'83 Johnson GT150.... been underwater

[MichaelDH]

Boat capsized and motor was underwater for several hours. Uprighted the boat and got it back on the trailer. Pulled th plugs out of the carb bowls and blew compressed air thru the carbs as well as I could. Pulled the sparkplugs and put the fuel line in fresh fuel, cranked the motor till fresh fuel was coming out of the sparkplug holes. put new plugs in and started the motor. runs good w/o a load. when its in the water, if you give it gas quickly, it falls on its face until you let off. if I give it gas slowly I can get it up to full speed (60mph) but it takes a while to get there. once it gets to full speed it runs good. I'm guessing b/c its not working as hard once it's up on plane. Could there still be water in my carbs after blowing them out and after several months have passed? I've added Seafoam to the fuel, is there something else that would help, or do i need to consider rebuilding the carbs?

 

[ENSIGN]

Re: '83 Johnson GT150.... been underwater

There are certain procedures that have to be done when a boat sinks.You should have rebuilt the carbs when you pulled the motor out.It's almost impossible to get all the water out and letting it set is the worst thing you could have done.I got the feeling the corrosion problems are just starting Good luck,Ted

 

[psteurer]

Re: '83 Johnson GT150.... been underwater

Yes, you really should disassemble those carburetors and rebuild. There is probably some residual water and gunk in there. Also, take a look at your fuel filter and pump. You could very well have something in there that is impeding fuel flow.

But on the bright side, the fact you can get the motor up to WOT is a good sign since you are heating the motor up and drying things out. But you have what you have and the fact it was underwater could mean you will have problems down the road. I sure hope this was fresh water and the motor was not running when it went under.

 

[MichaelDH]

Re: '83 Johnson GT150.... been underwater

Actually, I didn't let the boat sit. i had the motor running within hours of getting it back on the trailer. I did forget to mention that I did check the fuel lines and filters and pump. I started the motor as soon as i could get fresh fuel, spark plugs and coils that were broken during the capsize from the motor cowl. I understand that soaking a motor is not an ideal practice. I uprighted the boat as quickly as possible for the weather conditions. I am in the position that i want to salvage the motor if possible but i also understand that there might be future problems due to the submergence of the motor. Sounds like a carb rebuild is in order for now. Thanx for your time and comments

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: '83 Johnson GT150.... been underwater

Sounds like you took quick action to prevent rust on the internals. Complete carb overhauls are probably required. Some debris in the bottom of the carb bowls may have worked it's way into one or more of the jets. Any time you have problems like this, you need to tend to them asap. It is possible that you have been running the engine lean on one or more cyls-and that can damage a cylinder quickly. Pull the carbs apart and remove all the jets. Inspect them and make sure you get them clean with an aerosol carb cleaner. As well, make sure you run that same aerosol cleaner through all the passageways on all 3 carbs. Check to make sure a passageway on one carb flows the same rate on the other two carbs, then move on to the next passageway.

 

[CharlieB]

Re: '83 Johnson GT150.... been underwater

Electrical problems after dunking a motor are not always immediate, often they begin to occur after the steel parts have had time to rust.

Solenoids, relays, starter, and stator all have steel.

Starter motor failure can be expected to occur in the not to distant future from water and rust trapped inside. Disassemble, and bake starter parts in the oven at 160 - 180 degrees for 30 minutes to dry out residual water that will not blow out of windings. Immediately after removing from oven spray with WD or comparable, wash commutator and brushes with contact cleaner, lube bushings and reassemble.

If ignition stator is not epoxy encapsulated then follow same procedure as starter. The stator can dry completely by operating the craft underway at moderate speed for an hour, however it should still be removed and sprayed with WD or comparable product.

WARNING: Do NOT increase oven temperature beyond 160 - 180 degrees. You do not want to damage any wiring insulation with higher temps.

 

[MichaelDH]

Re: '83 Johnson GT150.... been underwater

I will defenitely rebuild the carbs and i am anticipating some future problems with the electrical systems. I will prolly cross those bridges when i get to them as this happened several months ago now. I'm hoping that getting the motor started as quick as I could that I did prevent internal corrosion of the motor but, I figured there would be some consequences down the road. When the boat capsized I thought it was gonna be a total loss so anything I can salvage is a plus to me. I just joined this site and I am impressed with the amount of feedback and useful information I have received. Thanx to all who responded and thanx for all the advice. If nothing else this incident has been a valuable learning experience

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: '83 Johnson GT150.... been underwater

had a friends boat sink 2 days in a row. storms, both time we followed this procedure, it has ran great since. 1 year ago.

 

[MichaelDH]

Re: '83 Johnson GT150.... been underwater

Wow! I feel for your friend. Just the one capsize was enuuf to make me sick of it. I lost everything in the boat that wasn't tied down or that didn't float. A person doesn't realize how much stuff they have in their boat until it capsizes and they start the cleaning process. In every compartment your like "I had 5 extra rods or an extra filet knife, tools, anchors, tackle' and now it's all laying on the bottom of the lake. I recommend every boater be familiar with the procedure that Tashasdaddy posted. I wasn't very well prepared b/c I thought it would never happen to me but, i'm hear to tell you, in the blink of an eye, a fun day of fishing can turn into quite an ordeal. My kids always wear their lifejackets but, I am guilty of not wearing mine. If your not going to wear it, at least keep it handy and not locked in a compartment.