I can't believe I forgot...

[cshirley]

to take my plug out after I brought the boat home. Normally this wouldn't seem like a problem but while I was at work a massive storm came through and dumped water in my boat... no cover yet. I came home to water sitting 6-8" deep above the floor in my boat. I immediately pulled the plug and it has all drained but I'm wondering what kind of damage this could have caused to my already older floor.

Also, it was probably up to the starter, would it have trashed anything??

Thanks!

 

[ck85abc3]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

I don't think it caused much damage. A day submerged in water isn't much different than a day soaked in water.

 

[INJUN]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

Start it up to see if everything is okay.
Then open all vents/access holes to let her dry out.

 

[Maclin]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

It is an I/O boat? If so I can't see how the starter was NOT underwater....Anything electrical will suffer if it has been in or real close to the water, either internally with rust and corrosion or externally with connections starting to corrode.

I would remove the starter before trying to start it. At least disassemble what you can and let it dry, or have someone go thru it now, it will fail later if you don't.

Also with water that high it could have entered the drive shaft area. Might be time to remove the drive and take a look there as well.

I am sure there are more things that I have not mentioned. The floor may be the least of the worries for now.

Hopefully you can leave it uncovered in the sun for a couple of days.

 

[cshirley]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

Yeah its a 470/alpha one, just got it running and out on the lake this past weekend. I'll keep looking for issues related to this.

 

[Zero Balance]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

I'd get it running a while on the hose getting everything warmed up to evaporate any water lingering in your engines electrical components. Give it a few starts and if you feel confident take it out for the day and run the heck out of it. Use in this instance is far better than non use as it will dry your motor components out before the crud sets in. I wouldn't go tearing things apart until you run into a problem though. Boats get wet, Boats dry out. It's not like it sunk or anything.

 

[TheWoodCrafter]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

Forgetting to take them out is better than forgetting to put them in and finding that out 10 ft from the ramp.

 

[Newtoboating2008]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

Forgetting to take them out is better than forgetting to put them in and finding that out 10 ft from the ramp.

No kidding - except hubby remembered when we were much further - good thing he doesn't mind the occasional dive

 

[Boatist]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

You may want to add and bildge pump with a auto float switch for the next time. It may use a little battery but the water should not get high enough to do any damage.

 

[ovrrdrive]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

Good thing it was fresh water... I'd start it up and assuming it runs fine I wouldn't worry about it. A bilge pump should have been able to keep up with the rain though. If you have one find out what's wrong with it, or if you don't have one now would be a good time to add it.

 

[Maclin]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

6-8" above the floor is pretty high, on most boats that is up past the oil pan and almost to the top of the bellhousing. But maybe we need to define "floor". If cshirley meant 6-8 inches up off the floor of the bilge then that is a different story, and the water may have kissed the bottom of the oil pan and may have got to the starter, depends on the depth of the bilge. But if it was 6-8" over the floor level (or the deck, what you walk around on) then the starter was underwater. A starter is not self draining. Also if the water was up high enough it can get into the drive bellows housing from inside the boat. Once in there the ujoints can rust and that water can also try to enter the drive itself. Those parts of the boat are not supposed to see water no matter how fresh.

I'm just sayin'......

 

[cshirley]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

I had an automatic bilge pump on a switch and the switch was turned off because the sensor had gotten stuck a couple times and not shut the pump off.

I haven't tried a full blown start yet but I bumped the ignition and it did turn over.

Curtis

 

[bruceb58]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

If the water got up to the starter, you have to pull it.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

I would get it running and up to operating temp ASAP! Even if its on the trailer with muffs attached.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

At least you didn't do what I did, out in the middle of the lake, caught a nice size fish so I cut the live well fill pump on, I don't have a live well over fill outlet keep in mind. It wasn't until my uncle moved his tackle box that we seen that the carpet was getting wet, I forgot to cut the livewell fill pump off. The rub rails were touching the water . I had to play around with the bilge to get it to prime, finally got that working. Just a little longer and I could have sunk my boat.

Now I can't believe that I forgot that.

 

[Maclin]

Re: I can't believe I forgot...

cshirley,

Which "floor" were you measuring the water height from? Was it over the actual deck/flooring 6-8 inches? Or just in the bilge area 6-8 inches trying to get up to the deck/flooring?

And how deep is your bilge area.