Thanks to the several people who responded to my first post earlier this
week about my dunked Merc outboard. I took their advice and tried to get the
engine going.
With the plugs out, the starter cord turns her over with no problem. With
the plugs screwed in, it is almost impossible to pull the cord. ?????
Surely it didn't seize this soon. And if it is seized, surely it would not
be possible to turn her over with the cord.
The engine came out of the water Thursday and was promptly dried up as much
as possible and engine oil put into the two cylinders.
It was fresh water, not salt.
Any further advice would be very welcome.
tx
ds

My 1st thought is that there is still water in there causing hydrolock.
Water can't compress.

You may wanna pull it over *a lot* with someone else alternating some thumb
pressure on the plug holes - then try reinstalling the plugs. Fresh water is
in your favor. No it's not seized.

-W



"D Smyth" wrote in message
...
Thanks to the several people who responded to my first post earlier this
week about my dunked Merc outboard. I took their advice and tried to get
the
engine going.
With the plugs out, the starter cord turns her over with no problem. With
the plugs screwed in, it is almost impossible to pull the cord. ?????
Surely it didn't seize this soon. And if it is seized, surely it would
not
be possible to turn her over with the cord.
The engine came out of the water Thursday and was promptly dried up as
much
as possible and engine oil put into the two cylinders.
It was fresh water, not salt.
Any further advice would be very welcome.
tx
ds

"D Smyth" wrote in message
...

With the plugs out, the starter cord turns her over with no problem. With
the plugs screwed in, it is almost impossible to pull the cord. ?????

Do you normally start the engine with the pull cord?

I forgot what size these outboards were. If you are not familiar with rope
starting them, you may be surprised at how hard that can be. Way back in
the good old days it was common for the larger outboards (when 50 Hp was
considered large) to have compression release so you could crank them over
by hand.

If you are sure that it is harder than usual then it must be because there
is still some water in the cylinders. Take the plugs out, tip the engine so
that the spark plug hole is the lowest and crank it over some more. You
need to get the water out.

You might also try taking the plugs out one at a time and seeing if it is
one cylinder more than the other(s).

If you tend to the motor quickly you can generally avoid any ill effects at
all. I have dunked a number of outboards and they have all survived. The
usual practice is to pull the plugs and get the water out then restart ASAP.
Make sure that the gas supply is clean, so if the tank dunked with the
outboard then either get a fresh source of gas or make sure you have a water
separator in line.

If the motor has carburators (vs fuel injection) then it will likely have a
float bowl that is also full of water. Hopefull the float bowl has a drain
on the side that you can pull, otherwise it can be very difficult to get the
water out. A small outboard you can pick up and turn to some angle that
will allow some of the float bowl to drain, although you may have to
repeatedly rotate in order to defeat any anit-drain features.

Once the clylinders are dry, the spark plugs are dry, and the float bowls
drained you should attempt to start it. A little spray ether can help out,
as there may still be a little water in the inner passages of the carburator
that will make it hard to start. If it doesn't start right up, check to see
if you are getting spark. If there is no spark, then there might be water
in someplace that is interfering with the ignition circuit.

I have had my dinghy outboard dunked a few times. Recently, I managed to
submerge the back half half of my houseboat and the dual 50 Hp outboards
were a couple feet underwater for several minutes. Pulled the plugs,
drained the carburators and they both fired right up and didn't appear to
suffer any.

Rod

This sounds like an interesting story if you feel like telling.

Recently, I managed to
submerge the back half half of my houseboat and the dual 50 Hp outboards
were a couple feet underwater for several minutes.

"Paul" wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
This sounds like an interesting story if you feel like telling.

Recently, I managed to
submerge the back half half of my houseboat and the dual 50 Hp outboards
were a couple feet underwater for several minutes.



Not really as interesting as it may sound!

I purchased a 55' houseboat off a lake in Arizona and was having it
trucked to California. The lake didn't have any hoist facility so I had to
float the houseboat onto the trailer. The ramp was steep, so we floated the
bow into position on the truck and then slowly started pulling out. As the
bow went up, the stern went down.........

If I had realized ahead of time it was going to happen I might have tried
something else. Once the motors went under we might as well continue. We
had to add blocks and tie downs as we went, so it took a little while before
we could pull it clear of the water.

Rod

Hehe, I appreciate the story.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out how the back of the boat would be
submerged for just a few minutes. I was guessing an accident at the hoist or
something.



"Rod McInnis" wrote in message
...

"Paul" wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
This sounds like an interesting story if you feel like telling.

Recently, I managed to
submerge the back half half of my houseboat and the dual 50 Hp
outboards
were a couple feet underwater for several minutes.



Not really as interesting as it may sound!

I purchased a 55' houseboat off a lake in Arizona and was having it
trucked to California. The lake didn't have any hoist facility so I had
to
float the houseboat onto the trailer. The ramp was steep, so we floated
the
bow into position on the truck and then slowly started pulling out. As
the
bow went up, the stern went down.........

If I had realized ahead of time it was going to happen I might have tried
something else. Once the motors went under we might as well continue. We
had to add blocks and tie downs as we went, so it took a little while
before
we could pull it clear of the water.

Rod