Sunken Boat And Motor

"I feal sick..... I hope you c

"I feal sick..... I hope you can help me. Yesterday my 14.5 ft aluminum v-hull with 40 hp mercury sunk at the dock. The transom is beefed up and supported in the corners to handle the motor, and it has a center console so my weight was not in the very back. I had about .25 of the boat up on the trailer, when a 2-3 ft wave came over the transom and pulled her back into the water. In 5 seconds boat motor and all sunk to the bottom. The last thing I did before the electric went out was raise the motor up about a third of the way. I think the motor was running until the water choked it out although I had the quick shut off line attached to my belt loop and that may have shut it off before it went under. I hooked up the trailer strap and pulled the boat out, scrapping the bottom, then bailed the water out and pushed it back in and floated it.I hand cranked it onto the trailer. There is no damage to the boat from dragging it on the concrete ramp. But the motor was under for about 30 minutes. What do I do to salvage the motor? So far I rinsed the outside down with fresh water, removed the spark plugs but couldn't tell if there was water in the cylinders. I turned the engine over a few times to try and remove any water if there was some, lightly sprayed WD40 on the electrical connections, and have the cowling off to help it dry out. I'm affraid to try to start it with everything being wet and not knowing what to do.

Thanks,

Natrlister"

"Mike, if it went in SALT wate

"Mike, if it went in SALT water you have tear the whole thing down.

However, if it was fresh water, here is the good word from Merc.

I have some instructions for salt submersion if that is your case...



If that is too difficult to read I can email it to you in a bit larger format..."

"Graham,

Hmmmm.. its was br

"Graham,

Hmmmm.. its was brackish water in the intercoastal waterway. I hope this puts it more on the fresh water side, but I'm guessing the salt water instructions would apply. What would you say? If you could send those instructions, I can get right on it in the morning. Thanks so much for your help.

Mike"

"Salt Water Submersion (Sp

"Salt Water Submersion (Special Instructions)

Due to the corrosive effect of salt water on internal engine components, complete disassembly is necessary before any attempt is made to start the engine.
-----------------------------------------------
You basically have to do a total rebuild of the entire powerhead, even if you don't replace any parts. They all have to be washed down, inspected, well oiled and then put back together.

Of course anytime you tear a powerhead down you will find things that should be replaced "since you are in there".

Ideally, you should have flushed the motor down, oiled the snot out the cylinders and tried to get it fired up right away (or as soon as possible - the gas/oil mix would have finished drying it out and protected the metal from corrosion).

Since it has sat, I would still try that. If you do get it to fire I would leave it idling for a good half hour or so to let alot of nice clean oily gas get all over everything inside, then make a couple of additional inspections.

(if it starts and something breaks, no loss, you would have to tear it down anyhow if salt got in there - you might get lucky)

Spend the couple of bucks for specific gaskets and pull the exhaust cover plate and have a look for salt residue.

You may also pull the carbs off and the intake and get a look at the reeds (which would also let you see a bit into the lower crankcase).

If you "got salt", get a Merc service manual and break out the wrench set."

"Thanks Graham, I'm taking

"Thanks Graham, I'm taking the carbs and the exhaust cover off now. This leads to one other problem, the motor does not have a serial number plate on it. The previous owner said it was a 98' but he also said the boat was a 94' model but it is really a 90'. Is there any other way to pin down the year of the engine?"

"On Merc's there is a Wels

"On Merc's there is a Welsh Plug (silver disk about the size of a quarter), usually back on the waterjacket (side of the powerhead) normally on the side where the throttle/shift cables are.

It is most often towards the rear (on the side) back towards the sparkplugs.

Depending on the exact model it may be obscured by some of the ignition/electrical, but it is there and the serial is stamped into it.

If you can't find it, we can still figure out what you have - not necessarily the exact year, but the model run.

Merc doesn't change their motors every year. The run a fairly long series that is "mechanically" identical. Which is also why you really don't have a serial or model number - what we call a serial is actually just a "production" number.

From the later 80's thru the late 90's Merc had 3 distinctly different versions of the 40 horse.

There was a twin, triple and quad cylinder version.

The twin shared parts with the 30 twin. The 4 cylinder shared parts with the 30 Jet.

The 3 cylinder model shared parts with the 50, 55, and 60 horse.

So regardless of "what year" it actually came off the production line, the model run will dictate what parts you can use."

Do your tear down right away a

Do your tear down right away and get everything cleaned and lubed. The engine should have remained submerged in water until you were ready to tear it down. Keeping it submerged slows corrosion. Once it hits the atmosphere the green or red monster begins. (rust)

"Yes, he kinda missed his one

"Yes, he kinda missed his one shot at the easy way out.

Likewise, I suspect it's going to have to be torn down..."

"Thought I would give an updat

"Thought I would give an update. I started taking off the carbs, the bolts just snapped. I decided to take it to a local boat sales and service center. The mechanic said he would work on it, but after the third day I went to his shop and found my motor sitting outside with the cowling off. The mechanic said he was just letting it dry out. That was the extent of his service. By the time I started driving away with the boat, he yelled out and told me not to come back. Obvious! I started driving south on the coast. I was looking for a small mom and pop outboard engine shop. I drove 70 miles until I found one. The mechanic dropped everything he was doing. He said "we need to start that motor now"! He worked on it until late that night. He rebuilt the carbs, replaced all the broken off bolts, and got it started. The control cables froze up so he replaced them also. It is running great now, better than it ever has. I've run it on the water for about 15 hrs now, so I'm feeling better that it won't fly apart. I'm fortunate to have found this mechanic. BTW, before running it, I emptied the fuel tank, replaced the fuel/water seperator, and used a fuel stablizer in the new fuel. Later, I removed and replaced the switches, lights, speakers and bought a larger volume bildge pump. So far it has turned out to be about a $800 - $900 lesson. But as long as the engine stays healthy, everything else is new."

"Mike:

You might want to le

"Mike:

You might want to let people know who this outstanding guy was, to send some business his way. He deserves it!

Jeff"

That's a great idea howeve

That's a great idea however I think I should ask him first. He may already have more business than he can handle. I'll give him a call tomorrow.