Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

TwoBallScrewBall

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Sep 14, 2003
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Well, didn't know whether to put this here or in the stupid human forum. Decided on here since I could use some advice.<br /><br />NJ had some seriuos torrential rain in my area Wednesday night. I went fishing Tuesday and parked the boat when I got back, apparently leaving the plug in. Wednesday the rains came, and they were serious. The street in front of my house was under literally 2 feet of rainwater. My neighbors across the street had water about a foot up their garage doors and front doors. Luckily I'm on a slight elevation compared to them so I stayed dry. Anyway.....<br /><br />Got home from work yesterday (Thursday) and was thinking of chasing some fluke, so I went out to get the boat ready. Everything in the boat was floating in about 6" of water over the floor. There was about 2 feet total of water measured from the bottom of the hull. Water submerged starter completely, just barely started covering alternator, and was above the oil pan but about 1/4" below the bottom of the dipstick tube. <br /><br />So I take out the plug and switch on my 1000gph pump, and 45 minutes later the water finally stops. I roughly calculated by the time it took to drain that there was about 975 gallons of water in the boat. This was from ONE NIGHT!!!! And no runoffs running into the boat or anything like that, just straight rainwater. At 6 pounds a gallon, I really don't know how my poor little escort trailer survived it. But thank god it did. <br /><br />After draining the boat I checked the dipstick, just oil on it. So I whipped out the muffs and hit the starter. Click. Hit is again. Click. I figure maybe the battery is dead from pumping so I switch over to batt 2. Click. Click. Now I'm getting upset. Click. Click. Click. Click. Then finally Click turned into crank and the little 3.0 started right up and idled like nothing ever happened. <br /><br />I'm worried about 2 things. Number one and the lesser of the two is the motor. Looks like no water in the oil after running so that's good. I'm a little worried about the starter but think it just got stuck from getting wet and finally broke loose. Anything else I should be thinking about or checking? The gimble bearing was definitely under, should I worry about that? I greased it already after the engine started. <br /><br />Number two is the boat. How much damage, water logging, future rot, etc, can I now expect since my entire floor was under about 1/2 foot of water for almost 24 hours? <br /><br />I'll have pictures in a few minutes.....<br /><br />Please tell me everything's going to be OK!!!! :)
 

TwoBallScrewBall

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Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

Here they are!<br /><br />By the way, that nasty looking manifold is all of 3 months old! <br /><br />
water1.jpg
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water2.jpg
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water3.jpg
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water4.jpg
 

sea wolf

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Apr 3, 2002
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1,219
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

i would pull the starter, as once rust sets in, it's all over. i don't think there is much u can do about possible rot problems in the future, other than letting the boat sit in the sun & letting it dry out really good. but, u may want to think about replacing the carpet, as it acts like a sponge & will hold water, & also the fungus that can rot the floor, etc. as far as the gimbal bearing, u will probably have to replace it some time in the future. i would do it at the end of the season, instead of waiting till next year because once rust gets to the bearing they can be a real bear to remove. if the oil isn't milky, don't sweat it. good luck.
 

Bob_VT

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Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

I would create some air movement on a hot day and try to dry it out best I can. A 1988 has probably seen it's share of water so I would not be too concerned... I doubt it made it worse.<br /><br />Keep the plug out (I never thought I would be saying that!)<br /><br />Glad you got it started. You might want to WD ALL the electrical parts to force out moisture.<br /><br />Bob
 

sea wolf

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Apr 3, 2002
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1,219
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

just saw your pics. take a wire brush to the manifold to get rid of the rust, then prime & paint it. i would get a cover today! with the storms the ne has coming this weekend, we're looking at a repeat performance. i live in upstate ny, & it's been raining like a sob since last nite, with more to come.
 

cobra 3.0

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Jul 31, 2003
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Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

Good advise so far... Tilt the trailer in the front as high as it will go( the higher the better) and let here sit in the sun (cover off). It'll take a good day or two to dry out. The carpet can be vacuumed with a shop vac or carpet cleaning unit to get as much water out of it as possible. <br /><br />WD40 will do wonders on the engine...<br /><br />Do pull the starter and open it up to take out any remaining moisture/water. My starter died when it got flooded due to a mishap of launching without the plug in :eek: I never bothered to take it off when it got flooded.
 

elpaso

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jun 27, 2003
Messages
264
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

First thing to do is - buy a boat canvas.
 

Lou C

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Nov 10, 2002
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Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

Years ago my wife drove her 88 Toyota Camry through about 8 in of water and flooded the floor, the carpet was real nasty until we had it wet vaccumed and that seemed to help, didn't have to replace the carpet. I'd get a cover as quick as you can, and as others said, when the weather finally clears up find a nice sunny spot in your driveway and leave it there as long as you can. The engine sounds OK, but you might want to pull the OD to make sure there is no water in the gimble bearing. You may need to regrease it to force out any water that got in there, and check the U-Joints also. Like others said, given the age of the boat, it has probably been rained on before, so just let it dry out as much as you can. Get a cover that breathes, and use the moisture absorbing buckets while keeping it covered.
 

ron7000

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Jul 10, 2004
Messages
498
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

how come in your 2nd pic it looks like there is no belt coming off the crank to turn the water pump?<br /><br />motorwise, only thing to ever worry about is the starter and alternator. water won't hurt the alternator electrically, but it would be a good idea to pull it apart and dry it out and relube the bearing on the shaft. Same with the starter.<br />Only way you will get water in the oil is if the water level is high enough to enter an open vent hole leading to the crankcase, such as dipstick tube or valve covers. Everything else is sealed, otherwise you'd have an oil leak.<br /><br />If you grease the gimbal bearing every season, then it should be fine as long as you don't have the driveshaft bellows full of water. If water was that high to flow into there, might want to pull the drive and drain the water out so the outdrive yoke and u-joints don't rust up.
 

TwoBallScrewBall

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Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

I'll pull the drive this weekend if the rain holds off long enough. <br /><br />In pic 2, the belt that goes from the water pump to the alternator makes it's way from the alternator down under and around the crank pulley then back up to the water pump. The second belt you see laying there is the spare I installed behind the motor mount in case the first one goes out on the water. I'm not getting towed in over a broken belt! :) There are much better things to get towed in for! <br /><br />I have a cover, I hesitate to admit. I take the boat out alone almost every day after work if I can and by the time I get home and clean out the boat it's too late or I'm too tired to cover it. I'll be covering it more now though. :D If I know it'll be a few days before I go out again it does get covered up. Leaving the drain plug in was my big mistake here, but having the cover on could have spared me the stress, too.
 

Doug Durako

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Nov 17, 2002
Messages
519
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

If you have insurance, turn in a claim. This may or may not be excluded. Worth a try. Find out before you do too much more work.
 

neilmw

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Jul 19, 2004
Messages
245
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

Glad everything seems ok, I am more happy to know that crappy weather in the summer isnt limited to the UK :) sorry no, we just have crappy weather all year............25-28c for the last week now 19 and rain......
 

Yepblaze

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Jun 1, 2001
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Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

Maybe.....<br /><br />It's just hydro locked as some water has found it's way past the intake screen, or intake screen screw. <br /><br />At any rate,I would think the starter should not rust up in a day, but if that's a saltwater rig then that is totally possible. I'd pull the plugs or try spinning it over with a wrench first. Get it running and dried out as soon as possible.
 

KM2

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Oct 15, 2003
Messages
556
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

I'm repeating what has been said and speaking from experience. Get the starter out and dried. I didn't and the starter only lasted a month and left me stranded. Second time I got too much water in the boat, I pulled starter dried and cleaned still working fine a year later. Good Luck.
 

TwoBallScrewBall

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Sep 14, 2003
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Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

I did mean to say above "I'll pull the drive and the starter" just typed too fast! ;) <br /><br />Yepblaze, the engine started OK as I mentioned in the first post. :)
 

mercrewser

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Dec 4, 2003
Messages
367
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

Tarp it and run a dehum for a few days. That boat has absorbed plenty of moisture in the past 16yrs.
 

Bizmark

Cadet
Joined
May 28, 2004
Messages
25
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

How about putting in an automatic float switch on your bilge pump and wire it to the battery?<br /><br />That way, in case it ever happens again, your pump should be able to keep ahead of the rain.
 

Bondo

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Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

Ayuh,<br />That's Right up there with Not Installing the Drain Plug at the Launch........................ :D
 

HULKSTERUPS

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Mar 4, 2004
Messages
44
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

I would say watch the weather channel ,but you know those guys are never right.Cover sounds good.
 

Peter J Fraser

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Jun 22, 2003
Messages
598
Re: Sunk my boat in the driveway!!! Help!

Hi Steve,<br />The water wont really hurt your starter but get it off and have it stripped and serviced anyway. You never know it may be due for a tune up anyway.<br />The starter on my boat would not work at all when I got it last year. When I removed it it had water running out of the drive end and I thought it would be toast. It had ben sitting out in the weather for 3 years in a dealers yardwhere the water ran off the back of the engine cover straight onto you know what.<br />Any way my mate here is an auto electrician and he told me to strip it out, water blast all the gunge out of the components, dry off with comp air and lube it and reassemble the brute.<br />Guess what, he was right, no damage to comm or brushes and the unit works perfectly OK now.<br /><br /><br />Peter
 
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