Sodium chloride....
The original poster lives in Waldorf MD.....I used to live there and there is nothing but salt water around that area. If this machine inhaled an engine full of salt water, my understanding is that all the seals and such and internals are basically ruined by injesting salt? Is this correct or is blowing out the plug holes, carbs and adding a little oil and going on with your day acceptable? I ask this because when I lived there back in 2000, my best friends Yamaha GP1200R was out there at Solomon's Island and he had just gotten it back from the dealer as he lost the third cylinder on another trip out we made so the engine was rebuilt under warranty (hated that boat, yamaha POS)....well they did not put some hose back in correctly and as it was sitting in the water, it was filling up. It partially sunk and injested water into the engine. We were able to get it to shore, drain the water and pull the plugs and finally get it going again later that day......The engine ended up locking up and going bad about a couple weeks later on another trip out and it was determined that the salt water damaged the engine internals and ate the seals. It sat parked in the garage after being run and the inside of the engine rusted and decomposed in the time it was not being used. It just seems to me on here that the overall concensus is that water in an engine is no big deal, but I have always seen that be the end of the engine in most cases!
Pretty interesting....baron.mason, run it like your not going to live tomorrow.
The hardest part about ingesting water is getting it running as quickly as possible, to keep the dreaded "rust" from forming. If you can't get it running right away, pour a mix of oil and fuel into the intake system and remove the plugs, do the same. What you'll be doing is trying to displace any water in direct contact with metal. Why? Water has dissolved oxygen in it. Un-protected metal, exposed to oxygen starts the process of iron or aluminum oxide. I had a friend whose ski sunk. He pulled it up but couldn't get it out and service it. I told him to drop it back in the water (1991 Yamaha). That's because, the engine submerged in water is better protected than one you take out and just leave to sit. Three days later, I was able to help him out. We pulled it up, he had 3 of these things so he changed out the control module and after a few hours of work, it was running again. I saw him on the river with it this year, so it's still running.
If you pull the plugs, blow out as much water as you can. You will not blow it all out because you have the plugs out, not creating any pressure from combustion to blow it out the exhaust system.
Alcohol...? Alcohol absorbs water molecules. So, once you've gone through the process of blowiong out all the water and still can't get it started, pour in about 1/2 oz of alcohol. Alcohol absorbs water. It will look up the molecule and help to displace it out the tail pipe.
Like you did, you finally got it running. That's the best solution. Now....salt? Because all water, including fresh water, has some type of minerals in them, I would not "flush" it out with salt water. When you get the motor running, the heat will make the sodium chloride soluble, allowing the oil in your fuel to once again provide a boundry between the metal parts and the atmosphere. You will re-establish lubrication again. The soluble salts will be blows out the exhaust pipe. Therefore, they will only survive in the engine for a short period of time.
Running the motor as much as you can the first week after submersion is the best thing you can do. When your done and going to set it up for a week or two, pull the plugs and spray a little white lithium in it (carbs too if there'll easily accessible).
The externals are now the next most important thing. Literally wash the engine down with fresh water. Even though the electricals are "water resistant", they are not complelty "water proofed"......so, do not aim a hard stream at your magneto or electrical boxes. Also, if you have the proper air box, water should be deflected away from the inside of your engine. Spray the entire inside hull down, not just the enigine. You can tell if there is salts left because on plastics or fiberglass, they will quickly crystalize and/or turn white.
ONce you clean the hull, remove and thing you put on to protect your electricals and re-start the engine. Have it cooled with your hose. Run it for a few minutes to heat everything back up, drying it out.
Last..........take a can of WD or Cosmoline and literally spray the entire engine down, as if your spray paiinting it. This will leave a small barrier between the air and metals, keeping rust from forming. Make sure you spray all linkages well. Personally, for me, I use the white lithium grease on all my moving parts..............
IF you find your having problems with shorts, popping fuses, this can be caused by the salts. IT's an excellent condutor of electricity. YOu'll want to buy a tube of "die electirc" grease, which is made special for electrical connections and is kinda expensive. But, start one at a time, taking apart your connectors, looking for corrosion and then, applying the grease as a preservative and allowing you to regain contact. I would def do the mag plug. That would be my first one.............
I hope this helps everyone out. I have written this before but after all these years, it's probably buried 10 pages back...........good luck!:cheers:
and got her up to 45mph. Of course a lot of smoke came out of the rear, but I expected that. No severe problems yet. I'm not too concerned about the salt. This is a 95! She's seen a lot of salt as well as fresh water everywhere. Especially in the Waldorf, MD area, the water is usually brackish (salt and fresh mixed) But, I did clean the engine and internals. I will change the spark plugs and keep her running to flush the system as much as possible. I'll keep you'all posted........
