Up a creek

K

KicksonR66

New member
So I went to cross a creek about 12 to 18" deep hit a big rock and fell. The bike was down maybe 10 seconds, went to restart and nothing buddy had to rescue me.

I have removed the stator cover that had a little moisture, checked for spark with plug out and I do have spark. Put plug back in and can't get it to fire, remove plug again and have spark. Decide to check spark with a plug in head and now I cannot get spark. Bike got wet on Sat so plenty of time to dry out.

Any Ideas?

Thanks
 
I would suggest to pull the front crankcase drain (on the bottom of the engine under the crankshaft-well forward of the oil drain) and kick it through while that is out, Clean and dry the air filter, new spark plug, drain the carb float bowl and either stand it on it's tail to drain pipe well or pull the pipe since you're back home. More than likely you still have water in the engine even though it's been 2-3 days. DON'T FORGET TO PUT THE CRANKCASE DRAIN BACK IN AFTER YOU REMOVE IT ! It would be a perfect time to change the oil also........Good luck
 
Thanks Fred, will do and will let you know, it may take a day or two before I can get to it. I see your in NW AR, I am near Moyers, OK in the mountains. I suspect our terrain is similar and was wondering what is your rear tire of choice? (Sorry for going off topic)

Thanks again,

John
 
Hate to tell you this, but if you have creek water sitting in the lower end for a few days your almost certainly looking at main bearing failure in the very near future.
 
I could have went all day without you telling me that......5oz of water came out crankcase drain, oil looked good. Your certain of bearing failure?

Update: Pulled pipe, water as well.....oil looks good no separation after approx 45 min.
 
Last edited:
Glenn is probably right, 5 ozs of water in the crankcase is a very humid environment, not to mention the 'unfiltered' creek water. IF there was terrifc oiling going on you might get lucky though- at this point you have 2 choices- tear it down and look or fire it up and LISTEN CAREFULLY---ALL THE TIME !!! If they start rumbling then get them fixed.

I run any stiff desert rated knobby with TuBliss inserts at 6-8 psi. Tried the trials tire route and it just didn't suit me
 
I only say this from seeing it a few times. Once my friend, an experienced A rider and pro mechanic, used one of those Twin Air air boot covers and washed his KTM air box. Well, unknown to him it leaked and filled the lower end partially with water. He didn't try to start the bike after washing so the water sat for a few days. Soon after he discovered this and got the bike running, it developed a roar from the lower end, classic bad main bearing. What happens is the steel races/balls/rollers rust very fast, then its all over. Saw the same thing after a mass river drowning in an enduro back in '99, lots of parts sold soon after. I flushed my KTM out with gas when I got back to the truck and with diesel later at home after pulling the top end, no problems then. I did not attempt a restart with a low end full of silty river water.
 
A cobber of mine sank his 07 300 in a deep watery bog.We drained the air box,dried filter,replaced plug and started to get home. A week later he drained a cup of water from the crankcase.The bottom end was toast within 20hrs.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. What I'm trying to wrap my head around is how the water enters the crankcase but not the lower end (Tranny clutch), unless I'm mistaken the oil was water free. So I'm assuming the crankshaft bearings are sealed or get lubed from an oil port? I probably need an education on how these motors work as far as how its lubricated. Poked around a bit and couldn't find a motor breakdown, but did see the 08 and after models are using sealed crankshaft bearings, mine is an 02 though. Is the crankshaft lubed by the 2t oil in gas mixture?

Good evening
 
I drowned my 08 300 in a deep water hole, drained it on the spot but I had to ride it out of the trail.
When I got home I did several flushes with diesel fuel until it came out clean.
I now have 225 hours on the bike same crank and main bearings.
 
GMP said:
I only say this from seeing it a few times. Once my friend, an experienced A rider and pro mechanic, used one of those Twin Air air boot covers and washed his KTM air box. Well, unknown to him it leaked and filled the lower end partially with water. He didn't try to start the bike after washing so the water sat for a few days. Soon after he discovered this and got the bike running, it developed a roar from the lower end, classic bad main bearing. What happens is the steel races/balls/rollers rust very fast, then its all over. Saw the same thing after a mass river drowning in an enduro back in '99, lots of parts sold soon after. I flushed my KTM out with gas when I got back to the truck and with diesel later at home after pulling the top end, no problems then. I did not attempt a restart with a low end full of silty river water.
Click to expand...
That water crossing that year took a lot of bikes.. I'll try to scan some pics later and post em.. great but wet time..
 
OK so another dumb question, how do I get the diesel into the crankshaft (for lack of a better word) sump if tranny is sealed off? Albeit its probably too late.

Thanks for link GasGas

Cheers
 
moto9,

Your bike has sealed crank bearings(first year), so you squeaked by.


Kickson,

Ideally you should pull the motor and pull the top end off. Just keep filling and draining the crankcase until its absolutely clean. While rotating the crank slowly, shoot some contact cleaner down the lube holes in the cases over the main bearings to flush out any debris. Do this before the diesel and a couple times during. Rotate the crank slowly and listen/feel for any roughness, however slight. All it takes is a grain of sand to trash a main bearing. If you feel something that cannot be flushed out your bearings are toast. If all is clean and smooth, let the lower end dry out a bit and lube the mains and rod end with 2stroke oil, and reassemble. This is a long shot though in your situation.
 
Well, bearings are toast, she's whistling dixie.

Thanks for input forum, i'll try and put my next question in the right thread context next time.

Cheers
 
Not sure how I missed this thread. Sorry for your findings.

Like everyone said, water is the enemy and you want it out and away from the bearings asap. There are also 2 ways that water can enter the crank. Either through the exhaust or through the intake. A good fitting filter and quality oil should keep most the silt out and make life a bit easier. The exhaust will let everything fill up pretty nicely though and should also be drained either by removing it or tipping the bike up on the back wheel. Once everything is clean and water is gone the idea is to get the bike started and back up to running temp as this will allow any residual water to evaporate off.
 
Hey Jakobi,
Yep, that was a huge mistake on my part. It sat for 2 days with water, I tried to flush but no luck, it was sure whining. Live and learn.

Hope all is well down under.
 
On the bright side you'll know you've got a fresh bottom end. Make sure you replace everything while it apart. Will be good to carry you through many more trouble free years after this!
 
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