[Jssrvlz]

Hi guys, I'm riding a 2018 Kodiak 700. I've put right at 300 hours on it, and is been a Flawless machine. Yesterday while on a ride it was hot so we stopped at a creek to cool off and I parked in the water.

It was about ankle high, and I parked with the rear of the machine facing the flow of water.

Now the problem I'm having is, when I proceeded to pull out of the creek, I started my machine and it quickly died within seconds, I started it again and it died quickly. I tried to start it multiple times, and nothing but sputter.

Once we were at the vehicles, I noticed a lot of water spraying out of the CVT intake when I would attempt to crank. I was possibly up to my ankles in water and no more. After we drove back to knoxville, i started it and it ran for about 20 seconds which gave me false hope.

This morning I checked my oil, and there was water in it.

Today I got a new spark plug, I drain the old oil, and put some fresh oil in, and still just a 3 second idle and it dies.

My thought is becoming that possibly water ran into the vent tube of the CVT housing, and as to water in the oil, I'm not so sure about that. And why wont it start?

Does anyone possibly know what is wrong with my machine, which runs amazing all the time?

Thank you guys very much

 

[TRW]

OK, so the bottom line is that you got water into the oil, you need to know how much, if you filled it up, your likely did serious damage. The water alone may have done major damage, as cold water in a hot crank case is usually a disaster. I hate to tell you this but this does not look good. What I don't understand is how such shallow water got in, your explanation was not clear to me. You might check to see if you have water in the fuel, that would cause it to run like you describe. Good luck.

 

[Vincent]

This is very weird one. I 've regularly driven my bike threw 30+inches of water with no contamination and zero issues. I don't understand how ankle deep water can possibly cause this bizarre combination of issues.

At the very least, try fresh gas with some seafoam, new spark plug, fresh oil and filter (may need to repeat this step multiple times), also remove the cvt drain as to drain any residual water from system.

 

[Jssrvlz]

It was definetly not filled up with water. I went by the dealership to ask about this. Unfortunatly my warranty is expired.

He told me that there are vent tubes coming out the rear of the machine. And the possibility of the water being pushed into the vent tubes because of the direction it was parked.

The machine was not overheating, only a hot day.

When I noticed water coming from the cvt exhaust (i believe that is what it is called) i quickly took off the boot, and turning it over, there was alot of water flying from it...maybe 20 ounces at least.

I will drain the fuel soon and replace it. It really doent seem like water in the fuel, but ya never know for sure.

I checked the oil while still sitting in the creek. And it was a bit low, so I added some oil to make sure that was not causing the issue. And turned it over more to get the water out of the cvt.

We finally gave up after a few 5 second idles and pushed it onto the trailer and drove home 50 minutes interstate. I cranked it when we got back, and it ran about 20 seconds, and I seriously thought it was good again. The next morning is when i checked the oil again and it was cloudy looking...

Im so aggravated, i appreciate the input you guys! I ride like 2 times a week...and this is just rediculous.

Lesson for all. Dont park in a creek with the flow of water coming towards the rear of the machine.

Im about to dig into it this evening, possibly a different vent tube has water in it. Not allowing for air flow

 

[TRW]

Milky oil is a sign of water in the oil. Change the oil again, and hope the new fuel gets it running. Check your coolant to see if the is low, if it is, you may have a cracked engine block or component. Cold water on a operating temp engine is bad.

Like Vincent says, "This is very weird one."

 

[KodiakAfishyo]

Might have something in the electrical system that got wet also that needs drying out or replaced. I would be very interested in knowing what ends up being the issue. I drive across a river with a fairly good current on my property all the time with never a issue and the water is always at least knee deep, 4-6 inches above the foot rests. I usually kneel on the seat to keep my feet dry. So much deeper than you have described and never any water inside anything, and been doing this for years with 2 different Yamaha’s and Honda’s. Makes me wonder if something broke allowing the water in.

 

[KodiakAfishyo]

And one more thing..... I have even stopped and parked in the middle of the river pulling a trailer full of rocks to empty the rocks into my crossing from time to time to keep the crossing good and solid. Just saying what happened to you is way out of the normal.

 

[TRW]

I was under my Kodiak today and there is a vent underneath the main part of the engine, I assume that is just to keep pressure even inside the crank case. Am I correct? It does nave a small black breather tube that goes no where, but I cant be sure it did not come off on one end, it is connected about the center on the right side on the bottom of the engine.

 

[Vincent]

I was under my Kodiak today and there is a vent underneath the main part of the engine, I assume that is just to keep pressure even inside the crank case. Am I correct? It does nave a small black breather tube that goes no where, but I cant be sure it did not come off on one end, it is connected about the center on the right side on the bottom of the engine.

What year is your?
All 558 and 686s have that tube leading to no where.
It's actually leads to your water pump bearing area.
Here's my stator cover off an you can see the nipple that the tube is connected to.

 

[Vincent]

....

 

[Vincent]

......

 

[TRW]

It is a 2018 Kodiak with the 708. I only asked about this as I thought it might be an access point for water to get in if it was under a vacuum.

 

[Vincent]

It is a 2018 Kodiak with the 708. I only asked about this as I thought it might be an access point for water to get in if it was under a vacuum.

I "believe" it's an indicator if the water pump / oil pump seal fails. Under "normal" circumstances it will not let contaminate in, if a seal has been compromised it will leak some fluids on the ground. Again I'm not 100% about all this, but looking over at my stator cover when it was removed it "seemed" like that mite be the function of it.

 

[TRW]

Interesting, I will casually observe it in the future. My nature was to ad a foot of tubing onto it and loop it up to be sure water did not get into it.

 

[Colorado Kodiak 700]

Don't underestimate the Yamaha engineers. They put a lot of time in to cover all the possible issues, or as many as possible. The only thing on these things that might need attention for normal riding is the air filter coupling.

 

[Jssrvlz]

Update.

I feel that the oil was possibly just grey or dirty and possibly just had a touch of moisture in it at worst. I change the oil, and it seems to look nice and pretty.

As far as water getting in the CVT housing, I'm still not completely sure about that. Maybe a vent tube allowed water into the CVT, or possibly the hose clamp on the boot wasn't tight enough. Either way it is dry now and seems to be running just fine.

The main problem seemed to be, the gas tank was full of water. I'm not sure if it's because the gas tank had a negative pressure in it, which allowed water to be sucked up through the vent tube in the rear, but that's what I'm thinking.

So by siphoning the gas out of the tank, unhooking the gas line from the fuel rail I'm seeing a bunch of white, refilling it multiple times, adding heet iso cleaner, draining it more, taking the injector out and cleaning it, I have finally got it running pretty dang good.

Unless there are some residual problems because of this, I believe it is close to fixed for now. This last time I ran it it didn't try to die one time. I'm so thankful currently

The lesson I learned is do not park your machine in a creek after you've ran it for hours, cuz some vent tube just met suck water right up through it

 

[Jssrvlz]

And today I did an oil change, and a rear diff, front diff oil change as well

 

[TRW]

Like Vincent says, "This is very weird one."

We really need to get to the bottom of this! I am so glad for you, and good job following through and getting this solved.

 

[KodiakAfishyo]

That's great that you were able to figure it out and especially being a cheap fix & nothing major.

 

[Jssrvlz]

Im going on a bit of a ride tomorrow. Ill for sure learn about anymore issues. I just wished I knew about the possibility of water being sucked into my tank.

Thank all you for your great ideas