Stones in Shaft- Sank my Outboard!!

[Daesal]

Hi. Im a idiot. My outboard (Honda 15hp 4 stroke) went for a swim. The bottom is mud and stones. The cowl came off and there is a heavy mixture of mud and stones surrounding the engine.i think there will also be mud/stones down the shaft. Im afraid to hose the engine off because it will send more mess down the shaft. If anyone has any encouraging ideas it would be very very gratefully recieved!

 

[Seastoke]

Hi. Im a idiot. My outboard (Honda 15hp 4 stroke) went for a swim. The bottom is mud and stones. The cowl came off and there is a heavy mixture of mud and stones surrounding the engine.i think there will also be mud/stones down the shaft. Im afraid to hose the engine off because it will send more mess down the shaft. If anyone has any encouraging ideas it would be very very gratefully recieved!

Drain oil turn upside down hose

 

[Daesal]

Drain oil turn upside down hose

Wow! Thanks . Great idea. Just drained the oil.LOTS of water in it. Fingers crossed.

 

[Gemini]

Wow! Thanks . Great idea. Just drained the oil.LOTS of water in it. Fingers crossed.

Remove the spark plugs hand pull over to eject any water
and refill with oil and hand pull over to get the oil circulating the components plus small quantity in each cylinder via spark plug hole
Drain the fuel filter and carb remove air filter spray WD 40 to protect parts
Flush the engine with flushing oil and then new oil.
Break electrical joints and clean all connections regrease
Hopefully no long term damage

 

[CLB]

You need to get the engine running asap.

 

[Daesal]

Thanks for all the info. Very Helpful.
Was up til the early hours trying to get it started....and a lot of today!
Drained oil....lots of water came out.
I have now changed the oil 3 times.
Refilled Oil
Took Spark Plugs out
WD40 in plug hole
Blew WD40 out by pulling starter cord.
Cleaned fuel filter
Changed fuel line to engine.
Took Carb off and cleaned - bit of gunk and lots water.
Reattached Carb
Checked for spark from spark plugs-yes
Put bit petrol in spark plug hole to help start.
Put Spark plugs back in
Pulled choke out.
The recoil mechanism has stopped working on the pull cord so i have to use a cord wrapped around top engine.
Sometimes i get a quick start, probably just the petrol in the plug hole .
Tried with a bit of generic easy start too.
Sometimes a quick turn/start.
Generally nothing, the flywheel does turn tho.
Maybe im a bit late?
Will keep trying

 

[Daesal]

"Drain oil turn upside down hose"
Worked great gor cleaning. Thank you

 

[CLB]

I take it the outboard wasn't running when it went in?

 

[Seastoke]

I would get the recoil working rope pull is shite

 

[Daesal]

Engine wasnt running when it went in.
Yes rope pull definitely not doing any favours.

 

[Daesal]

Tried to wind up the spring in the recoil but its not doing much. Get about two turns and it stops

 

[Seastoke]

Tried to wind up the spring in the recoil but its not doing much. Get about two turns and it stops

It could have a stone in.

 

[Daesal]

I was afraid of that. It sounds like it could be. From previous experience i was trying not to take the mechanism apart but naybe i have to?

 

[Daesal]

The main spring was ok but you were right there was mud blocking the small spring that engages the recoil mechanism thing.
Pull cord is working agsin now but no sign of engine firing.

 

[Daesal]

Ahh!!!
Working!!!
Thanks so much to all of you for help and info.

 

[Beamishken]

My pal did a similar thing with a 2.5 yam & he couldnt stop the oil going milky eventualy we discovered there was a breather pipe to the valve cover which had a baffle built in to prevent oil spilling & its design meant that you couldnt drain the water from it without removing the valve cover. It may be worth checking if yours has a crank case ventilation system that returns to an internal baffle system that retains water after submerging

 

[Seastoke]

Change the oil again

 

[Daesal]

Doesnt seem to be a spill baffle. Thanks.
Changed the oil again today . The oil coming out looked ok, maybe a bit sludgy. 1 litre oil goes to 3/4 way up dipstick so far i have done 4 changes. Do you think its worth doing more to be sure?
Strange thing too. Engine runs and revs ok without the cowl but when i put the cowl back on it won't rev up,and sometimes cuts out if i put the throttle up.

 

[Beamishken]

The one my pal did was fine as soon as you changed the oil but after running it would go milky after a few hours the breather was breathing into a small reservoir of oil designed as a baffle to stop any oil mist. As the engine breathed slightly it displaced the water turning the oil white again
Only cure was removing the valve cover and washing it out with diesel

 

[Seastoke]

Change oil again , it might be short of air with cowl on check carb ,