95 6hp johnson

[Nathan Sampson]

I am trying to get this outboard ready for my buddies boat. OK i want to start off by telling you that this outboard has been under water. Him and 2 other buddies sank it in a shallow water shed like a bunch of goofs. I have gotten it started several times by using starting fluid before I learned that was bad to do to it. At first after i got it started the first times it was rough and very tricky to get it to go into gear. Then after a while i was able to even sit with it idling and being able to go through forward neutral and reverse as i pleased. But during all of this if I was to shut it off for any reason I could forget about getting it to start a second time that day. Did not matter how many hours had passed would not start at all. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pappy]

Depending on the amount of time that passed between when the engine sank and when you tried to start it (and what you were running in on) you may be beating a dead horse.
Submerged engines are best started immediately and run for a minimum of at least 30 minutes (the longer the better) in order to dry out the water that accumulates in the lower main bearing area. This is typically hard to remove and takes time to dry and replace with lubricant. Second..........being started on starting fluid the engine was run on zero lubrication which, unfortunately, was what the engine needed most at that time. The engine needed heat from prolonged running and plenty of lubrication to bring the engine back into a protected state.
State the time frame from the submersion until now and lets see where it leads.

 

[Nathan Sampson]

I got it started a week after it sank and ever weekend after wards. but it has not been a year since he sank it. Should he just take it in and get it serviced? I know the engine was off when he sank it if that helps any?

 

[Pappy]

Truthfully, that powerhead is probably toast. It may get running but will probably fail catastrophically in a short time.You can try your luck at a dealer but by all means let them know exactly what happened so they spend no additional time on the engine than necessary. Let us know how it turns out.