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riding through deep water. riding through deep water.
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Yamaha Tech Originally the Yamaha XT600 Tech Forum, due to demand it now includes all Yamaha's technical / mechanical / repair / preparation questions.
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  #1  
Old 7 Jul 2003
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riding through deep water.
it seems the only major fault i can find with my xtz 660 is its inability to handle riding through water any more than a few feet deep.i have read somewhere that you should redirect the strange breather pipe linked to the carb,and place it up under the seat. has anyone got any experience with doing this. thanks ...phil.
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  #2  
Old 7 Jul 2003
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Phil

Absolutely right re the breathers, my 4PT was the same before sorting them.

The cheapest route is to pickup a couple (the XT600 carbs have 2 breathers) of plastic tpieces and some airline from an aquarium/pet shop (about 1 pound in the UK), cut the original breathers nice and high up, connect the cut pipes and two new lengths to each side. The 'under the seat' pipes should be situated *UNDERNEATH* the level of the air intake in case of a deep dousing - this ensures that the engine cuts out before sucking in water....

Cheers
Bish
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Old 8 Jul 2003
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You must be careful drenching a hot engine into deep water. Can't say for sure what. But, it can't be good quenching a hot motor in that fashion.

You know its a sketchy crossing when, the only way to make it is to pin it WO and lean back. If its that deep, its close to too deep.

Thanks,
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Old 12 Nov 2003
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ok so ive still not gotten round to sorting out the breathers as im not sure which ones to alter,

as i can see it there are two different types of breather pipes , one large approx 10mm wide with a plastic bubble connected to carby,

the others approx 4mm wide with a t piece splitting the hose up under the seat and down to the frame near the foot pegs, i think this is the one i must alter but im not 100%...any more advice would be great.

thanks phil.
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Old 12 Nov 2003
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I have some questions : what happens when you ride through water? In other words : why do you say the 660 is inable to do it? I've never noticed that on mine.
And I don't understand the trick of the engine staling when the carb breather pipes are touching water. Can you explain this?
Also when riding through water I never open the trottle wide, the trick to ride through water is to adopt a constant speed, then enter the water and keep that same speed. Don't try to accelerate and definitely don't let the speed drop. With w.o. throttle I think it's tricky and you make it difficult for yourself. And you're more likely to suck in water than at lower revs.

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Old 13 Nov 2003
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ok... so this is the problem...

when ever i ride through river crossings ie, taking the bike in deeper than the footpegs, kind of half way up the engine, the bike will stall half way through or just on the other side of the crossing.

the bike sucks water into the carb through the breathers... (splutters maddly then dies , then takes 5 or so minutes to restart, coughing and spluttering and disagreeing at the idea of working)
the water height never goes over the main air intake, and i checked the seal aound the plug.
this has happened several times and is something ive never really experienced before with other bikes,
i am surprised at the depth of the water that causes the bike to stall....ie, not much at all.
i hope this explanation helps...thanks guys..phil.
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Old 13 Nov 2003
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How can it suck water into the breathers? I thought they are meant to let air out of the space above the fuel? And imho there's definitely no vacuum in there that can "suck water in".

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Old 14 Nov 2003
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hmmm....an intersting point fred...
this is an issue i dont know much about,so i appreciate your answer,
im thinking my problem could be the seal around the spark plug,

id like to know if this has happened to any other xtz66o riders....cheers, phil.
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Old 14 Nov 2003
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It can't be the seal around the spark plug unless the plug is loose in the head, which will result in the plug being blown out, taking the thread with it. You would also hear a noise from the head in line with the revs if this were the case.

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Old 14 Nov 2003
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Futronix : could be the seal because I don't have any problems in water, until the air filter gets wet and the engine revs go up automatically because of the water mist being burned as fuel. Look if the seal is the correct position and well in place.
Steve : we mean the rubber seal plug on the spark plug cap that prevents water from entering near the spark plug and cap.

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Old 14 Nov 2003
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All makes sense now......

The water must be quite deep, are you sure that a boat or submarine would not be more suitable.....?

I quite often remove the cap from the lead, smear grease on the lead, then replace the cap, smearing grease on the area where the rubber boot seals the lead to the cap.

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Old 17 Nov 2003
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Re deep wading, its covered in AMH pp 94-97 mentioning Yams in particular. But many bikes (singles?), not just Yams work better with this T-piece mod. I think it is breathing and sucking with the engine pulses, but whatever - it sucks, you stop.
With well-prepped KLRs in the Yukon (Call of the Wild - miraculously re-released on dvd dont you know!) we got quite deep and they never even coughed.
Re: sudden cooling - well we've all done it and I aint cracked an engine yet.

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Old 7 Dec 2006
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Deep water
Just read this thread, I wanted to tell you guys that I ride my XT600 mostly off road, and I go through very deep water on a reguler basis, and I have never had a problem. Not even once! I do agree that there is a bit of a trick to it as stated above. Just ride at a nice constant speed, not to fast or slow. I would love to hear more of your thoughts on this.
Rubber side down guys
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Old 7 Dec 2006
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Newbie?
I have been riding since 1972, I was 4 when I got a honda 50, I just get a kick out of the newbie part!
I know!
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  #15  
Old 30 Dec 2006
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Last summer I drove through rivers in Iceland with my Yamaha XT600E 2001. The problem I had was following: whenever the river was wide and about knee deep, the engine just shuts off when I am about half way the river.

That's realy anoying! The engine wil start again immidiately, but has no power. When I want to drive again, the engine just shuts off again. Somtetimes the choke helps. But not often. At one time I had to push the bike by hand through the second half of the river. Another time when the bike was stalled, I dugged the rear tire into the soil and was really stuck.

As soon as the bike is out of the water, the bike handels als normal. No problems at all. I think it has something todo with the temperature of the water. The rivers are very cold.

I checked the air filter, but everything was dry, no water has entered.

I don't know what the problem exactly is, but it is a problem. Does anyone had the same problem?
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