250-500cc 2012 WR300 no compression after crash into 3 feet of muddy water

[apariah]

I did my first race Sunday and had a blast. Today I went in a trip to get ready for next month's race and dumped the bike in about 3 feet of muddy water. I had no clue it was that deep.

When I first got the bike out it would not budge the kick starter. After pushing the bike for a bit it finally did move but after a few kicks it felt like it had no compression.

I changed the plug same thing, just drained the oil and it looked good. Still no compression. I'm in OKC until Friday and so I won't be able to really look at it until Saturday.

Did I mess up big time, or could this be something like rings. I don't see a hole anywhere, but I know very little about two strokes?

 

[Dirtdame]

Your transmission oil has nothing to do with the crankase and cylinder on your machine, so clean transmission oil isn't a sure indicator. You had better pull the top end and inspect. You should never try to restart a bike after a dunking. Always remove the sparkplug and kick the engine over until no more water comes out....even if you have to stand the bike on its handlebars to be sure. Water doesn't compress at all, causes hydrolock and can actually damage the head and the crankshaft.

 

[apariah]

I wondered about that, but a friend suggeted I drain the oil, but maybe he was think of a 4 stroke.

I won't be able to remove the head until tomorrow. Is that likely to be soon enough to save as much as possible be for rust sets in?

Your transmission oil has nothing to do with the crankase and cylinder on your machine, so clean transmission oil isn't a sure indicator. You had better pull the top end and inspect. You should never try to restart a bike after a dunking. Always remove the sparkplug and kick the engine over until no more water comes out....even if you have to stand the bike on its handlebars to be sure. Water doesn't compress at all, causes hydrolock and can actually damage the head and the crankshaft.

 

[2premo]

takeout the plus and use a "water dispersant" the most common one is WD40
spray the inside and slowly cycle the engine, that will buy time

 

[ruwfo]

Ok, don't panic.... Take the seat & tank off, at very minimum, i'd take carb & pipe off too,
then turn the bike over on it's handle bars, as dirtdame mentioned with the spark plug out.

1) kick/turn the bike over, to get as much water as possible out, let it set upside down for a 1/2 hour or more til
it stops draining. May take a couple hours, don't be in a rush, water will follow the path of least resistance,
meaning out the plug hole.
2) When it's done dripping, pull it right side up, and drain the oil & have a friend kick it over as you look in the exhaust port with a flash light, see how much extra water is pumped out as you kick it. The tranny is sealed from the top end via your crank seals, so your tranny should be ok.
3) spraying in wd40, will slow down the forming of rust, but i'd bet the piston already has a coating of rust on it, cause it's NOT coated with any finish. What i would do is buy a bunch of automotive wire connector cleaner (contact cleaner) in a spray can, it's made to clean & not leave a crap residue on what it's sprayed on. Test it 1st on something, to see it really does what it's suppose to (doesn't leave a greasy/oil residue). Spray it
in the exhaust & intake ports, kick the bike over a bunch more. Let it sit & few mins, then see if the piston is
completely dry.
And i mean completely****************************************

Now this is the true judgement call, if it was my bike i'd flip it back on it's bars, just to play it safe & all the water is gone, i'd probably spray more contact cleaner in there too now too.

4) When you think it's all dry out, back on it's wheels, it goes, take the carb apart, spraying the contact
cleaner as you go. Pull the wiring harness connectors apart, spraying them with contact cleaner, and then regrease the contacts with electrical grease/lube. Do the same to the spark cap & wire, coil leads, & kill switch etc.
5) put a small amount of pre mix gas , in the plug hole, kick the bike over, the gas will the lube the piston/rings.
if you pour in too much gas just let it sit for a few minute, it will dry it self out partly.
6) Ok clean the air filter, spray the inside on the pipe with contact cleaner too, when your happy everything clean & dry, re-assembly every thing. New plug, fresh pre-mix, new tranny oil & she should fire right up.

Good Luck

Husky John

 

[apariah]

It was pretty bad. In addition to this, there was mud in the exhaust as well. I did basically what Husky John mentioned after getting the piston out. I flushed it with pre mix until dirt stopped coming out. And then filled it with two stroke oil so it doesnt rust until the piston get here. The carb also had water in it as well. Theres chance this thing was going to restart.

I saw side to side play on the road, but nothing up and down. It also looks like the crank isn't bent.
.
I also cleaned the reeds. Mud was absolutely everywhere. Once the new piston comes in I will give ressembly ago.

 

[ruwfo]

It is amazing how much water got into everything.

When the new piston is installed, raised the cylinder evenly off it's mount & kick it over, looking at the rod as it turns over,
this will sort of check that the rod is ok and not bent. I've seen a piston that turned itself in the cylinder , from hydrolock.


good luck

 

[Hurky]

The crank is full of water with mud in it, so lot's of abrasives, I the water is there for some time rust will start to form on the crank bearing and rod needle bearing surfaces, it is important to remove any moisture ASAP and put some lubricant to avoid any corrosion... At this point, knowing that it was submerged for a few days already (if I got that right) I would probably prefer to take the bottom end apart to inspect everything and change bearings ...

Well, maybe you can wash the bottom end real good to remove all the dirt but it will be not easy to get all of it out. After that run the crank by hand and feel any roughness or noises ... if you have any of that, your bearings are shot.

Good luck.

 

[Hurky]

I drowned my Husky one time crossing a river, it was not very deep, but the stones in it were very slippery and I got sideways, pulled up the bike one second later but water already got into the intake.

I pushed the bike to the other side of the river and moved the kick starter slowly with my hand and noticed it was getting hard so water was in the cylinder, we proceeded to remove the sparkplug and with the help of my friends we turned the bike over and a lot of water came out of the spark plug hole and also the exhaust, we moved the piston by hand with the kick starter to get it all out, cleaned the sparkplug and installed it again. Then I tried kicking it, normal compression, but it would not start that easy and we needed to push it in second gear to get it starting. Bike run strange at first, because that water dispersed the oil and the piston was kind of running dry, not good at all, I would probably not repeat it like that and maybe put some oil down the sparkplug hole first, but we were like 100km out at the bushes and it was getting late, so priority was to get away rather than preserve the mechanic. The bike run great after it got warm and we had no issues...

Cheers !