Sunk 70 hp johnson

spirtS niggeB

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Oct 13, 2012
Messages
40
My boat sank last night from heavy rain. Just got it flipped over. Should it be fine with a complete fuel flush and new plugs? It sank in fresh water. Thanks!
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
You need to get all the water out of the motor and get it running ASAP. If you haven't done that by now go out and do it!! Or buy a new motor.
 

AEROCOOK

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
872
^^^^^X2^^^^^ After the powerhead is out of the water, time is your enemy, you have just a few hours at best before the damage starts. It's actually better to leave a submerged motor right where it is until you are prepared and equipped to get it dried out, running and go for a good long run to completely dry it out.
 

F_R

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
28,226
Drain the carburetors, flush clean gas through them, pull the plugs and crank the motor to blow the water out, spray everything down liberally with WD-40, and see if it will start. Most likely it will. May have to disable the kill circuit. The biggest problem will likely be the battery cables, and anything connected to the positive side of the battery. Electrolytic corrosion of that stuff is rapid and severe. But focus on getting it running first, even if you have to hand crank it. After you have run it awhile to dry it out, you can then tend to the electrical system. You will have to take the starter apart to clean and dry it. I fully agree, time is your enemy. The bearings in the motor are quick to etch. Let that happen, and you may as well junk it. I used to love it (NOT) when a tropical storm would pass through and I would have 4 or 5 motors (salt water) come into the shop at the same time. Been known to work late into the night to save them. BTW, most novices will lose the battle because they can't get it going quick enough. And I'm retired.
 
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spirtS niggeB

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Oct 13, 2012
Messages
40
After I flipped it over I took the plugs out and spun the flywheel many times with a rope to try pushing all the water out. After that I sprayed WD40 all in the plug holes. I hope to have it out of the water working on it around 1 today. At that point I will take the carbs off to drain them, pump fresh gear lube and gas in it and try to crank the thing.
 

Chinewalker

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Aug 19, 2001
Messages
8,902
Most of the electronics on a 2-stroke 70 will be just fine after a dunking, if they're in good shape. Cracked coils, potting loose in a power pack, or frayed wires could be an issue, but if all was good when it went under, they should be okay.
Pull the carb cover off, the whole assembly. Pull the three hex bolts out of the bottoms of each carb bowl. With FRESH gas/oil mix, pump it through the fuel system to flush out any water. NO SMOKING!!! This is a messy operation, and laying some old towels in the belly pan might help keep it out of the water/driveway/yard. Once the carbs have been flushed, put the plugs bowl plugs back in. Allow everything to air out a bit and dispose of the rags/towels used to sop up the gas. Clean the spark plugs with carb cleaner, etc. Check for spark - a simple laying of the plugs against the block will suffice here. If you have spark, and you've spun the motor over to blow out water from inside, put the plugs back in and attempt to start the motor. You may have to remove and re-dry the plugs a time or two as water beads will foul them. Once you get it running, RUN IT! Heat is your friend. Idling at the dock won't do, get out and take a few laps around the bay. Let it run for 20-30 minutes to completely dry it out.
Once the motor has been run for a bit, you can now deal with the starter motor, as it likely has water in it. Remove the starter, and pop the bottom cap off. Take care not to lose any springs. Blow it out with compressed air, oil up the upper and lower bearings, and let it sit in the sun to dry out any residual moisture. A pair of putty knives can be used to hole the brushes in place when you reinstall the cap after drying. Would be a good time to inspect the brushes for wear while you're in there.
 

Vic.S

Rear Admiral
Joined
May 4, 2004
Messages
4,719
Drain the carburetors, flush clean gas through them, pull the plugs and crank the motor to blow the water out, spray everything down liberally with WD-40, and see if it will start. Most likely it will. May have to disable the kill circuit. The biggest problem will likely be the battery cables, and anything connected to the positive side of the battery. Electrolytic corrosion of that stuff is rapid and severe. But focus on getting it running first, even if you have to hand crank it. After you have run it awhile to dry it out, you can then tend to the electrical system. You will have to take the starter apart to clean and dry it. I fully agree, time is your enemy. The bearings in the motor are quick to etch. Let that happen, and you may as well junk it. I used to love it (NOT) when a tropical storm would pass through and I would have 4 or 5 motors (salt water) come into the shop at the same time. Been known to work late into the night to save them. BTW, most novices will lose the battle because they can't get it going quick enough. And I'm retired.



But the OP's boat sank in fresh water so corrosion is not such a problem that it would be if it had sunk in salt water.
 

Chinewalker

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Aug 19, 2001
Messages
8,902
How exactly will I go about flushing the fuel system?

Use fresh mixed fuel, in a clean tank. More than likely the boat tank has water in it, so either drain that and start fresh, or borrow a portable tank and start fresh. Hook it up to the motor and prime it through with the bulb, with the bowl screws out until you get clean fuel going through. Run the motor on that portable tank until you get the boat's tank cleaned up.
 

oldboat1

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Apr 3, 2002
Messages
9,612
story alert:

happens I got a dunked motor this spring ('91 9.9 Johnson). I wanted the lower unit, but then decided to see if anything else could be saved. This motor was frozen. I pulled the powerhead, filled it with ATF, drained and refilled it two or three times. Got the pistons to move a little, and filled the cylinders with ATF. After about a month of repeated soaking, I could spin it with the flywheel. Opened up the frozen starter and sprayed it down with WD-40, cleaned and freed up the rusted brushes, sprayed it again. Rebuilt the carb -- was borrowing the ignition assembly for another motor, and cleaned the parts up as I went. Put in an impeller (looking to use the 15" l.u.).

Anyway, bottom line is I put the thing back together and it ran, and still runs -- and runs well. Couldn't believe it. I mean, there were weeds and debris in the pan -- really was sunk and left for dead. This one didn't get the triage they are supposed to get, and went to a parts pile -- which would have been appropriate.

So your motor is probably on the way back. not an engineer or a mechanic, but these things are really interesting critters.
 

spirtS niggeB

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Oct 13, 2012
Messages
40
Got to it around 2 this afternoon and with the help of some starting fluid got it bitchin around 4. Drove it for about 40 minutes like nothing ever happened to it. Gonna take the starter off tonight and give it a major tune up over the next week. Looking forward to various electrical problems in the coming months. Just happy to get it back. Thanks everyone for the input.

I've also brought back some old seized outboards by pouring oil in the plug hole and taking carb off to expose the crankshaft. That old wizard runs pretty well when I use it, just gotta get around to replacing the shaft seal from previous owners running into fishing line.

Thanks again!
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
38,461
Water inside a 2 stoke motor like that is a huge problem.---Perfect galvanic cell is present.----Crankshaft bearings will show corrosion marks after 24 hrs -EVEN WHEN SUBMERGED IN FRESH WATER !!!!!!
 
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