ashwinprakas Distinguished - BHPian



Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: Kollam Posts: 1,619 Thanked: 4,540 Times

Hydrolock Protocol: Saving a drowned motorcycle!



The drowning Himalayan rescued by BMW R 1200GS



In the video the REH rider stalls his motorcycle in the water due to water getting in through the intake, and he is smart enough to not crank the motorcycle with the exhaust/intake still being submerged which would make matters worse and result in the cylinder locking up i.e a proper hydrolock, why a lock? It is because water cannot be compressed like the AFR mixture, as a result the motor would refuse to turn, your kicker would not budge and your starter motor would not be able to turn the motor, and you should not do either of that as you could damage internals in the process.



In the video the rider cranks the motor without following the protocol and since he has only small amounts of water in the intake his motorcycle fires up but still remains chocked, what happens when starting a water chocked motorcycle is that the water in the Air Filter compartment gets sucked into the carburetor and settles in the float bowl, some of it even gets into the cylinder, and since water cant be compressed it either evaporates and breaks down the carbon in your cylinder or most likely it is forced past the piston rings into your oil sump and results in emulsification of your engine oil.





This is a snap from the oil drained from my Bajaj Discover 100 4G after an unsuspecting return to hostel ride from Kollam to Bangalore, water collected in a fly-over construction site near Attibelle and I along with a lot of other motorists including cars as well misjudged the depth of the water body and tried crossing it and nearing the middle water level rose beyond the fuel tank/speedo meter and our respective vehicles got hydrolocked, you cant really blame us as the time was around midnight and it was raining heavily, and for the record I did not try to start the motorcycle soon after, but anyhow the cylinder got locked and water went down into my oil sump due to me going at the stream with the throttle cracked open at WOT.



The problem with emulsified oil is that its ability to lubricate the internals is compromised and if you're a long way from home then its just a matter of time before you face a seizure of sorts.



So that is why we have the Hydrolock Protocol ;



Step 1:



Drain the Air Filter and Air Filter Box, in case you have a paper filter it can be hard to dry hence those of you who're into adventure riding would be better of carrying a spare, do not attempt drying the air filter as shown in the above video as that will compromise the filter element and worst case scenario you'll end up with a busted valve seat. In most modern motorcycles or at least in all the ones that I've owned there is a drain tube/nipple on the side/bottom of the air filter box that can be opened to release water trapped in the box. Normally you wouldn't have to even dry the filter or even take the air filter out for that matter, just draining the air filter box would do, but that would depend on the water retention capabilities of your filter component.



Here's a snap of the air filter box drain nipple on the Bajaj Dominar 400, I'd cropped it from a picture taken during a previous ride as my current parking is cramped and it would be difficult for me to get a clear snap and because I have no clue where my P220's drain nipple is located at due to the need to drain never arising and due to everything being so cramped down there;





Hope this gives you an idea on what to look for.



Step 2:



Drain the carburetor, you can do this by turning the fuel tap off and unscrewing the drain screw at the base of the carburetor float bowl, you can observe the contents of the float being drained and once the flow comes to an absolute stop, close the drain screw and turn on the fuel tap.



Step 3:



Drain the cylinder, remove the spark plug and turn the motor either using the self or the kicker and you can observe water being sprayed out of the cylinder through the spark plug hole, do it a couple of times to be sure and put the plug was in place after ensuring that it is dry.



Step 4:



Start the motorcycle! If the motorcycle refuses to start and you've managed to flood the motor(with fuel) then crank the motor with the throttle wide open and she'll roar back to life.



In my case you will see that due to trying to cross the water body at WOT I managed to lock the cylinder and let water seep past my rings and emulsify my engine oil, but all things considered if it were a more powerful motorcycle I would've had to face a bent connecting rod or busted piston rings given my method of entry. So as a word of caution is to cross such situations with moderation, a little too less can get you stuck midway and a little too much can result in what happened to me.



So since we have covered the essentials with me rambling a bit here and there, feel free to post any queries or concerns and also do educate me if you know of a better way to prevent/overcome such situations.



Ride Far and Safe.

A.P. Now this is something which is part commonsense so I apologize if you find this post as one of those "generic motorcycling posts" but the reason for me going ahead with this is because of the realization that in panic situations most motorcyclists tend to ignore the obvious and go with counter intuitive measures as seen in the below video;In the video the REH rider stalls his motorcycle in the water due to water getting in through the intake, and he is smart enough to not crank the motorcycle with the exhaust/intake still being submerged which would make matters worse and result in the cylinder locking up i.e a proper hydrolock, why a lock? It is because water cannot be compressed like the AFR mixture, as a result the motor would refuse to turn, your kicker would not budge and your starter motor would not be able to turn the motor, and you should not do either of that as you could damage internals in the process.In the video the rider cranks the motor without following the protocol and since he has only small amounts of water in the intake his motorcycle fires up but still remains chocked, what happens when starting a water chocked motorcycle is that the water in the Air Filter compartment gets sucked into the carburetor and settles in the float bowl, some of it even gets into the cylinder, and since water cant be compressed it either evaporates and breaks down the carbon in your cylinder or most likely it is forced past the piston rings into your oil sump and results in emulsification of your engine oil.This is a snap from the oil drained from my Bajaj Discover 100 4G after an unsuspecting return to hostel ride from Kollam to Bangalore, water collected in a fly-over construction site near Attibelle and I along with a lot of other motorists including cars as well misjudged the depth of the water body and tried crossing it and nearing the middle water level rose beyond the fuel tank/speedo meter and our respective vehicles got hydrolocked, you cant really blame us as the time was around midnight and it was raining heavily, and for the record I did not try to start the motorcycle soon after, but anyhow the cylinder got locked and water went down into my oil sump due to me going at the stream with the throttle cracked open at WOT.The problem with emulsified oil is that its ability to lubricate the internals is compromised and if you're a long way from home then its just a matter of time before you face a seizure of sorts.So that is why we have theDrain the Air Filter and Air Filter Box, in case you have a paper filter it can be hard to dry hence those of you who're into adventure riding would be better of carrying a spare, do not attempt drying the air filter as shown in the above video as that will compromise the filter element and worst case scenario you'll end up with a busted valve seat. In most modern motorcycles or at least in all the ones that I've owned there is a drain tube/nipple on the side/bottom of the air filter box that can be opened to release water trapped in the box. Normally you wouldn't have to even dry the filter or even take the air filter out for that matter, just draining the air filter box would do, but that would depend on the water retention capabilities of your filter component.Here's a snap of the air filter box drain nipple on the Bajaj Dominar 400, I'd cropped it from a picture taken during a previous ride as my current parking is cramped and it would be difficult for me to get a clear snap and because I have no clue where my P220's drain nipple is located at due to the need to drain never arising and due to everything being so cramped down there;Hope this gives you an idea on what to look for.Drain the carburetor, you can do this by turning the fuel tap off and unscrewing the drain screw at the base of the carburetor float bowl, you can observe the contents of the float being drained and once the flow comes to an absolute stop, close the drain screw and turn on the fuel tap.Drain the cylinder, remove the spark plug and turn the motor either using the self or the kicker and you can observe water being sprayed out of the cylinder through the spark plug hole, do it a couple of times to be sure and put the plug was in place after ensuring that it is dry.Start the motorcycle! If the motorcycle refuses to start and you've managed to flood the motor(with fuel) then crank the motor with the throttle wide open and she'll roar back to life.In my case you will see that due to trying to cross the water body at WOT I managed to lock the cylinder and let water seep past my rings and emulsify my engine oil, but all things considered if it were a more powerful motorcycle I would've had to face a bent connecting rod or busted piston rings given my method of entry. So as a word of caution is to cross such situations with moderation, a little too less can get you stuck midway and a little too much can result in what happened to me.So since we have covered the essentials with me rambling a bit here and there, feel free to post any queries or concerns and also do educate me if you know of a better way to prevent/overcome such situations.Ride Far and Safe.A.P.