Swamped Engines after mooring break

[TheGriz]

So, I have a 2007 SX230HO. I was vacationing up at my cabin in the straits of Mackinac (Northern Michigan) when my anchor chain broke. My boat washed ashore in 1-3 ft waves, leaving the engines and batteries underwater for about 4 hours until I was able to right the boat and start to drain the water. While making a call for help, my neighbor started the engines while completely submerged (my wife snapped into action quickly, making him cut them off).

Here come some things I've done:

1. First thing I did was pull the plugs and turn over the engines. Lots of water and milky oil were ejected. The rotating assembly sounds good and no bad noises indicating hydrolock or broken rods, etc.

2. Changed the oil and plugs

3. Fired both engines. Both engines started and ran. I put in approx the same amount of oil that I removed, but when the engines were running, foamy, chocolate oil rose up into the airbox. I didn't catch it in time, and the starboard engine stalled out before I knew it was filling the airbox up.

4. Changed oil again (still very milky). Changed filter and plugs again. Starboard engine will not run now. It runs for about 5-10 seconds and stops.

I've now changed the oil 3 times per engine and still have the chcolate water/oil mixture.

Questions:

1. Is there a better way to remove engine oil than with a pump? I feel like I am only evacuating 2/3 of the oil. and I just keep getting the same result, with water down in the bottom of the engine never being removed.

2. Any ideas about the starboard engine that now doesn't run? I pulled the plugs again and nothing is hydrolocked. Best guess from me, is that I sucked in oil instead of air and the injectors aren't happy.

3. Why does the oil keep overflowing into the airbox? Am I overfilling?

Thanks in advance for the help, I'm about at the end of my rope. I still haven't started to fix the damage to the reverse gate linkage or thrust vectors.

 

[TheGriz]

Just reading about the drain plug on the oil pump... part number 95817-08012-00. Just researching that now.

 

[Bruce]

There is a drain plug at the bottom rear of the engine. This is the one scenario where I would consider pullomg that plug and allowing the oil to drain through the bilge.

Have you removed the air filters? If they are soaked with oil that will prevent the engine running.

[USERGROUP=9]@HELP[/USERGROUP]

 

[Bruce]

You will need at least 5 oil changes to get the water out.

The oil turns foamy and milky and expands due to the water inside the engine.

Am I correct that you were in salt water? Getting those engines dried out quickly is important!

If the water was over the air intake water was likely already in the engines before your friend started them.

 

[TheGriz]

Luckily, this is fresh water. I'm all for draining through the bilge at this point. There is a considerable amount of oil in the bottom of the engine bay due to multiple filter changes It will require a thorough scrubbing regardless.

Can you be a bit more specific on what/where exactly this rear drain is?

 

[TheGriz]

found it on another thread:

 

[Bruce]

maybe #9?

View attachment 63122

It is on the bottom on the stern side and has a crush washer.

Look at this thread https://jetboaters.net/threads/oil-change-on-mr-1-how-to-perform-a-complete-drain.3805/

 

[TheGriz]

Thanks, Bruce. I think I found it around time you were writing that.

If I drain the engine block, will I still need to drain the oil pump?

 

[smthng]

Yes... run the engine for 8-10 seconds with no oil and with that drain plug open. That should clear out the pump too.

My added opinion... I'm anal about engines and oil, so this might be overkill, but it's what I'd do and have done to, uh, other things...

Once you're done draining the engines, buy the cheapest oil you can find (but the correct weight, maybe a bit thinner), add half in along with some Seafoam Engine cleaner (follow directions on can for crankcase cleaning), run that for about 2 minutes, drain it again, put another half batch of cheap oil back in, run that two minutes, then put good oil in there. Run it on the water, check the oil... if it's at all chocolaty, cloudy or foamy, change it again... all the way, using the plug and emptying the pump from the above post.

 

[Bruce]

I believe the goal is to get as much oil as possible out with each change. I am not sure that I would want to crank the engine to get the oil out the pump since water may have washed away some of the lubrication.

I would get cheap oil and keep changing until it is dry.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

I would not run the engines with no oil I would crank the engines with the plugs out , also remove the air filters , they are probably ruined by now and need replacing and yes you are overfilling the oil if it is blowing out the breather tube into into the air filter, also add 1/2 quart of dextron 2 transmission fluid in the oil as it will remove the water faster.

 

[Bill D]

Buy as much cheap oil as possible and change, run, change, run, and so on until it clears. Remove the air filters and don't replace until everything is good. As soon as the oil starts to not appear milky, run that baby as hard as possible for as long as fuel allows! Hopefully the water is your only issue.

Good luck and we'll be along for the ride until she is running again.

 

[TheGriz]

Thanks for all the help.

For any of you that use these rear drains regularly, you must me some sort of masochist. They require you to contort yourself back into the engine compartment. Not a lot drained from this plug. Certainly not >2 qts.

Got as much drained as possible, but still no luck getting the starboard engine to fire up. Port engine fires right up. While letting it drain, I made progress in some other areas. Replaced the reverse gate cables and continued to clean sand out of all the nooks and crannies.

 

[itsdgm]

FWIW, There are check valves built into the oil pump that prevents all the oil in the oil cooler dropping into the pan which keeps the oil pump primed. At least that's what I figured them out to be when I had it all torn apart. So pulling the plug should drain some oil from the bottom end, but the oil cooler would need to still be sucked out too.

 

[buckbuck]

That is good for us to know @itsdgm .
It is great to know we got each others back and are ready to help.

 

[Floyd]

Here's something I've wondered about. Once you change the oil a couple of times and then get the engine running and back up to operating temps, will the heat drive the rest of the water out of the oil? I'm assuming that there are some hot spots around the engine that are hotter than the indicated engine temp.

 

[TheGriz]

With other engines, I've never seen that happen. When water boils off, it creates steam and when it cools, the water vapor condenses back into water. Maybe a small amount of water will go unnoticed, but not this much. Maybe some steam would be released through the breather...

Glad you guys are here...

 

[TheGriz]

So, 35 qts of oil, a bunch of oil filters, new plugs, 27 gal of fuel drained, engine fuel systems drained, sand removed from throttle bodies, and air filters changed.

We had her back on the water today. It was a major sigh of relief.

 

[TheGriz]

While working on the boat, I also tackled the clean out plugs. The previous owner caulked them in and they were seized up. The buttons wouldn't works and the they wouldn't budge. I rigged up a couple bottle jacks and a climbing sling and pulled those suckers up. There was so much sludge, corrosion, and nastiness in there.

https://imgur.com/Q1KfPL6

 

[buckbuck]

Glad to hear @TheGriz
They are pretty robust engines but I'm not sure if I have read about anyone that has had your experience. Congratulations.
Are you simply replacing the clean out plugs?