2014 Gas Gas 200 EC Air Box malfunction
 

It appears that my 2014 200 has leaks in the airbox. After I washed my bike today, I noticed a lot of water dripping at the bottom of the box onto the swingarm. A friend of mine just lost a motor as he was not aware of this while riding in a lot of mud, washing bike, etc. Has anyone else noticed this and how did you remedy?

Thanks,
Rob

They aren't watertight at the seams that's for sure. Easiest remedy is to strip the bike down, remove the airbox and go nuts with silicone around the seams. Problem solved.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The bottom of the airbox has a rubber flap valve that is designed to allow water to drain out of the airbox. Otherwise water could enter and then stay trapped in the airbox.

The rubber on the duck-bill is often too stiff ... you need to manipulate it with your thumb and fingers to get the seal to break and water to drain out. Barring that the filter gets a good gulp of wash water as soon as you fire up the bike.

Filter Box
 

The water definitely drains out. I am worried about riding in deep mud during races and it getting sucked up into the airbox. Heck I guess that could happen with any bike.

You can put a piece of foam in the bottom of the air box to prevent splashing.

The design at the upper sides of the airbox near the subframe spars allows water to enter. As stated, water can also come in through the seams of the airbox. Its not even close to water tight.

In saying that, I often cross water deep enough to change the sound of the engine from bike to boat and find the airbox works quite well. Yes it will take water on, and no the duckbill doesn't drain it nearly fast enough, but it doesn't seem to get pulled through to the engine if a good quality filter oil is used.

I have slit my duckbill open more to allow water out easier, sealed the airbox some more with silicone when new (now 75hrs and a lot probably isnt so sealed anymore), and in addition to that take the time to pull the whole rubber duckbill out when a) washing the bike and b) after crossing a deep river. You'd be surprised how much water can be flowing out of the airbox while the engine continues to run with no signs of water ingress.

yeah unless your wide open with a lot of water in there the engine will just draw air through the exposed filter as air has a lot less resistance to filter/oil than water(try breathing in water yourself to verify!).that said you still don't want a lot of water in there.you could try cable tie,or wire around the rubber drain to hold it open,but it will probably silt up.i just stop and drain mine as soon as practical after crossing and as jakobi said remove when washing.if you seal airbox completely you depend entirely on the drain.from memory I sealed the sides and left the bottom to help drain fwiw.washing the bike seems to be about the worst thing you can do to get water in there,barring longer deep crossings or dropping it in the river!i considered removing drain rubber altogether but then it will fill faster when submerged also and drown engine quicker. I decided to just milk the teat often!and keep your filter in good nick,well oiled and grease the lip to waterproof/seal the filter join

Since when is an airbox suppose to be air tight? The engine needs to breath. When I look at my 14, to me it looks like the airbox was designed with those openings to allow more air to enter so the bike can breath properly. If you look closely you will see how the panels overlap in the gaps so mud and water get deflected, but the air is allowed to enter.

You should be able to get pretty darn wet with this design, but I personally would not cross water that will go up to my airbox.

agree it needs airflow but theres no reason the back joints where the rear wheel throws water up under the guards need to be quite so porous!the real key is good filter,well oiled,grease mating surface,then please yourself on the sealing,and remember to drain/remove the teat often.