Submerged starter

[pcatterall]

My new starter submerged... sob sob.
For a rounded picture of my bank holiday weekend first read my previous post.
Got on the boat to find 12" of water sloshing around. Pumped out.(using domestic batteries).. where did all that oil come from?? Tried the starter which had been well and truly submerged.. no go of course. Removed starter and tested on deck.. feeble attempt by toothed wheel to fly up shaft, stripped starter cleaned brushes and contacts, put in oven for an hour, rebuilt and tested, still seemed weak.
dug out trusty B&Q genny charged battery for 8 hours and also the domestic bank another 8 hours ( 3 cheers for the cheapo genny lobby) I was cleaning the bilges for that 16 hours ( and looking for the leak)
Still no real thrust from the starter so decided to bring it home.
Havn't found the leak !! but I suspect that I turned the raw water sea cock on rather than off ( how? thats another story!!)
and there is a slight drip at the heat exchanger.
Questions... will my starter be salvagable if proffesionally stripped and dried?
How do you really test the thrust on a starter (4108 engine)
Bearing in mindthat the harbour launch patrols the moored boat would a low voltage ( flashing LED?) water level alarm be of value?
I will go back to threads about warnings via your mobile and see what I can set up but possibly the above would be a simple low tech solution.
I hope the rest of you had a good bank holiday!!
Regards

 

[VicS]

The crucial thing I think is did you wash it with fresh water to remove the salt? The first thing you should have done was simply to have submerged it in fresh water. If salt has now dried out in there it is going to be very difficult to wash it out.

 

[philip_stevens]

Adding to VicS message, you should now try to get the dried out salt from the starter by putting it in very hot soapy water - not exactly boiling, but out of the immersion.

I had a submerged starter on one of our previous boats, and as Vic said, it should have been immediately immersed in fresh water, and again in another bucket of fresh water - 3 or 4 changes. Mine only had to then come home and go in the airing cupboard overnight and it was OK.

I had another starter motor immersed on the ships lifeboat when I was in the MN. The lifeboat should have had the plug left out, but the cadet in his enthusiasm put it in - thinking he was doing the right thing. I took that starter to the engine room, washed it a few times and then left it on top of one of the cylinders of the main engine to dry. Sprayed it with some varnish, and replaced it. Started OK.

Anything electrical that gets covered in salt water should be washed immediately in warm or hot fresh water - electronics, motors, outboards, whatever. Mostly they will recover when dried out.

 

[TigaWave]

It may be worth checking your gearbox and engine oil as well to see if there is any water contamination, salt water in here will only add to your problems. I believe most gearboxes will have vents that when submerged can let water in.

 

[DavidGrieves]

Hi

I suffered a similar fate with my last boat, when water entered via poorly designed cockpit drains. Water flooded my starter, I got a local electrician to strip it and rebuild it. I think it cost about £100 but that was a few years ago, still a good deal as the replacement Volvo part was £600 ish? Try and find an auto electrician, probably cheaper than a marine engineer!

You said "where did all that oil come from??" Did water get into the engine? I got water in mine through the dipstick hole! Have you checked the oil? If it's higher on the stick than normal, water might have got in!

The engine and starter are still running today so you should be OK if dealt with quickly.

Hope the rest of your weekend goes better…


Dave

 

[pcatterall]

Yes thanks guys, I should have remebered the fresh water thing as a first action . I will still do it as water shoud still desolve any residual salt albeit over more time.
My comment about oil was really more about the way that the 'normall oil' in the bilges gets everywhere. ( In fact there was quite a bit of oil in the bilges due to pin hole leak in the oil filter, I had intened to clean this up on my visit but the leak had distributed it throughout the bilges)
Thanks again

 

[VicMallows]

[ QUOTE ]
( 3 cheers for the cheapo genny lobby)

[/ QUOTE ]


Bad luck, but can't agree more about the genny. Mine has 'saved' me a couple of times when I've had the heater on a bit too long ...... and somehow managed to leave the switch in the BOTH position. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Vic

 

[Kawasaki]

What a Crap weekend, what with Parking and all!
PM sent ref starter motor and stuff.