my boat sunk...

octaneforce · Aug 14, 2011

my boat sunk last night due to a crazy and unexpected amount of rain. my little bilge pump just couldnt keep up. anyway, it has a 1985 merc 115. so far i have flushed the crap out of everything with fresh water and then i flushed out the pistons by pouring in tons of wd-40 and marvel mystery oil into the spark plug holes. then i just emptied a few cans of wd-40 by spraying over the whole motor. what else can i do? i havent made a good attempt at starting it yet. i have a feeling the power packs are gonna give me big problems. the motor was fully underwater for about 5-6 hours.

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the boat was completely sideways and under water but this is a pic of when we finally got it leveled out. its hard to tell, but you can see that the water is still up to the steering wheel and the boat is being held up by ropes. figured i might as well share.

luckynickles · Aug 14, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

Theres not much else to do get some electrical cleaner and spray everything down real goood
just watch spraying all that wd 40 in the cylinders i have locked car engines up with that crap
its full of water too tilt motor up and put marvel mystery oil in cylinders let set a while then turn it over pretty slow
a little at a time very slow it will loob everything in motor but other than that i dont know man keep looking but quit using
wd40 its not worth crap rob

RaScLeS · Aug 14, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

use anything you can in the cylinders even storage spray let it sit take off your carbs and clean them out for sure! the electrical dielectric spray grease or w/e is good stuff let us know

fishrdan · Aug 14, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

Get it running ASAP!!! You need to get it heated up and work any water out of the powerhead.

madgadget · Aug 14, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

Agree get it turned over by hand at first with plugs out and run it on 25:1 get it nice and upto temp if it fires and keep it running for a while. you CANNOT let it sit for ANY length of time. This must be done _NOW_

scooper77515 · Aug 14, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

pull the spark plugs and rotate the engine asap and get all water out. This happens all the time to jet skis, and seldom do they die from it, unless you take it home and don't start it for a long while.

octaneforce · Aug 14, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

okay thanks alot for the advice and the peace of mind. i have it all oiled up but i didnt start it. ill get it running ASAP tomorow. heres a pic of the boat from the day before just to compare:

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Gomer50 · Aug 14, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

Dang,I feel for ya Buddy.Thats something I dont think anybody likes to see.But not all is lost,the quicker you get to drying this out the better.I was reading around here and found this in regards to sunken motors.Good luck.

jimmbo · Aug 14, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

The most vernerable parts of this engine regarding submersion are the bearings and bearing surfaces on the crankshaft and connecting rods. Engine cleaners of the combustion chamber cleaner variety are very good water disperents. Generous quanities sprayed/poured in the carbs will mix with water and be expelled out of the engine. Any water that gets into a bearing like the lower crankcase bearings can not be flung out by centifical force but could remain there eventually ruining the bearing. Running the engine at speed under load for at least an hour, should heat it up enough to cause the water to evaporate. If the engine has sat more than 24 hour after being removed from the water without being run and dried out a teardown and inspection is recommended.

chum1 · Aug 14, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

That is a bummer, Thanks for sharing, getting it started right away may be easier said then done, battery is probably dead along with most of the electrical and pull starting a 115 would be no easy chore, fuel bowls are probably full of water too, let us know how it goes

octaneforce · Aug 15, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

I really appreciate all the replies. As soon as the motor came out of the water, I cleaned it really good with fresh water and got tons of wd40 and marvel mystery oil inside the motor thru the plug holes and carbs. The motor actually turned over with the key but not for very long until the battery died. I was more concerned with the electric system than the bearings. I figured the packs and coils would go haywire with all that water. I'll get it running and lubed up asap

j_martin · Aug 15, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

The electrics should be all sealed up. Rinsed off with fresh water and dried off with compressed air and/or sun and they should be ready to go right away.

You can hose it all down with WD40 for added insurance, messy but effective. If it fails then, it was bad before it sank.

CharlieB · Aug 15, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

After you get if running and well dried out, take the time to pull the startr and flywheel.

The starter needs to be disassembled,cleaned, dried and rinnsed out witih a dispersant, WD works fine. also the stator metal frame and coils, if they are the exposed windings especially, any exposed metal needs WD or equiv to stop corrosion.

All wiring connectors, cannon plug, terminal connectors, any metal that water may have contacted, need to be cleaned and protested from further corrosion.

The motor may start and run fine now, but corrosion will sneak up on you and begin causing problems in the next couple months if you do not act on it now.

Same for all other wiring on the boat, fuse panel, light bulb sockets, battery cable ends, every connection that got wet.

ThumbPkr · Aug 15, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

luckynickles said:
Theres not much else to do get some electrical cleaner and spray everything down real goood
just watch spraying all that wd 40 in the cylinders i have locked car engines up with that crap
its full of water too tilt motor up and put marvel mystery oil in cylinders let set a while then turn it over pretty slow
a little at a time very slow it will loob everything in motor but other than that i dont know man keep looking but quit using
wd40 its not worth crap rob

WD in the WD40 name stands for "water displacement".It was developed for the military to start wet engines among other things.I cannot think of a more suitable spray/solvent to use and it is easy to obtain on short notice.Ron G

hotrod53 · Aug 15, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

Just be cautious, WD40 is flamable! I sprayed a vaccuum advance on a distributor once while the engine was running, it lit right up. Not that you will have a problem having sprayed and left it on, just watch spraying on a running engine.

octaneforce · Aug 15, 2011

Re: my boat sunk...

i got the motor running and took the boat out for a spin today. i couldn't believe how good it ran. i ran it at 25:1 to keep everything lubed up and oiled. all i had to do to get it running was put in fresh gas and spray pre mix thru the carbs a few times. ive been hosing it with wd-40, but i will be sure to disassemble the starter and stator to make sure i get those parts too. the boat is out of the water right now on my trailer, so atleast i know i wont have to worry about it sinking again for the next few days. the boat is going to need a full re wiring. none of my gauges, switches, or lights work. im sure the motor will have its share of corroded wires in the near future as well. thanks again for all the help. i expect to run into a few more problems as i use the boat again.

my boat sunk...

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