There is a Rule of Thumb for recovered motors, Fresh Water, unless there is dirt and silt under the cowl, get it running within an hour or two, or expect to take it apart. If there is Silt, or it was Salt Water, the engine has to come apart for a proper cleaning. Waiting two days after recovery before teardown didn't help. You could have taken the motor off the boat and stood it on its head in a tub deep enough to keep the powerhead under water. And opened the control box to dry out after spraying the internals with Water Dispersant.
Oh, and by running, I didn't mean Start it up and say 'Oh it runs' and shut it off. It needs to be run for at least an hour at higher than Idle, so it gets warm enough to dry out the water inside.