DInghy Flipped Over in Hurricane Sandy, What to Do?

[bene505]

Our dinghy flipped over during hurricane Sandy. She was tied to the back of our boat as I was adding an anchor and anti-chafe in a very protected little cove. The engine was not running. Engine completely immersed in salt water and the cowling is gone.

Tohatsu 20 hp, 4 stroke, manual start.

Any idea what I should do to get it going again? Do I need to have it professionally serviced or can I let it dry for a few days and start it?

I am planning to hose it down with fresh water as soon as I can.

Regards,
Brad

[GordMay]

Keep it wet; until you are able to strip it down and clean, lube' & dry it.

[dirkdig]

Get fresh water onto it asap and really wash it,
Dry it out as best you can,which may currently be an issue.

Lube it with spray full on.
Pull the plugs to see if any water got in,if so turn it over to pump the water out, oil the pistons up if needed.
Run it if you think its ok to, this will help dry it and lube it up too.
Call mechanic for check.
Run it everyday for a week.
Problems happen when rust film forms on bearings and then once its there it scores the metal when run and they get worse quickly and break down destroying themselves and the engine.
We sink jetskis all the time and do the above to get them going again.
Fourstrokes and two strokes.
Harder to get at all th bits too.

[capngeo]

I've got engines running that were under 20' of salt water for hours. Because your's was not running, is a big plus!

1. Fresh water rinse externally (complete immersion if possible)
2. remove plugs, and spray cylinders liberally with WD40 while turning over engine by hand, stop spraying, and turn over several more times, install plugs
3. drain and refill engine oil
4. spray entire engine with WD40
5. remove carb, dump water out of bowl, blow out passages with WD40, reinstall
6. prime with fuel, give her a pull!

[Kettlewell]

Yes, do the fresh water rinse and lube as above, and also run it for a bit (if it will run), dump the engine oil, and repeat. You want to make sure you get all the moisture out of the crankcase on a 4-stroke.

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by capngeo

I've got engines running that were under 20' of salt water for hours. Because your's was not running, is a big plus!

1. Fresh water rinse externally (complete immersion if possible)
2. remove plugs, and spray cylinders liberally with WD40 while turning over engine by hand, stop spraying, and turn over several more times, install plugs
3. drain and refill engine oil
4. spray entire engine with WD40
5. remove carb, dump water out of bowl, blow out passages with WD40, reinstall
6. prime with fuel, give her a pull!

This is the best way to do it. Dump the entire motor in fresh water, then clean and lube it

[LakeSuperior]

Second the need to drain the carburator bowl. There are vents to the bowl that let salt water in. I know this from having the same experience.

[bene505]

Thanks all. The carb is going to be a problem. I tried removing it once but I couldn't get it off. I'm thinking about putting a shop vac to it. That might help.

I must confess to leaving the dinghy flipped overnight. It took me 30 minutes to right it the first time. Then I snugged it up right to the stern thinking that would keep it protected, but it flipped again. Buy this time, I figured reflipping a dighy that would just flip again was not worth the effort -- in the dark and with me already tired. Better to save myself for anything else that might happen (in other words, better to rest a bit).

I'm going to try to get to a dock today and use a hose on it. I could even use the dinghy as a bath tub to give it a soak.

So, shop vac on the carb, will that do it?

Regards,
Brad

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by bene505

So, shop vac on the carb, will that do it?

Regards,
Brad

Is your shop vac explosion proof? There might still be gasoline in the carb.

[Ex-Calif]

If you can't get the carb off at least remove the fuel line and let the bowl drain as much as it will.

All the advice is sound. This is not as big a drama as it seems to be.

Just be thorough in washing then draining and refilling all fluids.

Only caveat on WD40 on "everything" - Spark plugs should be clean and dry.

I've seen a guy drop a motor momentarily while trying to mount it on the dinghy, pull it up and do nothing but start it - not recommended BTW...

[GaryMayo]

Time is your biggest enemy. Do as suggested in this thread ASAP. Do not delay. Liberal use of wd40. New spark plug (s). Make sure you let this engine run often for the next few weeks. Rust can to some degree be reversed, if worked with quickly.

[Barnhard_Marine]

Call your insurance company so they have a heads up. Let them know your going to try to DIY. Unless they tell you otherwise (storm Damage)

[casual]

FWIW I,have anchored thru one major hurricane in Marsh Harbor Bahamas and several 50 plus Kts of wind.That said,I,started crossing my dingy lines to the Transon Port side of boat to Starboard side of Dink Starboard side to Port side.Keep it about 10 ft from boa.tAlso keept a line running to main bow eye.The attachment points are on top on the tube's about 2 ft from the bow Zodiac 11' 6" 15 HP Suzuki .Never had it flip where many other around me did.Maybe just Lucky .FWIW

[bene505]

It started in 10th pull!

I took the above advice and the dinghy started on the 10th pull. The carb had a screw in the side, perhaps for draining. When I took it out, water flowed out. Then I vacuumed it with the hose only near the screw's opening. A lot of water came out of the crankcase.

I strapped a board to two dock pilings to make a workspace. Plenty of boards around since Sandy took out a lot of the decking/planking.

I have pictures but need to deal with other things.

I'm planning to run the engine a lot over the next week and then change the oil and filter again.

Thank you for the help!!

Regards,
Brad

Regards,
Brad