2002 9.9 honda won't start

Buddies 02 9.9 4 stroke honda knocked off in river. Engine recovered. Oil drained and flushed. Plugs pulled and replaced. Cylinders blown out with air. Carb pulled disassembled, cleaned and reinstalled. All elec connections unplugged blown with air and reconnected. Getting gas and engine fires but will not start. Tried starting fluid but still will not start. You can open the throttle all the way (and leave it wide open) and spray starting fluid in the carb and sometimes it will backfire but won't start. Any ideas?

This is KILLING me! There is a starting fluid epidemic! Ether is PURE POISON to an engine and, it won't help in any way so the first thing would be to stop with that stuff.

Sorry, but I HATE that engine ruining junk.

Was the engine running when it went into the water? If so, it may have one or both rods bent and or bent valve stems. It could also have jumped time and that can be verified visually. Once timing is verified and or corrected, a compression check would be the next step and if there is significant pressure loss then it's time to remove the head.

If the engine was not running when it went in then the problem is more than likely electrical and it could be as simple as something is still wet. I would be looking real hard at the coil and the plug wires. Water could have gotten in the coil's housing through the plug wire connections. Some of those unscrew at the coil and you could try taking them off and blowing them and the coil out if you haven't already.

Little known fact: WD-40 displaces water. I used to drive a tow truck in north Texas and, many times, I would rescue a car from a deep puddle and help the owner get it started by spraying WD-40 on the plugs, wires and under the distributor cap. Works every time and, unlike ether, it doesn't harm a thing.