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Oops forgot to put in drain plug

fishon10

New member
"Hey guys, I pulled a beauty y

"Hey guys, I pulled a beauty yesterday. I forgot to put in my drain plug and I launched the boat. I ran it for a minute and then realized that it was sputtering and taking on water. I went back to the dock and quickly put the plug in and pumped water out. I checked the oil on dipstick and it looked good ( I didn't notice any water in oil) It fired right back up and I went out for a little test ride. It sputtered and I didn't want to take a chance so I loaded it onto the trailer and went home. I took the air compressor and dried out all the electric components, took off the distributor cap and blew it dry. Is there anything else I should do? Do you think my starter and/or alternator is fried? What should I look for? Thanks."
 
"How high did the water get in

"How high did the water get inside the boat???

The only thing that should have happened is the bildge got wet.

As long as the water level did not get above the dip stick tube you should have no issues.

If water got to the distributor that tells me that you took on ALOT of water.

What boat, engine and size of boat? DETAILS DEATILS.............

If water got higher than gas tank maybe you got some water in it??

Also if you ever do this again the faster you go the slower the water gets into the boat so going slow back to the trailer allows more water to get in."
 
"Hey Kghost, water did not get

"Hey Kghost, water did not get above dipstick. There wasn't much water in dist. cap, just a few drops so I dried it out. Boat is a 17 ft. 1989 Larson bowrider with a 3.0L. I don' think water got to the gas tank. Boat ran when I put it on the trailer, but seemed to sputter at low speed. I was thinking the water in the dist. cap could have caused this? I get your point about going faster to let water out, but boat was really sputtering and shaking if I went fast so I limped back to the dock, but motor never shut down. Any other help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks"
 
Check the batteries and all su

Check the batteries and all submerged wiring and connections. WD-40 sprayed on wire connections and around the spark plug bases will disperse any moisture still there.

Open the engine compartment and any other closed areas to the sun a few days and use a large fan to move air in confined spaces. There should have been a gasket under the dist. cap; replace it since it did not have a good seal.
 
"Hey Robert,Once I knew I was

"Hey Robert,Once I knew I was taking on water, I turned the bilge pump on, but it was a little late by then, it did pump all of the water out but it took a few minutes to do so."
 
"chris
I'd take it home


"chris
I'd take it home and blow out the distributor again, around the spark plugs, and then run it on the muffs for awhile, until it is warmed up. That should evaporate any wayward water.
Bert"
 
"All my pumps (two of them

"All my pumps (two of them on a 23 ft) live on "Auto" all the time. BTW... two pumps: #1 is just a couple of hundred GPH to get the rainwater out. Pump #2, 2000 GPH at a higher level in the bilge..."just in case"."
 
I would never have a bildge pu

I would never have a bildge pump that I couldn't have on auto. If you set this up be sure to hook the power wire to the pump directly to the battery. better to waste a battery than sink the whole boat
 
"I have a problem with water i

"I have a problem with water in the distributor.
If it got that deep inside the boat then I would say it got in the oil??? The dip stick tube is pretty close if not the same hieght as the distributor.......and it sits futher back towards the transom



Do as suggested, use compressed air and blow out cap and retest.

Something sounds a little wet here........."
 
"Remove your leg and check the

"Remove your leg and check the drive shaft bellows for water. If any got in, dry it completely and grease the gimbal bearing. Any moisture here with take out the bearing."
 
"OOPs, I made a sp mistake. To

"OOPs, I made a sp mistake. Too late to edit, this is a reprint with corrections.
Remove your leg and check the drive shaft bellows for water. If any got in, dry it completely and grease the gimbal bearing. Any moisture here will take out the bearing."
 
"Total agreement with John, wd

"Total agreement with John, wd never be without some autobilge facility, although, dont you have stringent emmisions laws in the USA? having the (lower) smaller bilge on manual allows for any foul bilge situation (perish the thought) to be dealt with before it selfdischarges over the local perch shoal, then have floaty switch for "flood" pump 9 to 12 inches above dep. on draught, and the pump biggest poss. As the gurrus say, run direct from battery, (or live side of battery switch to save spagetti junction in battery box) but fused (v. impt!)
Guess not so serious for boats kept dry, but very important safety feature if kept in water that SO many in my neck of woods disregard!"
 
"There is a product called a &

"There is a product called a "bilge sock" which actually looks like a large salami in a mesh.
I've used one for years on several boats that have auto bilge pumps. If you locate the device near the bilge pump and secure it (it has ties), it absorbs and retains any oil drips (or surface oil on the bilge residue). On some older boats (mine for example) every drop of water that hits the boats' cockpit has to be pumped out, so my bilge pump is never bored, especially if I don't put the full cover on and we get one of our typicaly "possible afternoon thundershowers"."
 
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