Drain the carb to get water out of the float bowl and see if that might be the problem - if the carb was below water and it does not have the vent and drain hoses in place or not routed correctly, then water may have entered the float bowl.

 

I would also confirm that there is no water in your oil that came in through the exhaust. Your exhaust pipe could also be plugged up with muck and water.

 

Water is not likely to get into the oil through the exhaust - as long as engine rpm is kept sufficiently high to prevent water from plugging the exhaust and high back pressure killing the engine, water will be kept out of the exhaust system - water usually gets into the oil from improper engine venting or a swamped air box.

 

I was more thinking if the exhaust was submerged and the engine died. Then just because there is no water in the air box doesn’t necessarily mean that water didn’t get into the engine.

 

I think if I sunk one, I'd take EVERYTHING apart to clean, flush, clear ALL the junk out before even trying to run it at all... But that's just me.

 

^^ that has my vote as well, and I’ve had to do it before when one of my dirt bikes was stolen and dumped in a creek.

 

Water can get into the fuel tank through it’s breather vent tube if it was under water, drain the float bowl as stated earlier, maybe drain the fuel and get some new stuff in there.

 

Correction to the information below - I was looking more closely at the engine after I removed all the body panels/plastics. The tube that I thought was a transmission vent actually appears to connect to the lower part of the crank case. The top end is in a notch under the gas tank. It is very close to the air intake for the belt cover. Either way, it was still submerged in muck. The oil on the dipstick looks clean and uncontaminated though. Will do an oil change anyway. Still plan on draining the transmission and replacing fluids. What is the purpose of this vent that goes to the lower crankcase? What is the point of having a sealed engine system if there is a large vent tube that goes directly into it?


**** Transmission vent? If I'm looking at the machine correctly, there appears to be about a 1 1/4 inch tube that is under the seat on the left side and appears to be connected to the transmission. This tube was definitely below the water line and had muck drawn into it. Pulling out the dip stick, the gear fluid looks grayish. What is the best way to flush out the transmission? I'm leaning towards draining it, refilling it with gear lube and maybe throwing in a splash of sea foam. Run it for a few blocks, then repeat the process. Any better ideas?

 

Transmission vent? If I'm looking at the machine correctly, there appears to be about a 1 1/4 inch tube that is under the seat on the left side and appears to be connected to the transmission. This tube was definitely below the water line and had muck drawn into it. Pulling out the dip stick, the gear fluid looks grayish. What is the best way to flush out the transmission? I'm leaning towards draining it, refilling it with gear lube and maybe throwing in a splash of sea foam. Run it for a few blocks, then repeat the process. Any better ideas?

If its been sitting for 22 days since you started this thread with water inside the tranny and/or motor... Good luck!

 

Everything is vented so that you can go in water to a certain depth. So your gas tank, transmission, front and rear “diffs” all have vent tubes. To be on the safe side, replace all fluids as stated in post #7.