My wife drowned her 2007 Arctic Cat 400 4x4 today in a mudhole. She had it in 4-Lock but in High range so her back end sunk in and it died. My Yamaha Wolverine ran out of gas half way thru the hole as well so by the time I pushed it out and wincher her out it had sat there a few minutes in the water sucking it in. When we got it out I took the plug out of the CVT and drained that, there was at least a gallon of water in there. I checked the air intake, and not water got in there. It turns over, but doesnt want to fire. I check the spark plug and it was dry. That is the extent of my knowledge. What steps do I need to take to fix this on my own? Any help is appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

drain the gas, empty the gas out of the float on the carb, change the oil to be safe and it should run. you probably got water in the gas it doesnt take much to contaminate the fuel. i would check all the fluids to make sure they didnt get contaminated.

 

It doesn't seem like she drowned the bike. If there's no water in the air box, you removed the spark plug and turned the engine over and no water came out you should be ok. Check the engine oil to see if it is milky color if yes it did digest water. If the belt got soaked then most likely your engine got it to. I would start by draining the fuel bowl underneath the carburator, remove the air filter, turn the engine over and make sure no water then re install a new plug and then try to start. If you have any more ? let me know ok. Happy Trails

 

Not sure if it matters, but I syphoned the gas out of the AC into the Wolverine and the wolverine managed to pull the AC 10 miles on the gas. Should I still go about draining the float and gas tank ? If so what do I need to do to accomplish to two? Thanks a lot.

 

You could still have some water in the carb bowl as there are plenty of ways to get water in the carb if it is under water. I doubt it got into the fuel tank unless it was under water as well.

How muddy was the water? and how deep did it get on the machine so we know exactly what got drowned.

I would also add to change the fluid in your differentials as they were more than likely under water and water could have gotten in there. If the water wad really muddy you may need to remove the cover on the auto tranny and wipe the muddy dirt off the belt and pulley surfaces.

You may also have gotten some water into an electrical connection and blown a fuse especially the starter selenoid 30 amp fuse.

SJ

 

If it has a pull start tip the bike back and pull the string. Friends was completly drained ( air box, exhaust, motor) but would not start... turns out a little water snuck in the P.Start, and once we drained that it started right up.

 

When I pulled the string at first water came splashing out, it doesn't now, but the string still looks wet. How do I drain that side of the machine? And as far as how deep and dirty, it was really dirty, and the whole rear rack was under water but as I said the breather was above, and it took at least 2 minutes or more to drain the water from the transmission. Thank you again, I will put some of these techniques to the test later this morning and get back to you.

 

Flush the entire motor with kerosene, drain the oil and flush and the fuel tank. there is no sense taking chances. Kero is cheap. Unhook the battery just loosen the plugs and pull the wires so you eliminate chances of spark. turn it over by hand in high gear. that will help flush the case and oil pump of any water or mayonnaise. You don't need to flush the combustion chamber. A good hot hair dryer is good to dry the electronics and all your connections should ALL have Dielectric Grease on the. (had at any good auto parts store).

Plus like said above, changing all fluids is a good idea. Clean (flush) those areas with Kero also.

 

OKay here is the latest. I forgot that it had the primer lever that you push for really cold starts and used that this morning, and it would start up long enough to use what gas was primed in. Eventually it would start to an idle. So I turned the idle up high and it is idling right now. The gas light is blinking so I thought I would idle the gas empty and add some fresh gas to see how it likes that. As far as the oil, that wasnt dirty. How do I go about flushing anything with kerosene? I change my own oil that's the extend on my knowledge.


EDIT: It's been idling for 5+ minutes, but when I try and give it any gas it dies. Any thought?

 

Did you check your air box? is it full of water and/or mud? Does the oil look like milk? If so, then yes you probably drowned it. If its not wet and full of mud,then all it did when it went under was die. If she let off of the gas for just a couple seconds then the pressure from the water over the exhaust killed it. Ive done this to my bike several times and in some cases ,it would even restart while in the water. In other cases i would have to get pulled out and tip the bike on its back rack,hold the gas wide open,then hit the starter and it always fires back up, as soon as it does drop it back down to all 4 tires and hold the throttle just enough to keep it going. eventually all the water will blow out of the exhaust,and no water ever made it into my fuel system or air intake. Thats a tip for the next time your out on the trails,works every time. If your oil is not milky color,then your fine with that too. If you plan on running your old gas still,you might want to just fill it up with new stuff instead of running just the old gas. At least this way the old will mix with the new and it wont be as bad, and add some seafoam. Since you said its running now theres not much more to do. Oh, if you ever do actually drown it,pull the spark plug first before ever trying to start it. this will push all the water out. or you could cause damage to the engine. then go from there.