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Partially Submerged Engine

M

MagicPinstripes

New member
Hi everyone,

My brother-in-law inherited a new to him 1970’s Sidewinder with a 1976 Mercury 1500 (150HP) engine.

It was working at the start of the season, but the boat was swamped due to unusual amounts of rain that he had up at the cottage.

The tower was above water, but after taking off the cowling, I noticed that the water line was above the lower cylinder and just below the throttle intake.

The battery is working and the engine ‘tries’ to start, but no dice on ignition.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Evan
 
When a boat sinks, you must replace all the wiring and plumbing. The engine must immediately be attended to. Get all the water out. Get it started to heat it up. I assume it's a 2 stroke, so running it is all you can do. Try new coils and fresh plugs and make certain the carb(s) aren't full of water. Is it a portable fuel tank?
 
Thank you both for the replies!

The motor was never fully submerged. The water line went up past the lowest spark plug (so that part was under for sure). There are six in line in the ‘Tower of Power’.

It is a two stroke with a portable fuel tank. Oil/Gas mixture. My brother-in-law is an electrician, so he thinks the battery isn’t putting out enough to turn it over. Surprisingly, the marine battery is still working at 12.83V. It still runs the bilge.

The engine cranks when trying to start it, but never caught. It was not running when submerged. Just got swamped and it was about a week before someone could drive the 3.5 hours up to extract the boat from the water.

He wants to try a new marine battery in hopes that it’ll put out enough to turn the engine over. Not sure if that’ll work.

Any further thoughts?

TIA,

Evan
 
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