Flooded Spyder

[Pilo]

I ride a 2009 SE5, with Hindle exhaust, KewlMetal intake, and some other mods. Went to a motorbike event this past week-end, some 350 Km. away from home. During the nights, my Spyder was parked uncovered in the hotel parking-lot, next to the main building.

One night a huge downpour that lasted several hours hit the city. The weather was so severe that the big rain drops triggered the vibration sensors in my Scorpio SR-i800 alarm. Worried about draining the battery, I switched the alarm off.

The next morning the Spyder could not be started, and the battery was dead very soon afterwards. No amount of time on a "Battery Tender" could revive it. Loaded the Spyder on a truck and carried it back home.

My trusted mechanic (a biker also) removed the dead battery, and put it on a slow charger. In the meantime he checked the SE5 electrics and determined that everything was OK.

Removed the spark-plugs and sure enough there was a spark on each..., but they were wet...

When he started cranking the motor (w/o spark-plugs) with another battery, the engine started spitting water out of the cylinders thru the plugs' holes...

He continued with the cranking until it stopped spitting water, then he checked the oil and it was not contaminated.

He re-installed the spark plugs and soon afterwards the Spyder was in working order. Once the battery was re-charged I test rode the SE5 around town without noticing anything out of the ordinary. Still riding it today, and nothing bad to report...

It seems that the rain-water seeped around the "Y" shaped Tupperware edges / joints, down to the cover of the KewlMetal intake, soaking and drenching the foam filter, and finally trickling inside and down to the throttle body and into the cylinders.

Anybody had this same near death experience...?

[JCSMOKE]

Wow, and I just ordered that, all that plastic is starting to look sexy again.

[Pilo]

Wow, and I just ordered that, all that plastic is starting to look sexy again.

You mean the humongous OEM plastic air-box...?

[Chupaca]

never happened to me but in my years working shops around the Americas have run across quite a few. The repeated ones were the Batman show bikes at Magic Mountain CA. Seems if they missed the turn the ended up in the pond. As long as they were cleaned up quickly things were fine but many times they told me days later because they had extra bikes. Then I had to do top end job..cast sleeves tend to rust fast and rings tend to dislike rust...glad things worked out for you with no more than a dead battery...!!

[bertmc]

No water in the cylinders, but we did ride through a flooded area on US 24 in MO last week. The water was only about 6 inches deep and there was a MODOT crew there monitoring traffic. They told us a Harley had just gone through, so we couldn't let that go unchallenged!

[DragonLorD]

filter won't let water in if oiled properly unless is forced thorough but for future reference maybe a half cover helps

[boborgera]

I don't see how water can get in the cylinders with the engine off, When i would cross a deep water hole and sink my ATV/ Snowmobiles if i shut the engine off before sinking it only the mufflers would take on water, And it would blow it out when you started it up again.... But then anything is possible i guess.....

[NancysToy]

I don't see how water can get in the cylinders with the engine off, When i would cross a deep water hole and sink my ATV/ Snowmobiles if i shut the engine off before sinking it only the mufflers would take on water, And it would blow it out when you started it up again.... But then anything is possible i guess.....

If you flood the intake manifold, water will be sucked into the cylinders as soon as you crank the engine.

[Pilo]

filter won't let water in if oiled properly unless is forced thorough but for future reference maybe a half cover helps

K&N filter was oiled properly, during preparations for the trip.
I guess that if not thru the foam filter, then the rain-water seeped thru the hole in the KewlMetal intake cover (top), where a bolt secures the cover (and the K&N filter) with the body of the intake.
I also guess that when I switched off the engine that night, the intake valves were left in the open position. But I don't know how the rain-water went thru the injectors; I am not familiar with their innards and operation.

[oldgoat]

. But I don't know how the rain-water went thru the injectors; I am not familiar with their innards and operation.

It would not have gone into the injectors, just the intake tract. I believe the injectors are a push fit into the intake manifold & water can't get in that way.

[WackyDan]

I have the same intake on my GS. I've left the spyder out in torrential rain while traveling numerous times and never had this issue. I've ridden in torrential rain, and again, no issue.

I do have a prefilter foam sleeve over my intake which collects most of the dirt... and that is oiled too. This is the first I've ever heard of anyone with this intake having this specific issue.

That said... I have found that the K&N filter that comes with the intake somewhat finicky when you tighten the top cover down onto it. It does not fit properly and either the upper or lower part of the rubber rings can be out of line and not in the seating grooves of the intake. I use a right angle pick to pull it into alignment and all is well.

The only thing I can think is that your filter was out of the slot it is supposed to sit in... and that let the water in. Look the filter over a full 360 degrees as it sits in the intake and you will see quite readily if it isn't seated properly.

[boborgera]

If you flood the intake manifold, water will be sucked into the cylinders as soon as you crank the engine.

Only if the water gets past the T/B, And with the engine off highly unlikely.

I've run snowmobiles and a few ATV's over open water, Shut the engine off before it sinks, No water in the cylinders, Leave the engine running and your likely to get hydrolock...

[NancysToy]

If the wind blow hard enough, the rain will get in...sometimes even into an airbox. Don't ask me how I know. A well-oiled filter will shed some water, especially mist, but large quantities of water will run through it quite readily. When you wash your filter, the water isn't repelled. This situation sounds like a good reason to cover the Spyder when parked...maybe even with a full cover.

[Bob Ledford]

You are so lucky you had a mechanic that didn't just dry it off and crank it or try to crank it up. You could experienced what is known as hydrostatic lock up. An be looking at replacing connecting rods and other a sundry parts.

[Pilo]

You are so lucky you had a mechanic that didn't just dry it off and crank it or try to crank it up. You could experienced what is known as hydrostatic lock up. An be looking at replacing connecting rods and other a sundry parts.

Bob, please enlighten me...
What is hydrostatic lock up...? Why rods and other sundry parts could have been damaged by hydrostatic lock up...?
I am guessing that the water inside the cylinders cannot be compressed, as opposed to the gasoline-air mixture...

[Rotaxer]

Correct!