Motor in the drink What to do?

[Jarrah Jack]

My crazy surfer mate has just brought an ex surf lifesaver inflatable with a new 25 merc. He wants to do some towins on the local bommies and all types of things he sees in the surfer movies.

I figure that it is only a matter of a short time before he sees what the bottom of the boat looks like in the water as he has only skippered a canoe before.

I want to give him what information I can as a present for his new boat.

When the motor ends up in the drink I guess it would be best to remove the plugs and pull start it to get rid of the water. Then fill the whole motor with oil and spray crc into the cylinders. Presume you would then pull everything apart an go with the crc.

Has anyone got any other ideas on the best way to approach the forthcoming calamity?

[kokomo]

carby
check fuel filters
electrics

[oldboot]

I baught the genuine paper mercury manual for the 30HP....and it gives detailed instructions on how to proceed in the case of a submersion......and the recomendations vary slightly on the circumstances.

cheers

[BM]

Jarrah,

Upon immersion conduct the following:

Remove the engine from the vessel as soon as possible (talking within minutes, couple of hours max here). Time is absolutely critical to the formation of surface rust on critical areas.

Strip the engine and immerse all internal powerhead components in oil.

An engine that is stripped and dumped in oil stands a very good chance of surviving relatively unharmed. But you must be quick. Root around and its all over.

cheers

[FNQCairns]

Another way to look at it is, if it's just salt water, right the inflatable while floating around pull the plugs, pull start it as many times as possible, reinsert the plugs grab the can of start you bastard spray some down the carb throat and wait for it to start, then just use it like it never sank. You may or may not need to drain the float bowl, probably not on average i suspect.

That's what the commercial fellas do multiple times to any one engine over it's service, with or without the can of spray.

Deliberately waiting to do lots of extra work can just compound the problem, time is the key.

cheers fnq

[gazza2006au]

My crazy surfer mate has just brought an ex surf lifesaver inflatable with a new 25 merc. He wants to do some towins on the local bommies and all types of things he sees in the surfer movies.

I figure that it is only a matter of a short time before he sees what the bottom of the boat looks like in the water as he has only skippered a canoe before.

I want to give him what information I can as a present for his new boat.

When the motor ends up in the drink I guess it would be best to remove the plugs and pull start it to get rid of the water. Then fill the whole motor with oil and spray crc into the cylinders. Presume you would then pull everything apart an go with the crc.

Has anyone got any other ideas on the best way to approach the forthcoming calamity?
i doubt u can ski behind a 25hp? :-/

Another way to look at it is, if it's just salt water, right the inflatable while floating around pull the plugs, pull start it as many times as possible, reinsert the plugs grab the can of start you bastard spray some down the carb throat and wait for it to start, then just use it like it never sank. You may or may not need to drain the float bowl, probably not on average i suspect.

That's what the commercial fellas do multiple times to any one engine over it's service, with or without the can of spray.

Deliberately waiting to do lots of extra work can just compound the problem, time is the key.

cheers fnq

i agree i have had alot of water into my seadoo engine bay a few times to the point where the motor is half under the water and it all gets sucked into the engine we just pull the plugs crank the engine over untill all the water is out spray a engine starting mixture from a spray can onto the spark plugs to clean any water or salt than spray some down the heads replace plugs crank her over let her start up and gain proper idle RPM than ride it for a fair while to get everything lubed again and get rid of any water left in the engines cases

[Saltboy]

I'd also access the surf lifesaving website and download their procedures for a submerged motor. Having been driving surf club IRB's since 1984, the speed that you start your procedures with is vital. Sooner the better. I'd also get the motor checked out by a quality marine mechanic as clubby motors get thrashed, especially if they have been raced.

Dave

[Jackinthebox]

i doubt u can ski behind a 25hp? :-/


Mate, don't doubt it.

We used to tow each other on surfboards with a 15hp outboard.

A 25hp is a lot more grunt, especially behind a rubber ducky!

[cormorant]

Hope your mate knows the rules and requirements for using a boat as a "tow in" boat and the extra qualifications he needs for whatever state he is in?

[DONTdoIT]

Mate, don't doubt it.

We used to tow each other on surfboards with a 15hp outboard.

A 25hp is a lot more grunt, especially behind a rubber ducky!


we used a 18hp and that towed a skier hehe better on body board tho ;)-

[Daryl McPhee]

BM is right about the time issue. Get to it quickly before rusting sets in.

[Blackened]

G'day

I can even tow a skurfer with my 9.9 and 12' tinny, can certainly be done.

For the safety of your mate, get him out there with someone experienced first.

Dave

[BM]

Re the skiing aspect,

Around 1960 Mercury wanted to prove their "superiority" over the other brands at an upcoming Moomba (Vic) event.

They had Savage build a lightweight 10ft tinny, put a 4hp Merc on her with a tiller extension and a lightweight male driver.

His even more lightweight girlfriend was out back on trick ski's (the wide ones).

The 4hp engine deep started the girlfriend and towed her around no problems.

Just shows what can be done.

Cheers

[Jarrah Jack]

Thanks for the thoughtful answers there. I'll now present him with the thread and a can of start you bastard.

We are going away to a surfing break in far south NSW next week to try out the boat and do some fishing and diving . I'll do a report and let you know how it goes. No towins though, not the right place or forecast conditions .

[gazza2006au]

watch out for the great whites lol :D;D:o

[BM]

Give him a crankshaft, main + big end bearings, pistons, conrods, small end bearings and all other internal components to go with his can of "start ya bastard".....

[Mike Delisser]

I was a clubby a few moons ago and from time to time need to deal with a dunked motor. First thing we did was right the duckie and try and start the motor. If that worked (and that wasn't often) we'd race around for a while then come in and give it a good spray with CRC. If it didn't start we'd surf the duck in, pull the motor off, take off the cowling and hose down with fresh. Then we'd take out the plugs and pour some fuel into the cyclinder head, shake it around and place the motor so the plug holes face down. Now we pull the starter rope about 30 times (making sure didn't spark near the fuel), replace the plugs then try and start the motor in the test tank. If it started we'd run it for 20min, if it didn't we'd repeat the process and if it still failed we'd sink the outboard upside down in a wheelie bin full of fresh water and call the machanic. Most of the time we would end up get the outboard running ourselves.
BTW I would never buy an outboard from a surf club myself unless it was very, very cheap.
Cheers
Mike

[Braddles]

surf clubs generally are not made of money... RIBs are left on the beach all day with salt water drying through the engine, then revved flat out through the waves again then beached and dried out again...

The would have countles hours and a hard life

I wouldnt buy one personally - they dont sell a good motor to buy a new one.

My advice would be - dont go too far out in it (further than swimming distance) - unless you have a radio in a waterproof floating bag.

[Noelm]

plenty of surf club motors still operating long after being sold to other people, they do indeed get a new motor even if they have one that is OK, they turn them over at a high rate, sometimes they may keep an older motor that is going well, and flog off a newer one that is a bit shabby, make no mistake, they are flogged to death, full of sand, never flushed, and abused every day of their life, but they just keep going and going, kind of funny how they have never moved into 4 strokes huh!

[Noelm]

OH and just thought I would mention, not too sure a "duck" is the best option for a tow boat, it will be OK for sure, but not the best (I reckon)

[Jarrah Jack]

OH and just thought I would mention, not too sure a "duck" is the best option for a tow boat, it will be OK for sure, but not the best (I reckon)

He is going to use the boat for a variety of things like fishing and diving and getting to breaks rarely surfed. It will be a good learning experience. These surfers grew up in the water , always wear wet suits and feel at home in stuff that we would never wish to experience.

Also, to others in the thread, the motor he got with the boat is new. Never been used in the surf.