Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

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Stan_Lee

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My boat sank in November at a local marina. The engine was fully submerged for approx. 24 hours. The marina fogged the engine and pulled the plugs. I picked up the boat last week, replaced the fluids and tried to start it and there is no power to the engine (not turning over). The trim will go down but not up, the trailer trim takes the outboard all the way up. There is no power to the radio, lights or any other electronics. What should my next steps be? Any advice would be appreciated.
 
BonairII

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

You didnt try to get it running after you recovered it? I'm no expert, but I would guess that the oil should have been changed....and engine turned over to get any residual water out of it.

Presently, you are probably not getting power because of corrosion somewhere in the electrical system.
 
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Stan_Lee

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

I should have started the boat after the recovery (But I didn't). But since i didn't, Now what should I do, buy replacement parts, clean electronics, connections from corrosion, replace starter, distributor, replace all wires, alternator, wires? Trash the motor, it's a parer weight!!!! Please help. I love my boat and want desperately to know if the motor is shot or if I have any hope.....
 
tpenfield

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

Did it sink in the salt or the fresh water?

Your first steps should be to resurrect the electrical system. My recommendation would be to start at the batteries and work your way outward to all of the electrical components. there are various circuit breakers along the way that could be either tripped or corroded.

Having the manual for engine and boat (if you have one for the boat) will be needed for reference along the way.

At this point the elapsed time from when it sunk is your enemy . . . lots of things may have happened, none of them good, sorry to say.
 
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dubs283

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

new starter, alternator, slave solenoid, trim solenoids, tune-up parts, filters, fluids, etc...

clean or replace every electrical connection on the engine and anything that was under water, from batteries to engine and beyond...

is there water in the fuel tank?? gotta get that out too

electronic ignition components may need to be replaced too

anything that dosent work needs to be inspected, repaired or replaced - even things that do work too!!
 
Don S

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

Everything electrical on the boat that was under water is now junk. Including the wiring if it wasn't sealed.

If the engine wasn't run, it's junk as well,

Check the stringers and transom, if they are rotten, then the boat is junk, and the rot is probably what caused the boat to sink to begin with.
 
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Stan_Lee

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

The boat was in fresh water.
 
Hoosmatroos

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

Try to hot wire your engine and start it if possible. But have you checked distributor and carb for water intrusion?

/edit,

Forget it, when it already sunk in November I'm with Don.
 
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Stan_Lee

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

How do I hot wire the merc 3.0 Lx ?
 
matt167

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

should be able to feed 12V from the battery to the distributor, and then use a screw driver to operate the starter. That should get it running. There are commercially made engine starters that will do this also, just with neat wiring and a push button to operate the S terminal on the starter
 
Hoosmatroos

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

12 to the positive terminal from the coil, not the distributor. When you want to shut down just remove the bridge (use alligator clips)

But don't bother, sunk in November means starting in November. Now you can forget it. My 2 cents.
 
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Stan_Lee

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

Well, thanks for all the advise. I'm going to get it clean up and try and start it next week (Hot wired) Wish me luck and if you have any other advise please chime in.
 
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Stan_Lee

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Re: Need advise- My boat sank! 1996 sea ray 175 w/ mercury 3.0 LX

If that doesn't work does anyone where I can get a good deal on a motor for the boat and a good cheap mechanic that will install in Dahlonega Ga?
 
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