Blown ACE and RZR Motors

Welcome to the forum!

That discussion was in relation to hosing down your ACE for cleaning, which is a different story.

However, let's discuss your situation.
I rode in some pretty heavy rain in my ACE. Despite the roof and windshield, I was soaked to the skin after about an hour. The filter and intake wells were fine.
If there is sufficient weight of water pushing down on the rubber valves, they will open, and the water will drain out. That's how those work.
If some water gets past the first intake well, the air box has another rubber valve to let the water out.
Unless the whole machine is underwater. Or unless the thing is on its side in a mud puddle.

Many, many times, I have heard the statement "ride it like a rental" come out of the mouths of the kind of people who also say "ride it like you stole it".
The underlying attitude is "screw it, it's a rental, you paid the damage waiver insurance, do whatever you want to it"!
I've also seen many a forum thread where someone will post about how some machine or other SUCKS, and "it totally broke when I wasn't doin' nuthin' wrong".
And they post photos of a machine that has clearly been abused.
People simply will not admit the irresponsible things they do, especially when they want to sound off about how Polaris is screwing them over.

I don't have any details of your situation, and I'm not calling you a liar.
Maybe you believe what you are saying. But maybe you are being lied to about what really happened.

Have a look at the photos below of the outer grill, the pre-filter, the inner grill, the filter in the airbox (including the rubber valve in there too), and the inside of the filter.
The outer filter has a thick plastic grill on the outside, and inside the pre-filter. The air filter has a steel mesh outside the paper, and inside the paper.
How the heck is that going to COLLAPSE from the amount of water that would get into the intake from drops of water falling out of the sky, unless it were submerged or damaged in some other way?
Do you have some photos of what the ACE looked like when it came back to you? Close-ups of the intake? Wider views of the side of the machine?
Let's see some actual details before we go running around saying the ACE will die in a heavy rain.

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Dgandy said:

I'm not really feeling the rain blew my engine either, but I have seen quiet a few posts about rain water getting into the belt case, Mainly the 900 ranger. And personally have a close friend that repeatedly had wet belt issues in the rain. He rides his ranger 99% for hunting. No problems since he snorkeled it all. I plan on snorkeling my sons ace asap, mainly for the extra trouble when washing, but also because I know what my kid may or may not do when I'm not looking!

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Snorkeling is a good thing to get the air intakes high enough to keep water out. Just ask any Rover guy. It helps tremendously for the purposes you mentioned. Polaris designed the drains in their air systems on the ACE to prevent most problems that we might encounter (on average) when out on the trail, or operating in the rain. Notice I said most. There seems to always be an exception to every rule.

As an example, we had a 125 hp 4 cylinder heavy duty industrial diesel engine delivered to our shop out of a brand new excavator. Warranty was claimed. It ran for only 25.5 hours before it abruptly quit, and then had a bad miss and a knock. After some preliminary diagnosis, inspection, dis-assembly, and component evaluation, the bent rod, cracked rings, damaged piston, and river silt in the intake, a discussion with the customer and dealer ensued. Come to find out, the new machine quit in the middle of the stream that was being forded soon after water went higher than the tracks, reaching the air cleaner intake, which was below the bottom of the engine compartment. The operator's manual cautioned about fording water higher than the top of the tracks. Did they read this? Don't know. Didn't matter. Water ingestion of this magnitude was not a warrantable failure. However, as a gesture of good will, the equipment manufacturer helped the customer with some of the bill for a new engine. But they didn't have to, nor do they always provide any assistance.

I am fully aware that each case should stand on its own merits, and each situation can be unique, but if we use our equipment for what could be classified as "extreme" purposes, over and above manufacturer's recommendations, we may have to modify some of the affected vehicle systems to prevent problems that could arise when we operate the equipment in that manner. Or, at least be ready to accept the consequences of being our own warranty repair station.

cumminsdieselgt said:

I am fully aware that each case should stand on its own merits, and each situation can be unique, but if we use our equipment for what could be classified as "extreme" purposes, over and above manufacturer's recommendations, we may have to modify some of the affected vehicle systems to prevent problems that could arise when we operate the equipment in that manner. Or, at least be ready to accept the consequences of being our own warranty repair station.

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I agree with your sentiment here, but it's a tricky one in real life.
For example, on page 50 of the manual: "Never operate with accessories not approved by POLARIS for use on this vehicle." Pffft! Whatever.
Page 51: "Always use the size and type of tires specified for your vehicle." Uh huh.
Page 57: "Do not operate on excessively rough, slippery, or loose terrain." By whose definition??
Page 58 (while driving uphill): "Drive straight uphill." Um. But the trail goes over there. Straight uphill would be right through those fallen logs and gigantic boulders.
Page 58 (while driving uphill): "Never open the throttle suddenly." Yeah, right.

The problem is, one man's "extreme" is another man's "meh, that's just a few big rocks".
(BTW, note that I'm not processing a warranty claim for those A-arms I bent.)

However, I will commend Polaris for wording things more sensibly in the ACE manual than I've seen in the past.
Riding an ORV per the manufacturer's recommendations in other manuals and safety videos I have seen would mean doing flat dirt roads and nothing else.

Brother, I am with you wholeheartedly. I just had to put that out there so people would realize where the factory gets all thIs stuff, and to get folks to discuss their situations and experiences. In a nutshell all I can say is if common sense were so common we wouldn't have to have so much written down. And when they write some stuff down it tends to limit things or says things that are really not meant to be said. Thankfully we still have the freedom of choice and I fully support that for everyone.

I simply put it out there because I hoped I knew what some of the replies would be. I've been around long enough to know some of the discourse that can come, which I welcome, and I'm glad people have the chance to see both sides of an issue. That's the important part. I can also tell that you have had some experiences that have shaped your thinking and given you much wisdom. This is what is wonderful about the forum, that experiences and wisdom can be freely shared, and then we can make the best decisions that fit our particular needs and desires.

I to am very pleased with Polaris and their R&D as well as their ability to get ideas into an actual product. Is it perfect? We all have our opinions. I think they did a tremendous job engineering and making the ACE a great atv that crosses many boundaries of age and experience, making it gobs of fun, and seemingly dependable as well. Hats of to them! I'm really proud to have one in my garage and to ride it.
This may have been said before, but it's worth repeating:

Thank you for your wisdom and your guidance in the moderation of the forum. You're doing a great job! Keep up the good work.