Get water out of my petrol

[catmandoes]

I retuned home from the ride today in good spirits, feeling really tooper. As is the routine I decided to wash the quad immeadiately before i put it away, I dont have a high pressure washer, but i do have a fairy high pressure hosepipe wiht nozzle. I gave it a very good wash and then started it to reverse it into the garage.....

Misfire city !!!!!! As its a single cylinder, misfires are very obviouse. I ran the engine on idle for a while deciding to see if the water will just go through. Although it no longer missfires on Idles now , as soon as you bip the throttle you get a strong smell of petrol and a lot of missfiring.

I have decided to leave it for a while to dry out. Any anyway i really needed a cup of tea.

Has anyone had this happen to them before ? Im hoping that this problem will just go away (not likley !) but i have a seeking suspicisons im going to have to start stripping the bike down this week (very Likley) !!!

[RED PRED]

Its very unlikely to be water if your petrol, more like water in your electrics somewhere, if the spark is not consistent it will not ignite the fuel/air mixture properly and you will have unburnt fuel going straight through the engine, you could try spraying WD 40 on the electrics as a first measure to try and dispel the moisture, if that fails then have a look at your spark plug cap and lead, if this fails then more investigation is required .
Good luck

[NJK]

Yep I would agree with Red.

[RED PRED]

Thanks Nige:) I would start at the spark plug, remove it and clean/check gap then check the plug cap for damp, work back to the coil checking cable, from there onwards its guesswork, just spray WD40 on wires/cables and wipe and clean with a dry cloth, if that does not work then you need to get your Sherlock Holmes hat on .

[catmandoes]

Im kind of hoping when i try it tonight whatever was causing the problem will have dried up !! I really dont want to have to take the plug out, on the scrambler you have to take everything off the bike to get at it. :mad:

Ill let you know how it goes.

[RED PRED]

You could always get your hairdryer out and give it a blow dry :D, dont laugh, it has been known to work .

[pottsy]

try the air filter i have the same with my banshee its always a wet air filter every time

[RED PRED]

Good idea the air filter, although yesterdays ride was quite dry so I would not expect much water in there from yesterday, definitely worth a check for water from previous rides .

[catmandoes]

Went home for lunch today and fired the bike up.

No problems at all , didnt skip a beat. Whatever it was must have dried out.
Makes me wonder though just how water proof my bike is and how i can improve it. I feel another thread coming on.

Cheers for the suggestions.

Danny.

[RED PRED]

Just spray WD40 on all your cables and wiring before riding and washing, it works very well, just dont accidently get it on your brake discs:eek:cover them up when spraying

[yellow peril]

Last year when I did the John O'Groates to Lands End trip, I had got to Scotland and about to go through the Highlands when I topped up with fuel in an open air petrol station (no cover/shelter over pumps) while it was raining lightly, paid for petrol and got on my way through the Highlands and my quad started to back fire, next thing I knew the bike stopped so I pulled over (cursing some what) tried starting it and it wouldn't start so drained the float chamber of fuel and tried it again, it started up and away I went on my way thank god, all it takes is one small bit of water in the tank, if it hadn't worked I could of been rather stuck as it was getting dark and I was out in the middle of know where.

[RED PRED]

Good thinking there dave, it pays to carry some tools for these small jobs