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Tohatsu 6hp got dunked now low oil pressure

M

mike66

Member
My 6hp 2yr old outboard got dunked in salt water when our dinghy capsized in a squall. Got it out in 1 hr and did some first aid. Covered the engine with WD40 and also pulled the plug and turned it over while spraying into the cyl. Drained water out of the carb, and emptied the fuel lines. Ran new fuel w/Star Tron and MMO. Changed the oil 5 times until it looks normal and clean. Runs fine, but low pressure light stays on. I'll be using an external pressure guage tomorrow. Any thoughts if the pressure turns out to be actually low? Can't see how the sender could have been damaged, so I'm proactively looking for help on the low pressure.
 
As you are planning... Verify pressure with a real gauge, and hopefully you just need a sender. They are pretty hardy, but not infallible.
 
One more oil change and the light went out. Shot the engine w/temp gauge and max was 160 all over after 30min run time. Hopefully all good, maybe took a few years off the motor, but I can live with that. Any suggestions on what else I should do? If there are any internals that will rust w/o dissasembly and lube that I should be aware of? Thanks
Mike
 
You should be OK. The important thing was to get all the salt water out right away, and then to follow up with WD to help remove the salt water residue. Apparently the switch was either stuck, or some salt got into the contacts area and caused it to short, resulting in the LED being lit.
 
My thought too. I was busy cursing the gods when the light started to dim, then brighten, then dim until it went out. Being an on-off switch, I got the impression that it was a bad ground or similar. Anyway, thanks for your input and advice on both this problem and the other aspects of keeping these motors happy that I learned while searching this forum.
 
The oil pressure sender is indeed a ground. Grounding the sender wire turns on the LED. If the switch contacts are contaminated, it could give a false reading.
 
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