Water in airbox and through the motor...re-routing carby vent lines??

P

pdee4t

Hi everyone.
Went riding today, ended up having to ride through some water ruts. Didn't realise how deep 1 of them was until I actually rode through it. It was almost to the top of my front wheel.
Anyway, the bike started blowing white smoke/steam, the oil became all bubbly and thin and wattery(wasn't milky but just looked very thin like it was water based), as well as the bike not wanting to start back up for a while(out of the water) and the inside of the muffler was all wet/wattery too.
(Its not a blown head gasket as the bike just had a rebuild and I also didn't lose any coolant).

Anyway, I brought it home, took the air filter out and checked inside the air box and found a little puddle of wet brown water inside the air box, just below the carby intake boot.
EVERYTHING else around the filter, including the filter itself was clean as a whistle, dry and still had air filter oil on it and the sealing surface where the filter seals against was not muddy or wet at all, just had rim grease on it, as it usually does....so the water didn't get in externally from outside the air box.

It got sucked up through the carby vent hoses that hang out the bottom of the bike(too much water going in at a fast rate), because that's the only other way it could've made its way into my air box, and through my motor then out my exhaust.
The bike did end up starting back up and running in the end, it wasn't hydraulic locked or anything, so I rode it back to the car even if the oil had a bit of water in it, and it wasn't too much water, but was enough to get into my air box.

Ive already done a few oil drains to get all, if not most the water out but i'm just wondering, what's the best way to re-route the carby vent hoses?? I have read the Dave Hopkins Carb Setup 101 method, wondering if there's other methods people use to re-route em? his method still has 1 hose facing below the bike.

It's a KTM 450 EXC 2004 model.
 
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Mihylo33

Mihylo33

more than likely water came in through the airbox and got into the carb. it only takes a couple of drops in the carb to bugger things up. I've submerged bikes up to their airboxes in heavy river water crossings in stock trim without ever having water in the engine either... sounds like you've done all the right things to get it dry :thumb:
 
P

pdee4t

the water wasn't up to the level of the air box though. the entire air box is clean and the air box cover itself is clean-ish. no signs of mud from the water puddle on it.
so it had to of come up through the vent hoses.
how do I re-route them so that no water gets in there at all?
 
Mihylo33

Mihylo33

You'll need to create some kind of snorkel system for that... The vent lines can not be capped or plugged because they are needed for ventilation and overflow of the carb and motor.
 
P

pdee4t

Will that also filter out the water?
Are you able to link me to their website or where I can purchase 1?

Also, would the water that was mixed in with the oil, of caused any corrosion or rust to anything?
It wasn't a lot of water but just concerned if anything might of rusted from the water being in the oil, or because it was in the oil, it would be ok??
 
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pdee4t

Ok cool. What's the difference between that vent/filter system and an inline filter that you bridge between the hoses?

And won't water still get in from the overflow hose?
 
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PALMER84ONE

PALMER84ONE

4 hoses suck, 1 overflow hose does nothing but that. the 4 that suck need to be routed up and over like the photo Rolls posted. As long as those are above the water line you are golden.
 
M

MikeinFresno

if its for the KTm in your sig line, there is an old thread on KTMTALK about how to route the lines, changing some and hooking some together. Worked for my bike.
 
P

pdee4t

on closer inspection, im just wondering if the fuel somehow mixed with the oil, causing the exhaust to blow out white smoke.
reason why i think this is because, after that water puddle, the bike didn't stall. I kept riding for 5 or so minutes until me and my mate stacked on a hill and the bike was on it's side for 5-6 minutes while helping him pick up his bike and roll it back down the hill(his bike has no side stand). When I got back to my bike, fuel was seeping out of the top of the fuel tank, where the cap sits, even though the fuel switch was turned off.
wondering if it would be that the bike was on it's side for a while, so the engine oil went up through the crank breather hose that goes into the carby intake funnel, then mixed it all together and out through the air box via gravity or something along those lines?

the fuel I used was yellow in color, the oil I use is like a light brown color, that's the same color that was in my air box.
the fact that it ran for 5 minutes without any effect probably means it wasn't actually water inside there?
 
P

pdee4t

how long does it typically take for water in the oil to start corroding things, like bearings, etc? I am wondering if I should take the motor apart to inspect because I rode it for a bit like that and left the wattery oil in the motor for awhile(just under 24 hours).
 
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