No air filter

[uspatriot]

I took the air filter off and forgot to put it back in. I went riding through snow and sand. It still runs fine but what should i do?

[uspatriot]

any 1

[BlasterEaten250]

Change your oil and pray.

[uspatriot]

Should i drain it from the tank, engine and do the filter?

[uspatriot]

What would be the worst thing that could happen? If i did suck up any sand where could it get into, and what would it do?

[brian76708]

Originally posted by uspatriot
Should i drain it from the tank, engine and do the filter?

r u kidding me of course u should change your oil filter and drain all of the old oil out.

[uspatriot]

I'm going to change the oil, should i also clean the carb ? If i did suck in any sand/snow what kind of damage could this do? Thanks

[Snipe]

Worse case scenario if it did suck up any, it will go through the carb pumped into the head cause ring failure, gasket failure, gald the piston, scratch the side wall creating a over bore to fix, or it could blow up and that can go on and on what could happen.

Drain every single drop run an appropriate cleaner and then replace the filter and refill.

[uspatriot]

Could any of the sand get to the bottom end and mess any of the gears up or clutch. How dose the sand get into the oil? What is a good cleaner to run threw? Thanks again

[400Trooper]

Tear it down completely and clean everything multiple times. I wouldn't start it up until this was done.

There is a reason for air filters, mostly to keep you from spending all kinds of money and time un-necessairly!

Man, what a hard lesson to learn, best of luck!!

[uspatriot]

What kind of cleaner could i run threw the engine?

[bigredisb]

I dont think running a cleaner or solvent is going to do much. Like stated above tear it apart and clean any and all parts individually. Sand can be washed through the cylinder rings/walls and travel into the sump. I would also remove the oil discharge screen from the tank and see whats on it during the oil change. I also would find a completely clean drain pan and drain into it. Let the oil settle for a day and stick you findger into the bottom of the pan. If you can feel grit in the bottom of the pan or in between your fingers I would say your introuble. Snow isnt all that bad and thats why most snowmobiles dont run much of a filter beacuse the snow keeps the dirt dust to a minium. Sand is a bad thing. IMO I would remove the carb, the head, and the intake manifold, and intake tube to clean parts out otherwise even after you attempt to change oil more crap will be sucked in that already sitting thier.
Or you can do like my buddies do and run her till she dont run no more and and them badmouth the product they bought and beg me to ty to fix it for nothing. It never really dawns on them that I rarely have to repair my machine from broken or worn parts. I do take it apart for performance reasons but thats about it.

[400exrider69]

We used to have a honda big red 250es 3 wheeler with a built motor camed bored out to a 305cc and it flew i rode it for 2 years here in the midwest mud rain snow dry dusty it took it all with out an air filter i stored tools in the air box instead after 2 years of riding it EVERY DAY FOR atleast 2 hr's and running with 400ex's and 300ex and some utulitys i finally blew the motor up racing in the woods. Turned out it stil had the orgional timeing chain in it is what broke and cause the probelm

[uspatriot]

How do you remove the oil discharge screen?

[bigredisb]

At the back side of the tank facing the engine towards the bottom is a JIC fitting that leads to the oil system. You remove the line then there is a large style plug installed in the tank that you remove to see the screen. The filter should have caught most of the trash and returned clean oil back to the tank but the screen is really thier to prevent objects that get injested when people are filling up the oil. It never hurts to check it. Look real close at the filter too. If a lot of metal shards are on it that are steel and magnetic it could be transmission parts wearing from steel or cams wearing from the grit.

[uspatriot]

do i have to then buy a new screen or do i clean the old one up and put it back in?

[bigredisb]

Just clean it. Its just a fine stainless mesh screen. Its funny because my 07 has one and my 08 does not so I ordered one and installed one. You may or may not have one.

[uspatriot]

So if i change the oil, clean out the oil screen, clean the carb and intake tube, and if there is not much sand in the oil do you think this will be good enough. Because i am not really confident on cracking the engine open.

[uspatriot]

Where on this diagram is the screen http://216.37.204.203/Honda_OEM/HondaATV.asp?Type=13&A=123&B=53

[smelly$cat]

Did you have your airbox lid on or off? Just curious.

[uspatriot]

The lid was on just not snapped in.

[BlasterEaten250]

Chances are if you had the lid on you didn't suck up any sand in my opinion. I would still check all the stuff though.

[smelly$cat]

I agree with "BlasterEaten250".

Change the oil properly.
Clean the air boot.
Re-install your clean air filter.

Keep ridin'

[400Trooper]

My reply was the worst case scenario, no offense. If you had the airbox lid on, and the inside of the box was clean, you should be okay. I personally have never had that kind of luck! Honestly you have a 75% chance that everything will be fine. Go through and clean out everything you can access just to be sure.

Best of luck!

[bigredisb]

The screen is number one "Strainer, Oil" under the oil cooler assy page. Its a breeze to remove clean and install. Buy a clymer manual as tey also show it and lots of other stuff I wasnt aware of.
As far as clean the stuff and run it its up to you. You need to make the final call as I obviously cant see it to help make a good call. All I can do is give you advice. If the rings, or cylinder walls were scored and damaged I bet you would have seen quite a bit of smoke.
I am a bit of a freak on my machines and would completely tear the head, cylinder, and case apart and clean it but I am way overkill. I completely strip all plastic off my 07 after every weekend of riding and wash it. The 08 is a different story. Its a pita to remove plastics so I use a lot of toothbrushes to get it clean.

Somtimes you just have to say the hell with it and pull the trigger!

[5084Jr]

This reminds me of a bad story. When I use to race Jr. Dragsters at Gateway International (local Dragstrip), there we many rocks in the pit areas. We'll dummy me forgot the screw the air filter on tight and it came off at the line. The carb sucked a rock in and it make a nice little line in the sleeve, just enough to pass some oil. We started to get smoke at the hit of the throttle and it just went down hill. Got to bad that it was fouling out the plug at the 600 foot mark. Hope you don't have as bad as luck as i did...

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g8/bigracedad/jr%20dragsters/coryscar012.jpg