Expert: Everett Peacock - 4/21/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi there,
About three weeks ago my brother-in-law's boat sank at the dock after a several nights of extremely heavy rain (a corroded bilge pump wire which prevented it from working). Anyway, the next day it was floated up, and now he's finally getting around to thinking about trying to get the outboard engine running again. Short of an entire engine teartown and rebuild, what kind of work on the engine would generally be expected to have to be done to restore it to running again? Boat went down in salt water. Is there a decent chance he can get it going again? Or probably not? He does apparently have some guy that works on boat engines all the time to help him, but I'm not sure if they really know what they're getting into. I need to know because they're planning on parking it in my driveway until they can "get it fixed."   Thanks for any comments/advice.

ANSWER: depending on whether it is 4 cycle or 2 cycle...all positive wiring must be repaired...if 2 cycle..dry carbs, rebuild starter when you get it running it must be fogged with either fogging oil or 2 cycle oil thru the carbs....must be done heavly...2 strokes have needle bearings in the engine and moisture must be removed or the engine will lock up...engine must be run as soon as possible...to prevent rusting....not a quick or easy job...

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: It's a 4-cycle.  So far he's already pulled the plugs and put some diesel in the cylinders and said he's going to let it sit in there for 2-3 days and then try to crank it manually to see if it will even turn, in the probable case that it is seized up to any extent, and go from there.  Is what he's done so far worth doing, or is he already going about it all wrong?  
thanks for your helpful reply!

Answer
change the oil a couple times, change it NOW and remove oil filter and drain it ,  reinstall...  drain fuel system and replace with fresh gas use another tank the boat tank has water in it...we can worry about that later...remove and clean starter...crank..
once you get it running spray oil in the carb...while running.....change oil again....repair all needed wiring...