Need some ideas, what to look at: bike dies in deep water

PROBLEM NOT SOLVED

If you read my thread, my TE 450 has died out 2 years running in a creek/road in New Mexico, I thought it was the gear position sensor, but I just spent 30 minutes in the driveway with the bike running, and a garden hose, getting everything wet that I could think of, and it never died. During the creek run, it would blubber/die and as long it got to dry out a little, I was able to start it and rev it to the next crossing where I tried to slow down or if it was a deep one, the bike would die no matter how slow I would go. I've googled and found some guy and his taillight might have been bad. Of course, it's not my carb vent lines on my EFI 2010 model. I am really stumped on this one and am looking for some fresh thinking.


Some pics of the creek in question, it's not even that deep, it's more like the continuous nature of the water exposure in some parts is what was killing the bike. Also, 50 other bikes went thru here with no problems, some fast some slow, and alot of orange bikes, so I am pretty sure it's not water in the spark plug cap.

I thought maybe there's some water getting inside the airbox and getting on the 3 fuse blocks and the shunted tip sensor that are just laying in the bottom of the airbox, so I water tested the lot, no effect, bike ran fine.

Steam getting into the intake box?

It's almost certainly your carburetor vent hoses. Those FCR carbs will stop flowing fuel into the float bowl if all the vent lines are under water. You need to run two of them up into the airbox to prevent stalling from fuel starvation when in water for more than a few seconds.

I would guess water in the airbox and getting the filter wet. I put some coarse foam in the bottom of my airbox to help slow the water down as it comes in. So far its worked pretty good.

As I was using the garden hose on the bike today, there was virtually no steam from hitting the exhaust and engine with water.

No carb, see post 1.

I have the bottom of my airbox blocked, there was no water in the airbox after my using the garden hose on the underside of the fender, also, at the creek, the bike would die as I inched forward in the deepest water, which was only footpeg deep.

My bad! I was thinking pre-FI. Definitely a head scratcher. I don't have much along the line of suggestions, except maybe to check your electrical grounding.

My 690 is bad for stalling from water in the spark plug gap and connector. If I take it off and give it a blast with air or contact cleaner and reconnect it runs fine. Have you checked your cap for water after the crossing?

If so, the engine/exhaust was probably not fully warmed up (as it would be on a trail ride). Most engine exhausts are hot enough to glow red at night - well beyond boiling water temperature. I'm not saying steam is the culprit tho', although if it were, it could cause a slow progression of air starvation until the engine stalls, then after a while you could restart.
By any chance did you check to see if the air filter was getting damp during the creek ride?

My water temp in the driveway was over 210F, my fan was running, it wasnt that hot on the trail.

I didnt check it on the trail, but based on the driveway test, the airbox was dry.

The thing is, after it died a couple of times, I was forced to try and get it to the end of the creek, so I was just crawling thru the deep parts without making any splashing at all and it was still dying. The bike must've died and restarted about 30 times, many of those with no water splashing above the skidplate.

I had an 05 TE450 and this exact thing happened to me. I was on a dual sport ride in PA. Ran through a few consecutive shallow puddles. It died in the 2nd one if i remember correctly. Got it to turn over and had to keep it revved to stay running. Hit the 3rd puddle and it stalled again. Buddies got it started by turning the idle screw so it was idling really fast. Rode it rest of way that day. Got back to camp, turned idle down and everything was fine. After checking a thread here it seemed that water collected at base of spark plug, possibly because the minute drain hole in the cylinder was plugged. We think the high idle heated things up enough to evaporate the water. I cleaned out the hole when i got home with a pick, wire and air. Never had the problem again. Evidently, the small hole leads from the plug area to the side of the cylinder. Its purpose is to drain water. Give it a shot, might be worth a try before chasing electrical gremlins.

I'm trying to think outside the box here. When it was dying with water just touching the skid plate, was everything still soaked. Crazy thinking here but is there any way that electrical could be shorting out when the bike is in the water. I know electricity can do some weird stuff and I'm not an electrician, but it's very weird that you couldn't recreate the problem with the hose. Also what about the rag at the bottom of the air box for the oil. Could the bike possibly be ingesting water?

Similar issue on my 06. But it would only happen if I hit a puddle fast enough to cause spray. It stumble a bit, lose power, almost die out, then fine within a few seconds. Weird thing is, I can go through water three times as deep (almost touching the bottom of the seat) as long as I do it slowly & the engine doesn't even hickup. But hit a 3 inch deep puddle at speed I worry about it dieing. Same engine reaction as running out of gas.

Forgot to describe the car wash after the 3 day ride, sprayed mostly under fender, swingarm , front forks, gear position sensor area on purpose. Bike started right after washing, for 3 seconds, then died, ran the battery flat trying to start it, unlike the creekbed, which it started within a few minutes every time it dies. At the wash, I let it sit in the sun and turned it around after 15 mintes to try and dry the other side, it finally started on the kicker after something dried out. The car wash involved very little water but of course, pressure was introduced. Just wish I could find the specific thing that is shorting out.

There was never any water in this are during the creek run, especially when I was crawling slowly through the deeper water.

The bike died a couple of times in skidplate deep water, and I would sit there for a minute or 2 and it would actually start while IN the deep water.

I was thinking mine would do alright as well if I just went slowly enough, and I almost burned my clutch out, trying to go slowly enough and not get stuck in the wet sand/gravel.

I'll put some water on the stator this morning, see what happens, if the creek water got in, the hose water should be able to get in.

Here's a video with some of the creek at the beginning, then it moves to other parts of the ride, then the guy wrecks and that's where the video ends.

Here's a hose water test on the spark plug, and the stator and the gear position sensor. In my mind, these 3 items can be crossed of the list as well as the 3 fuse blocks under the seat.

Does your condensor hang from the throttle body like the 310? Could it be getting wet and momentarily shorting...

I don't think so