumb,,,,,dont fire engine without exhaust installed

 

Bing,

How do I go about checking valves? I can fix some things, but I don't know the first thing about valves. What would I be looking for?

Thanks,

Ryan