[aircum]

Bad day yesterday, flipped my Rincon in a river I should have never attempted to cross. I have changed the oil twice now, cleaned the air filter, sealed off the pull starter (as mentioned in a recent post), I only ran it about 1 mile after it happened and shut it down and walked for the truck. Any suggestions as to anything else I need to do.

After the 1st oil change it was smoking quit a bit. After the 2nd smoking much less. I hope I did not do any damage to the engine as I am sure I sucked up water for the 1 mile ride. I drained the airbox, but only after it ran for about 5 minutes.


dumb...dumb...dumb....but fun!!!

 

[MudChucker]

was there a significant amount of water in the oil ? did it look like a chocolate milk shake when you drained it the first time ?

Im assuming that as it was able to start for you, that you didnt fill the crank case with oil... a little water wont realy hurt too much...and the oil filter will remove the ultra fine stuff...

you didnt mention it, so I will,.. when you pulled the machine out of the water, you should have drained the airbox....

the air filter would have acted like a strainer, so debris and such isnt as likley as you might think to get into the engine... just that real fine silty stuff wich with any luck blew through and didnt do any damage...

the smoke that you saw, assuming it was white. is more then likley steam from water in the pipes...

I would remove the float bowl cover and inspect it for sludge... as well as give it a good cleaning...

 

[ISurvivedNMU]

Don't forget to check your front and rear gears.... The breather tubes could have sucked in some water from the fast temp change...... Like chucker said... They will look like a milkshake... or cloudy.....

 

[aircum]

thanks for all of the help!!

 

[ssdsco]

It's so cool you can flip these Rincons over in a river, wring it out and ride it again. Well maybe a little more than wring it out.

Glad you were OK !!

 

[parkgt]

Remember that 1/3 of the oil (or water) is in the torque converter and does not drain during an oil change. One oil change will remove none of that 1/3 mixture of oil and water.

If you ran it for a few minutes and changed it again you might have gotten one third of that third out. So you still have 2/9 of whatever mix was in your quad when you started.

Most consider 4 to 5 oil changes to be the minimum necessary to really get it out completely enough to avoid potential problems.

1st change = 67% changed,
2nd change = 77% changed,
3rd change = 85% changed,
4th change = 90% changed,
5th change = 93% changed.

 

[aircum]

Good point, I changed it 3 times, maybe need to do it a couple more.

Thanks. I did run it for about 5 minutes with the air box full of water, just trying to get it out of the river.

This sight and all your help is such a wonderful resource. Thanks for all of your help!!!!!!

 

[parkgt]

If it is fairly clean and you are just changing it additional times to be sure all the water is out there is no reason to put in a new filter at each change.

You can just leave the filter out for the subsequent changes.

Also until the last change with the oil you plan to ride with just use the cheapest stuff you can find. Wally World sell some in two gallon jugs that is real cheap.

Been there, done that!

 

[WoodsRuner]

make sure you run it a while between oil changes to get the old and new mixed up good. In fact, a good run of say 2 hours after the third oil change will likely drive all the water out of the oil by evaporation.

 

[MudChucker]

seriously.... 2 maybe 3 at the most is all the oil changes you need...after your first oil change and you run the machine for a few minutes (20 minutes ish), the oil and water will homogenize into a milky solution unless its permited to sit for a few days the water will stay suspended in the oil... the next oil change will remove quite a lot of oil and water held in a solution and after that evaporation will take care of the rest as soon as the engine heats up... you can tell if its evaporatiing if you take a look at the crank case vent that runs into the airbox...

I have swamped my machine *badly* quite a few times... I use a paste that gas stations use to test for water in the fuel, if there is any water present it turns purple,,, I put a blob on the dip stick and I ride around in circles for about 3 or 4 minutes and pull out the dip stick... its never turned purple...

seriously, 4 or 5 oil changes... I hate to say this out loud, but get a grip.. if you have never sent your machine swimming, you have no idea how to deal with it...and clearly... you have never sent your machine swimming.

the last time I sunk my machine (sunday last week), I had to leave it over night, the water was just about as high as the snorkle, the seat was under water... the next morning we pulled it out, I only had 1 filter, and enough oil for a single oil change, I drained the carb, cleaned the airbox, and drained the oil... we did lift up the front bumper and bounce the machine around a bit to make sure we got all the water out...I put in a new filter, added the oil drove out in a cloud of steam, and by the time we got back to the truck it was all good...

quite honestly, I agree with skip1, if you can get the engine started after swamping the machine... your more then likley good to go... make sure the airbox is emptied before your try running the machine, start it up, idle for a minute or two and check the oil...if its not milky, dont worry about it too much, end your riding day till you can change your oil but dont stress... if your airbox wasnt full of water, whilst your engine was running, realy dont wory about it,... ask yourself this... if the oil doesnt leak out... where is the water gonna get in ? 4 or 5 oil changes... jeez... Im gonna buy some shares in the atv oil business...

 

[mudtoyournuts]

Water really is a piss poor lubricant. If your oil has hints of water (cloudiness) or even worse, choclate shake syndrome, it is important to change the oil, with a little run time between changes, until symptoms are gone. As said, you don't have to use $7/qt synthetic when doing your flush/change. After you get it to where you think you are good, run it for another ride then change back to your regular if the oil quality/clarity remains good throughout the ride.

 

[ISurvivedNMU]

In fact.... Useing synthetic to flush you engine would be the worse you could use... Synthetic resists mixing with water mor than dino oil.... And to get it out... It needs to mix, and not sit in puddles....

 

[MudChucker]

hmmm good point...thinking I should buy a case of dino oil just for the purpose of flushing... and now that you mention it, the synth oil didnt go all chocolate milk like, it only mixed with the water like itatlian salad dressing...

...learn somthing new every day...

 

[parkgt]

mudchucker,

Yes I have had mine swamped before. If it was a regular engine and did not have a torque converter holding a third of the fluid I would agree with you you methods.

There are roughly 100 ounces of fluid in the system. Three changes still leaves 15% of the mix that could be 1/3 water (5 ounces)left in the system. How many of us would pour 5 ounces of water in to our crankcases and hope it evaporates with out causing any damage. I will spend the extra $5 and 1/2 hour to try to get more of it out. It may be overkill but I have a lot invested in my rig and want it to last.

Each of us has to decide what they are comfortable with. I tend to be a little anal. I run systhetic oil and change it at less than 600 miles, again a case of overkill.

I run mine hard and give it TLC when not on the trail.

 

[johnandpamela]

I read a thread somewhere on here where a guy said that he drains his oil witht he front end of the ATV up on car ramps and he claims he is able to get all the oil out of the engine, not just most of it. I haven't tried it yet....we'll see.

 

[jcrincon]

Let it sit for a good 24 hours with the drain plug out and oil filter open you will get all of the oil out, if you don't believe this try it and measure what comes out, 4 quarts! Been there done that.

 

[honda4strokeman]

A friend of mine swamps his Foreman all the time, it's a regular thing with him...lol...he makes sure the airbox isn't full of water. If it is he doesn't try to start it. We drag it back and start the routine. He drains all of the oil out and pulls the filter. Puts about a quart of kerosene in the motor. With the key off, he pulls the pull start quite a few times. Then drains the kerosene. Then he chages the oil a few times then puts on a new filter. He has done this prolly 10 or 15 times in the last 2 years and it still never smokes and runs great. I'm not sure if I would be brave enough to try this with mine. I have an old 300 fourtrax 4x4 I use for the serious mudding.