Getting water out of transmission

J

JWJR

New member
Last weekend a buddy took his RTV 900 through a pond that was a bit deeper than we though. when we got it out of the pond the engine was locked up with water and the tranny had a fair bit in it to. we got the engine cleaned out and running but havent done anything with the tranny yet. whats the best way to get all the water out of the tranny? we were thinking about just running cheap hydralic fluid though it for a bit long enough to warm it up and then dump the hydro fluid out and repalce it with Super UDT. will hydro fluid tear the tranny up or is there a better way to get the water out?

Also is there a way to snorkle the tranny and fuel tank breather so we dont get water in them again?
 
Dang, for your first post you got a tough problem for sure. I simply do not know the best way to get it out of there. I like your idea though, seems reasonable but I've never tried it so try at your own risk.
What bothers me is if the water has been sitting in there for a spell, the damage might already be done. Whatever you are going to try, I'd try it sooner rather than later.
 
Every once in a while ( every spring ) I crack the drain plugs on the trany's and differentials and drain the water and milky fluid out of the sumps. The water is heavier so it settles with time. The milky stuff (emulsion) doesn't always separate so that goes also. Not all fluids are compatable, so before you dump anything else in, you better know it will mix or you could end up with a gummy, costly mess. I would probably just drain it, change the filter and refill with the super udt
 
ok ill skip on the running hydro fluid through it and go straight to the super udt. now what is a good way to snorkel the breather on the tranny and the fuel tank?
 
When I got out of the Army in '71 my younger brother and my Dad had gotten into riding trail bikes. I started doing a lot of trail riding with them and their buddies. My Dad and Brother loved to go slopping through the muddy creek bottoms and such.

Quite a few times, they or their buddies would end up with a submerged motorcycle. Each time they would get it out, pull the spark plug, turn it over to empty the cylinder, drain and refill the oil, start it and get it to operating temperature, then drain and fill the oil again and it was good to go. The same oil was used for engine and gearbox in the case of 4 cycles and gearbox only in the case of 2 cycles.

What I would recommend would be to get it to operating temperature and drain the gearcase and let it drain for a long time, overnight if possible. Then refill with proper oil, and if after that there is any milky look to it at all, get it hot again and drain it again. Using solvents really doesn't do much to remove water and it could possibly damage seals.

Also do another hot engine oil change pretty soon to make sure the crankcase is cleaned out properly.

My $0.02,
 
I was with a owner that run his in to deep water BEFORE he fixed his. We like to have not made it back to the barn. He was running Tracks on this unit. Anyway, they drained it and replaced it . Run it a some, and drained it again, !!!! Done this several times changing the fluid ( Super UDT ) and filters !!!! . He then fixed where the water came into the machine. Vented it up and have not had any troubles out of it since. If I go his way soon, I will take some pictures of this tranny venting on his machine. He also runs High Rise Intakes on all three of his RTV's.

....... two guns
 

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ill see what its like after a single change. we did it Sunday and will be out there in the morning to change the fluid. the rtv has only been used long enough to high idle long enough to get the engine to running good again and then back it into the garage so hopefully no damage has been done to the tranny. and i will take a look while i wait for the oil to drain and see what i can think of to snorkel the tranny...can be much harder than a foreman.
 
One of my local dealers told me about a similar problem.

The wife got the RTV stuck in a creek, got it back out, and never told her husband. When the transmission started to act up weeks later he took it to the dealer who then informed him that the trans was half filled with water. (The wife fessed up...) The dealer ran 2 fluid and filter changes back to back and everything turned out fine. It sounded like this was a prescription method from Kubota. I think I'd use regular UDT for the flushes and SUDT for the final fill.

That reminds me - the dealer told me that Kubota is bringing out an Ultra UDT very soon. I wonder what that will cost? Maybe it will be a 500 hour fluid...
 
Ya might wanna change the power steering fluid, too. And maybe the front knuckles. We sucked a bunch of water into the steering on one of our units after it got stuck once.
 
we changed the oil, trans fluid, and drained the fuel tanks. we got most of the water out the trans with one flush still a bit in there so i think he is going going to get more UDT and ill change the fluid again and see where it goes from there.
 
I think this would be a good point at which to point out that with ANY hydraulic system NEVER use a solvent for flushing while the pump is turning. Flush only with the correct fluid for the system. Flushing with solvent may sound like a good idea, but it will offer no lubrication for moving components and can do MAJOR damage.

You would think that this would go without saying, but plenty of people flush their power steering systems with solvent and learn this the hard way.

My $0.02,
 
I know this is old but we ended up getting the water out. changed the fluid and filters while the trans was cold. then we ran it around for a few days and then drained and change filters while the tranny was hot and now the fluid looks good. so has anyone figured out a way to snorkel the breather? i was thinking about using 2.5 inch shop vac hose but i think it may be to big.
 
Thanks for the update. Always good to know how it turned out. Sounds like the way you took care of it no harm at all was done to the tranny. :thumb: :clap: :clap:

Plumbing supply places should have flexible 2" or even 1.5" hose that you can buy by the foot if the 2.5" hose is to big.
 
I don't run in water, but if I did, I would;
Remove the existing cap, plug the breather hole in the side of it with silicone, drill a hole smaller than a piece of rubber hose to be used as the vent in the middle on the top, and run the vent up the back of the cab or roll bar to a height that would be safe.
If you look at the hydraulic tank vent on a RTV1100 you will see it runs up the right side at the back of the cab and has a neat little u-turn on the end of the hose for a venting system. That is a good height and plenty for a vent.
For the vent hose I would use 3/16 or 1/4 ID hose.
Just my 2 cents.
 
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