I've done it. I actually watched the motor go under, exhaust coming out for a few moments until it quit, still tethered to the portable gas tank.
Pulled the plugs, drained the chambers of water, dumped the water in the float bowl (carbs), re-cnnected fuel, dried the plugs and re-installed, and kept pulling the recoil until it started. Also had to pour the gas from the tank into a cooler (the gas ate the cooler, but whatever) and drain off the water than entered via the vent cap, before re-filling the tank with the remaining sort-of-clean gas.
We were in the middle of nowhere, so no shop available to help us out. Drove the boat home.
Boat sank due to wave action (very windy day), the foam under the seats had deteriorated due to age and simply wasn't present, so the boat sank to the bottom (about five feet) before popping up again once we were no longer part of the load. Flipped it over and swam it to shore. We recovered everything and kept on fishing, actually, until it was time to go. Overall the total recovery took about an hour from our fishing day.
16' aluminum boat and 25HP Merc 2-stroke. We didn't look at the engine until fall, it ran fine all summer. Drained the lower unit, filled with fresh oil and ran it again for many years afterward.
The only real issue you might encounter is if you attempted to start the motor with the plugs still installed before draining the cylinders of water. You will bend something.
Pulled the plugs, drained the chambers of water, dumped the water in the float bowl (carbs), re-cnnected fuel, dried the plugs and re-installed, and kept pulling the recoil until it started. Also had to pour the gas from the tank into a cooler (the gas ate the cooler, but whatever) and drain off the water than entered via the vent cap, before re-filling the tank with the remaining sort-of-clean gas.
We were in the middle of nowhere, so no shop available to help us out. Drove the boat home.
Boat sank due to wave action (very windy day), the foam under the seats had deteriorated due to age and simply wasn't present, so the boat sank to the bottom (about five feet) before popping up again once we were no longer part of the load. Flipped it over and swam it to shore. We recovered everything and kept on fishing, actually, until it was time to go. Overall the total recovery took about an hour from our fishing day.
16' aluminum boat and 25HP Merc 2-stroke. We didn't look at the engine until fall, it ran fine all summer. Drained the lower unit, filled with fresh oil and ran it again for many years afterward.
The only real issue you might encounter is if you attempted to start the motor with the plugs still installed before draining the cylinders of water. You will bend something.