OT small engine under water

Northbender · Mar 12, 2010

Have a gas powered water pump at the farm in the basement. Water has been coming in and I've been pumping it out. Well to get to the piont, I didn't make it out there for a couple of days, the water in the basement was bout 20" deep. I puuled the pump to higher ground, but basically it was completely underwater. Question is do I have to completely go through the motor now, or what are the odds of being able to drain the oil and gas, refill with new and be ok? Worst part is it was a loaner from a friend( he's got about a dozen and he loans me the brand new one), this is how my luck has been going since I started building, oh well, could be worse. Aprreciate your thoughts or advice.

old · Mar 12, 2010

Well as long as it has not locked up you should be able to drain it all and be ok. Had a guy that was riding one of my motorcycles many years ago jump a pond bank and took it and him self for a swim and we pulled the bike out drain and dried out the ignition and it was good to go again

bo · Mar 12, 2010

Get the oil out, get it running, make sure no water in cylinder...change oil a few times and it"ll be ok. Rust hasn"t had a chance to set in. Get a hair dryer on the electrical. Fess up to your friend.

Roger in Iowa · Mar 12, 2010

Recently resurrected a snowblower that went thru a flood two years ago. Still had water in fuel tank, crankcase and starter. Took carburetor apart and thoroughly cleaned, didn't touch ignition, flushed crankcase several times with diesel fuel and then oil. Also drained and flushed fuel tank.
Ran all this winter when needed with no problems.

GregCO · Mar 12, 2010

Dump the fuel, Change the oil, and pull the spark plug and roll it over to get the water out of the cylinder. Start it back up and let it run for a few minutes and shut it down. Check the oil and if it is milky change it again and start it back up and run it again for a few minutes. Keep changing oil until it stops getting milky. when it clears up let it run for an hour or so and you should be good to go.
I have saved several engines that have been submerged and never had to go into them.

Greg

Northbender · Mar 12, 2010

Thanks guys, thats what I was hoping to hear. And I'll definitely tell my buddy what happened. I know he won't let me replace it, but I'll make it up to him somehow.

Goose · Mar 12, 2010

Way, way back when, when I was in the boat repair business, I did a few outboards that had been sunk. Mostly on freshwater sinks it was just a matter of cleaning them up, drying them out, and starting up with fresh oil and gas.

Never had to deal with a salt water sink, but I heard when an engine is sunk in salt water, you have 6 hours to get it torn down, cleaned out, dried out, reassembled, and running again.
Otherwise it's an anchor instead of a propellant.

Paul from MI · Mar 12, 2010

About 50 years ago I repaired an old Briggs Model 6 engine that went thru a flood. The only thing I had to do was replace the coil. I'm sue a more modern engine with a better sealed coil wouldn't require anything. Just drain all of the fluids, replace with clean fresh gas and oil and run.
Paul

Anonymous-0 · Mar 12, 2010

There were so many things tossed ffrom the flood here in Cedar Rapids ,made me sic . City told everyone it was junk and contaminated . I saw toolboxs, chainsaws, mowers , you name it headed for landfill. I did grab a coupl egas grills, chain saw , Guy i know got a new 2 stage snow blower and a diesel Scag zero turn . Was headed for trash .

BCnT · Mar 12, 2010

its hard enuff keeping stuff running on top of salt water...i was raised on Galveston Island...dealt with more n one improvised submarine...once anything electrical goes under...its junk...some run awhile but never seen anything completely cured...we called it Gulf Cancer

CLTX · Mar 12, 2010

As I remember, engines dunked in salt water were usually immersed in fresh water after removing plugs and pulled through to flush out any salt water in the cylinders. They could then be left alone for a time, then flushed out with diesel/kerosene etc. and dried out as previously mentioned. If pulled from salt water and left alone without any attention for a few hours, they were junk.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 13, 2010

I would like to add to all the good advice you have recieved on this thread.

Make sure when you are cleaning/drying the motor up to NOT forget about the carb and air cleaner. Be sure to remove the air cleaner and clean it, the throat of the carb. Replace the filter if it's paper element...may want to replace it if it's foam rubber.

Brian Jasper co. Ia · Mar 13, 2010

I found a model 100402 Briggs engine in a junk pile in the ditch left from some previous owner. It just happened to be the same engine as the worn out one on my EZ Vac. I don't know how long it was there, I pulled the side cover and dumped out the water. It looked OK so I filled it with oil, cleaned the carb, new set of points and I now have a good engine on my Vac.

OT small engine under water

Northbender

Member

old

Well-known Member

bo

Well-known Member

Roger in Iowa

Well-known Member

GregCO

Member

Northbender

Member

Goose

Well-known Member

Paul from MI

Well-known Member

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

BCnT

Well-known Member

CLTX

Member

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

Brian Jasper co. Ia

Well-known Member

Similar threads