I've just recovered my 20 horse Merc outboard from the river. It went under
when heavy rain submerged the small boat it was attached to.
I brought it indoors, dried up what I could, put a heat gun on wet areas,
especially the electrical components, took out the plugs, poured oil in the
cylinders and pulled the starter a few times, drained the lower unit then
sprayed everything I could with WD 40.
a)Have I forgotten anything?
b)What are the odds on getting it going next spring?

Thanks

ds

Yes - get it running NOW.... then next spring.

-W

wrote in message
...
On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 10:26:54 -0400, "D Smyth" wrote:

I've just recovered my 20 horse Merc outboard from the river. It went
under
when heavy rain submerged the small boat it was attached to.
I brought it indoors, dried up what I could, put a heat gun on wet areas,
especially the electrical components, took out the plugs, poured oil in
the
cylinders and pulled the starter a few times, drained the lower unit then
sprayed everything I could with WD 40.
a)Have I forgotten anything?
b)What are the odds on getting it going next spring?


The odds of getting it running next spring will increase greatly if
you take the time to get it running NOW.

BB

"D Smyth" wrote in message
...
I've just recovered my 20 horse Merc outboard from the river. It went
under
when heavy rain submerged the small boat it was attached to.
I brought it indoors, dried up what I could, put a heat gun on wet areas,
especially the electrical components, took out the plugs, poured oil in
the
cylinders and pulled the starter a few times, drained the lower unit then
sprayed everything I could with WD 40.
a)Have I forgotten anything?
b)What are the odds on getting it going next spring?

Thanks

ds



Get it running now! Yesterday would have been better! The chances are that
all the bearings on the rods and crank will be rusting as you are reading
this! Six months from now everything will be a rusted glob of scrap iron and
corroded aluminum!
The best thing you could do is immediately after getting the outboard out of
the water is to concentrate on getting it running. Every hour you wait adds
to the rust and corrosion!
Greg

Drain the carb, drain the fuel tank, fill with fresh fuel/oil. Start the
engine, run the engine for at least and hour maybe two. Then spary
everything with wd 40 again. Including the cylinders. drain the carb,
wait for spring.
Offgridman

D Smyth wrote:

I've just recovered my 20 horse Merc outboard from the river. It went under
when heavy rain submerged the small boat it was attached to.
I brought it indoors, dried up what I could, put a heat gun on wet areas,
especially the electrical components, took out the plugs, poured oil in the
cylinders and pulled the starter a few times, drained the lower unit then
sprayed everything I could with WD 40.
a)Have I forgotten anything?
b)What are the odds on getting it going next spring?

Thanks

ds

and have a rust pile! Seriously Don't use WD 40 if you ever want to run
theengine again. WD40 isn't designed for engine storage. Get a can of
fogging oil once you're ready to store it. It only costs $5 to do it right!

" wrote in message
...
Drain the carb, drain the fuel tank, fill with fresh fuel/oil. Start the
engine, run the engine for at least and hour maybe two. Then spary
everything with wd 40 again. Including the cylinders. drain the carb,
wait for spring.
Offgridman

D Smyth wrote:

I've just recovered my 20 horse Merc outboard from the river. It went
under
when heavy rain submerged the small boat it was attached to.
I brought it indoors, dried up what I could, put a heat gun on wet
areas,
especially the electrical components, took out the plugs, poured oil in
the
cylinders and pulled the starter a few times, drained the lower unit
then
sprayed everything I could with WD 40.
a)Have I forgotten anything?
b)What are the odds on getting it going next spring?

Thanks

ds

I'll agree with that.. I had a 50 horse set at the bottom of a river for 3
days. It was never quite the same after, however I did get a good six
months out of it. The types of things I ran into was corrosion on wiring
connections, water got inside the starter, and after a couple months
rendered the starter un-usable. We dissassembled the starter, knocked out
all the rust and crap. Put it back together and that started working again.

Like the man says, sooner you get it running the better. Then spray the
hell out of it with WD40, or something.

-b



wrote in message
...
On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 10:26:54 -0400, "D Smyth" wrote:

I've just recovered my 20 horse Merc outboard from the river. It went
under
when heavy rain submerged the small boat it was attached to.
I brought it indoors, dried up what I could, put a heat gun on wet areas,
especially the electrical components, took out the plugs, poured oil in
the
cylinders and pulled the starter a few times, drained the lower unit then
sprayed everything I could with WD 40.
a)Have I forgotten anything?
b)What are the odds on getting it going next spring?


The odds of getting it running next spring will increase greatly if
you take the time to get it running NOW.

BB

Belive it or not , I have a yamaha 15 hp 4 stroke that was under for 24 hours
plus ,in brackish, and after a year, it is still goodA!

Dang japs! Build a hellava motor