Outboard in water,saved

[ditchcrawler]

Yesterday I propped my 2 year old Tohatsu 3.5 up against the service column on the pontoon to drain as I got my dinghy out of the water.Needless to say the outboard slid over bounced once & disappeared into the essex water & mud(Thats why it is called the Blackwater)I got it back by dredging with my dinghy grapnel but it was in 6ft of water for about half an hour.I took it home,took the covers off,took out the spark plug ,sprayed the electrics with WD40,& left it to dry in my very hot shed.I have just tried it in a water filled dustbin & great joy it started 3rd pull.Well done Tohatsu.
Question.Is their anything else to do & will it suffer long term damage

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[bruce]

just let the electricals dry out, rolled a small day sailor and had same problem, motor started up after removing water from carb. would prob set it to dry in a position that would allow water to evaporate easier, up side down perhaps and covers off. you did wash off with fresh water, if not would do it to remove the salt residue.

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[jerryat]

Agree Bruce. It is essential to thoroughly wash the whole outboard in fresh water to remove the salt and the (almost) certainty of future corrosion. I was told many years ago by an extremely good outboard engineer, that if you drop your O/B in salt water, dunk it completely in fresh water and shake it around for several minutes. The electrics are already wet so no further damage will be done, BUT, most if not all of the potential salt crystals will be removed.

Remove the motor, drain the tank, carb, remove the plug(s) and drain the oil (if 4 stroke)pull it over several times to blow out as much water as possible, then leave to dry for an hour or so in a warm room or airing cupboard.

Insert plugs, fill oil and fuel, and start! Leave the motor running for at least 1/2 hour, though an hour would be better. This will ensure complete dry out.

I have had this situation about three times over the years, and this regime has proved infallable. Most important of all though, there was no damage whatsoever to the motors.

Hope this helps.

Goood sailing.

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[nickjaxe]

I would agree it needs to be dunked in a tank of fresh water asap.

Nick.

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[oldharry]

But if, as happened to me, fresh water is not available, a large quantity of wd40 did the trick. My Johnson 4 dinghy engine got dropped o/b while transferring from the boat near HW, into some 10 feet. We retrieved it at LW, but being miles from anywhere had no means of washing it off. I sprayed all the engine externals copiously with WD, removed and dried the carb, then flooded the crankcase through the inlet manifold, and the combustion chamber through the plug hole. Shake it all thoroughly, drain off the excess, and turn the engine on the pullcord until tired!.

Another spray of WD in the electrics etc, reassemble everything (fresh fuel after draining off the fuel tank of course), and hey presto it worked!

At least an hours run thrashing around the bay (kids enjoyed doing that bit for me!), and it worked perfectly for quite a few years. In fact it started much easier and ran a bit better as a result of this treatment.....

Not a recommended tuning or servicing method though!

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[steve28]

Whilst in the scillies last month a friend managed to lose his johnson off the dinghy as a result of the swell(ripped it up sideways and off)
Anyway he didnt notice untill we got to the harbour wall so initially we did not know where it had come off.
A search with a diver proved no use as the vis was poor after the swell. After four days the water had settled down enough to just see the bottom at low water and after cruising around in another dinghy we spotted it. recovery was easy in 3.5 meters of water and a line with a carabina on.
We took the outboard to the main quay and the nice harbour master let us fill his wheely bin with fresh water, removed the spark plug and we dunked it vigourously for 3/4 hour, dumped the petrol and the stripped the carb down and reassembled it.
Dried in the tropical sun and a good coat of wd40 everywhere and tested it and it started on the 2nd pull.
The end of the story however is not so good in that after drying for quite a period of time the engine was perfect to start but developed an electrical fault the following day!
It turned out to be the exciter coil under the flywheel which is not what i would have expected but am now told is the most common fault with electronic ingition systems as it has no protection seals at all.(it just provides the power for the timing circuit)

The moral to the story is fresh water will certainly help prevent internal corrosion but the electronics/electrics is 50/50 chance

steve



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[milltech]

I deaded mine because I just started it, and it went to the end of the season, and then I put it away for three years. Engineer says it's stuffed, salt water corrosion in the carb I think he said. It runs for a couple of minutes and dies.

...it is of course for sale. Tohatsu 3.3 sold as seen without any guarantee as to condition or fitness for any purpose!



<hr width=100% size=1>John
http://www.on-line-marine.com