Re: Starting Submerged Nissan
Since salt wasn't involved, you are in better shape than if it was. You've already confirmed that it isn't seized, so that's in your favor. There may be rust lurking in the cylinders, valves and rings, as well as the rest of the mechanicals; No way to know other that disassembly, and running the motor will be the acid test anyway. Most of the electronics can tolerate a dousing in fresh water, and if allowed to dry out thoroughly, will be OK. If you want to squirt some 2-stroke oil in the cylinders, that shouldn't hurt (though it will smoke of course). Likewise, you can blend up some 50-to-1 gas for the first hour or so of running, and then switch back to straight gas. If there is rust involved, that may help you to "break in" the motor once again.
The big thing about recovering from a submersion is to get all the water out, and as quickly as possible. Of course that's out of your hands -- evidently no one knows what was actually done when it was recovered from the water. I have salvaged motors that sat at the bottom of Lake Erie for a weekend, and after thoroughly drying them out (cylinders, crankcase, fuel system, electronics) -- immediately after getting them back ashore, they suffered no ill effects.
