Drowned Outboard

My boat is parked at the dock 24/7 at our permanent campground.
Went out in it weekend before last, ran great as always (79 Merc 850 85hp),

Last weekend had to be out of town on business, came back to message from camp owners that there was a terrible rain storm Friday night, and our boat sank....only about 3.5 to 4 feet of water, but motor and battery were submerged.

The camp owner used his front end loader or something and managed to get it off the bottom, drain it and float it, so all is ok that way.
What do I do to the motor now befor attempting to start it??
I've heard everything from "Wind it over with the plugs out" to blow out the water, then put them in and it should start...maybe run rough at first if some water still left in carb, but should be fine"... to "throw it away, it will never run right again"

Has this happened to anyone else, and what should I do to get the engine running again? Will the tilt & trim mechanism be damaged?

Thanks!

Re: Drowned Outboard

This is right out of Mercury's service manual. Right click and save, then rotate in M'soft's picture viewer.

Re: Drowned Outboard

Time is of the essence. You must immediately get it started and run it for 45 minutes to dry it out. I presume it was freshwater? Saltwater is much worse.

I would disassemble the PTT pump and dry it up. You an bake the motor in the oven, 200* for an hour, to dry it out.

Re: Drowned Outboard

If it's freshwater it should be fine following the above instructions.

Next time I think it would be best to leave the boat sunk until you're ready to work on it.

Re: Drowned Outboard

Hi
Thanks for replying, I don't know if all the people that replied can see this or not, but I thank you all....should have specified fresh water.
Went out with my buddy today, was surprised tilt & trim and battery were fine, pulled plugs, my buddy swears by this stuff like WD-40 called "Fluid Film". We sprayed some in all cylinders, wound it over..(Surprised again-starter motor ok too), then reinstalled plugs, wound fine but did not start. Removed plugs again, quirted gas in cylinders, fired up for few seconds, so we knew spark fine, just no or bad fuel. Repeated a couple of times, engine finally caught. Ran a bit rough at first, but could hear each cylinder begin to fire properly one by one. (4 cylinder engine)After letting it run about 45 minutes, let it sit for around 1/2 hour, tried it several times and so far it now runs perfectly at the touch of the key as it always has. Good Ole Mercury!
My automatic bilge pump is now on order so this doesn't happen again.