Finecey wrote:
My 16 foot skiff capsized sometime during the night while tied to the dock.
I suspect it got hung up on the dock during the tide swing and the fuel
tank, anchor, and battery shifted to the side pulling it over and under.
The 4 inches of rain may have contributed even with the scuppers open (the
skiff is self bailing). The neighbors helped me get it right side up,
bailed out, and most all of the gear was recovered.

The motor is a '98 Yamaha, 3 cylinder, 30 hp. I drained the carburetors by
removing the drain plugs and flushed gas through them. I pulled the spark
plugs, squirted in some oil, and stroked the motor until nothing came out.
I positioned the pistons to top dead center and blew out the cylinders with
compressed air. The motor cranks freely until I put the plugs back. Then
to crank it, I must pull the starting rope a "lot" harder than in the past.
The motor turns but is very stiff. I dare not hook up the plug wires until
I am confident that the motor cranks as freely as before the drenching.

This procedure has worked for all the river folk I've talked to - they were
able to get the motor fired back in up without a shop visit.

Question: Have I missed something?

Cheers, FIN


I would guess there's still a lot of oil on the pistons and rings, so
the motor's compression is much higher at low RPM when cranking.
Try flushing the cylinders with pure gasoline or 2 % oil/gas mixture,
crank, crank, crank, drain and see if things change...
If there's no increased resistance with the plugs out, it would
seem safe to start up the motor.
Do that as soon as possible, and let it run for a good while.

Good luck,
-=EgeriK=-