how to get water out of engine

NovaKaw650 · 07-23-2009, 04:30 PM

Here's a tip that may be helpful, although I've never had to try it:
After tearing several of these engines apart, I was amazed at how many nooks, cranies, and hollows there are in the engine castings. I've drained engines completely of oil, pulled the cylinders off and flipped the engine upside-down and ended up with another 1/2 quart of oil on the floor, including the oil that was laying on the top of the heads. I can only guess that these same hollows would hold water (being heavier than oil) even worse than oil.

If my Prairie drowned, I would drain all the oil out, remove the oil filter, hook my engine hoist to the rear rack and stand it on end, hook to the front rack and stand it up on end again, and then see how much more water and oil dumps out. My guess is that it would be substantial. I would then refill and and run it for a couple minutes and then do the procedure again. It should greatly reduce the amount of times that you will need to change the oil, and reduce the chances of circulating water through the engine.
Please post it up if anyone tries this; I'd like to know how you make out.

**asnowmobiler** · 07-23-2009, 04:51 PM

I hear that Sea-Foam works very well at getting the moisture out of then engine.

**BigKev** · 07-23-2009, 05:08 PM

seafoam works good, and if you are in a spot, clean kerosene will work pretty good too.

NovaKaw650 · 07-23-2009, 05:21 PM

My point is that if the water is in all these hollow spots, and is heavier than kerosene, then the water is going to stay stuck in these spots. Even Seafoam at it's best can only bind with water; it will still be heavier than oil and tend to stay trapped in all the hollows.
That's why you hear about people changing the oil 8-10 times and still finding water. Or worse, they change the oil 2-3 times and it looks clear, they go for a hard ride, hit lots of bumps and off-cambers, and end up with a load of water in the oil again. Good-by crank and rod bearings.
A good example is when you change the oil and filter; it takes 2 quarts of oil to refill. When I refilled the first engine I ever completely tore down (and drained every last drop of oil out of it) it took between 2.5 and 3 quarts to get it halfway up to the "full" mark. That's a lot of capacity for water to hide in. For the little effort it would take, I would try it my way to see what would happen.

canadien4x4 · 07-23-2009, 11:03 PM

I agree with what you say... this is a good idea

NovaKaw650 · 07-24-2009, 01:42 AM

The best view of how the water would be trapped is to look at how much oil lays on top of the heads when you take off the rocker covers to change cams. Now if you drown the engine and water fills those same cavities on top of the heads, the water is trapped there. Even after you change the oil and start the engine, because the water is heavier, the oil will flow right across the top of the water leaving most of the water still stuck there. If you can tip the machine up on end, the water will dump out of these spots and make it's way to the bottom of the crankcase, where it can flow out through the drain hole.

**vtprairie03** · 07-24-2009, 11:07 AM

we had a prairie that my buddy drowned in a flash flood that we took it and stood it on its end and had the pipes off of it... we drained all the oil out of it and all the fluids and took the rocker covers off both heads and filled the entire bike completely full of kerosene and let it sit for 2 days..... after that we drained it and filled it back up and it fired up.... he never had a problem with it after that... and this bike was upside down floating away from us for 30 minutes... he had to swim out and get it in flood water...
the worst part of the whole thing was the amount of mud and water that was caked inside the exhaust canister.... it never came clean....

but after having a bottom end apart and i can see where you are saying everything can hide.... it would be hard with anything you used to get to all of it... id say if you flood it and think you have it cleaned out that your still just riding on borrowed time.

hamill08 · 07-25-2009, 09:54 AM

I just went through this after my son flooded my prairie 360 4x4 in a creek. the only cure is for you to put in the time to clean it out. I had mine torn down, dried and reassembled in a week of after work. It requires multiple oil changes and then run diesel fuel through the system and change the oil twice after that. I also stood it on both ends to get the water out of the nooks and crannies before tear down and there was still a lot in there when I tore down.

coupedehille · 07-30-2009, 01:03 PM

Yes, yes, this is a very good tip. The last time I had water in the oil I only had to run 1 qt of oil through the motor to get the water/milkshake out because I stood it on end back and forth and ran it like NovaKaw650 explained. (I did leave it draining overnight too though.) The best thing to do of course (if possible) is to not even turn the motor over if you suspect it has water in it. That will at least prevent having to remove the cooler.

I have discovered an excellent modification to eliminate water in the oil altogether. You simply extend the crank case breather hose inside the air box and make at least one full vertical loop so it will create an air bubble that the water cannot pass by, unless of course you leave it submerged for an extended period. I have tested this little handy dandy mod several times on 2 Foremans, a Prairie, and a Big Bear and it works! The last time I swamped my bike I had it full throttle and the snorkel went under, had to pull the spark plug to get it to even turn over. You couldn't pump more water into the motor with a garden hose! And guess what? No water whatsoever in the oil! I was about 6 miles from camp and fresh oil too.

I just posted pics of how I did this mod on my girl's new Big Bear while I was running the snorkel. It's standard procedure to do both at the same time now.

Hope this helps someone and saves you some time and $$$!