1978 Nautique Filled With Water

[jrummel16]

Hi I am new to this site. I purchased a completely refurbished 1978 ski Nautique. My dream boat. Long story short the boat was running well enough(as good as an old boat can) until it got filled with water from a bad storm. It filled up to the point where there was some water on the floor so obviously the lower part of the engine was in water for about 24 hours. I spent the day syphoning all the gas out and putting fresh in figuring there was water in the gas. No luck. It will turn over but just won’t start. It sounds so close to starting. Any advice on what else it could be if part of it was under water for 24 hours? I’m thinking maybe the spark plugs? Any help would be appreciated. I want to throw some money into it this winter because I think it has a leak in the drive shaft that is causing it to take on water but I’m trying to get it through the summer as best I can without costing a fortune. Thank you all!!!!

[Nautiquehunter]

First I would recommend you join CorrectCraftFan.com they are more into vintage boats. Are you still running a points distributor ? The only thing I can think of being damaged by that amount of water is the starter but you said it still works. You said it wasn't running great before so the water may not have anything to do with it . Treat it like it just wont start. Check the spark and fuel if you have points replace them they probably are old and corroded .

[functionoverfashion]

Keep it simple, first, check the distributor cap for corrosion. And as was mentioned above, it if has points, that's easy to look at with the dist. cap off. If there's corrosion in there it won't run well or maybe at all. I doubt you got water in the fuel, to be honest. Maybe in the oil, though, so be sure to check the oil after you do get it running, more than once.

The driveshaft does leak, by design, but it should be a very slow drip. How much is the subject of endless debate, but let's just say it shouldn't sink your boat overnight, for starters. Maybe a drip every few seconds, more than a couple per minute but not a steady stream by any means. Anyway, look up "stuffing box adjustment" and you'll see what I'm talking about.