left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

i really did it this time , i was in a big hurry to get boat out of water last time i took it out and i trusted someone to do what they said they were about taking the drain plug out of back of my boat. well needless to say they didnt . three weeks later i go back to my lake house look in my boat and my gas tank is floating!!!!!!!!!!!!!my engine is about half way sitting in water and i am steaming mad. i immediately pull drain plug let all water drain out of my boat. as soon as it all drained out, i pulled oil drain plug to see if water got in the motor . of course it did !!! anyways i put new oil in the motor to try to keep my rod bearings from rusting up . unfortantly i couldnt check for hydrolock because my starter went out. i have to get a new one. right now i am looking for any suggestions on what to do . i am a father of two little grls and dont have alot of money to spend on a new engine i jus want to be able to take them out on the lake. also when i took the oil filter of after being submereged it didnt have water in it just oil . i dont no if water only got into oil pan or through whole motor . if anyone nows any info please help

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

You are probably OK. To check of any higher water level pull the spark plugs first and just crank it over to see if there is any water in the cylinders.
Run the engine, on muffs, (up to operating temp) and change the oil do this a few times. Leaving the oil cap off helps let the water vapors out when it is running. When the oil is good after running you should be OK.

Other things to check are the drive oil and for water in the drive bellows (pull the drive). If water gets high enough it will get into the bellows through the inside of the boat. Problems here can be gimbal bearing and U-joints. Also your tilt/trim pump reservoir will be full of water and your pump motor may act up after awhile from rust/corrosion inside.

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

anyways i put new oil in the motor to try to keep my rod bearings from rusting up . unfortantly i couldnt check for hydrolock because my starter went out. i have to get a new one. right now i am looking for any suggestions on what to do

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Howdy,


Well, you don't have to worry about your rod bearings. They're made of babbitt. Babbitt doesn't rust.

You probably should remove your starter. It will need to be disassembled and inspected/rebuilt/replaced.

You can remove the spark plugs and turn the engine with a wrench. If I remember correctly, you cannot get a wrench on the crank but with the plugs out you should be able to turn it using a wrench on the alternator.

Drain the oil and see if there's water in the pan. (there might not be)

With the plugs out, spray some light (fogging) oil in the cyls.



Good luck,


Rick

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

i appericiate the help guys i really dont no if it is going to mess my engine up bad or not im really hoping on the not!!, thanks for reminding me about trim pump oil i did drain the outdrive and didnt find any traces of water in the outdrive oil. i dont think it got into bellows. reason being is because i pushed on them to see if they were hollow or not and they sound hollow . im a pretty good mechanic and can fix everything myself on it i jus am so angry i dont no where to start. like i said i jus want my lil girls to have the exprence i did growing up on the lake . if there is any other pointers anyone can help with with i appreciate it it is a big help i need all i can get . i could be wrong about bellows should i slide the easy side to get to off and check that way or must i pull drive. im going t drain all the water out of my trim pump and refill with new. do you think it will still work again . and my alternator was submerged do you think after it dries out will it be any good . any other things i should check ? thank you look forward to hearing from you guys i need all the post i can get on everyone's opinions to help me thanks

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

i dont think it got into bellows. reason being is because i pushed on them to see if they were hollow or not and they sound hollow

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No way to tell if water got into the bellows from the outside. If you don't want a big repair bill next spring for u-joints, gimbal bearing, input shaft, outdrive seals, and possibly a whole new outdrive when it sucks water past the rusted input shaft, you'll pull the outdrive and check for water in the bellows.

It takes 15 minutes and a $5 gasket set to pull, check, and replace. When's the last time you lubed your u-joints anyway? Spend $5 now to do it right or a couple of thousand next year. Your choice.

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

thanks for the help i will check the bellows and pull the drive of and replace bellows does anyone no where to get cheap parts in atlanta

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

Cheap parts in Atlanta.....that's an oxymoron. Just hunt around on the internet, or better yet, just use iboats.com, I'm sure they have what you need.

PB

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

any other suggestions on if im in real trouble with what happend to my motor or do yall think im going to be ok

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

your boat was on trailer,and filled up with that much water.iam from b.c canada where it rains a lot and never worried about boat filling up, i would say time is of the essence get it running as soon as possible.dont worry about alt.pull drive grease ujoints gimble then get it running

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

p.s my opinon motor will be fine,being heavy duty mechanic have seen lots of equipment left in rain, dried out and still running

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

Unless it was sunk to the gills it should fine, no water can get into other than through the intake or valve covers provided the engine gaskets are good.

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

Unless you count the oil dipstick tube...

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

if the water got to the starter then you have water in the drive bellows.
pull the drive, inspect the ujoints and the gimbal bearing.
replace the starter and run it.

Re: left bilge drian plug in!!!! 3.0 mercruiser

HT32BSX115 said:

Howdy,


Well, you don't have to worry about your rod bearings. They're made of babbitt. Babbitt doesn't rust.Rick

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The crank, however, is made of iron and will rust if left over winter.