Procedure after taking out boat with no drain plug?

[NMadm123]

It’s hard to put this into words, but last night our 2015 G25 was taken out without the drain plug. There was water up to the batteries and 4-6” up the engine apparently. I hope not, but does anyone have any experience with this situation?

[NautiqueJeff]

As long as no water got into the intake on the engine, you're probably OK. Dry it all out and see what happens.

If water DID get into the engine, do not try to start it. Remove the spark plugs, turn it over until all of the water is pushed out of the cylinders, reinstall the plugs, and fire it up. Change all fluids.

I have resurrected numerous boats with engines full of water. NONE of them have been ruined, and many had actually sat like that for a year or more before I drained them and got them running again.

[NMadm123]

Thanks Jeff. After checking the dip stick we saw the milky oil and have decided to just wait until we can get proper eyes on it!

[NautiqueJeff]

Yeah, definitely don't try to start it until the plugs are removed. You have water in the cylinders for sure. If you try to start it like that you'll probably bend a rod or two and require a rebuild. Once the spark plugs are removed, you can safely crank it over to get the water out of the cylinders through the plug holes. Then change the oil and other fluids and it should be fine.

[shag]

You will probably need to change the fluids a few times to get all the water out...

[hal2814]

Great advice already. Also, where’s your starter? You may end up with starter issues depending on where it’s located and if it got submerged. When that happened to me I picked up a spare just in case. Sure enough about a month later I ended up replacing it.

[SilentSeven]

Fresh water or salt water? Fresh water...not too big of deal. Salt water...uh oh. Going to assume fresh water.

Disconnect your batteries to mitigate any electrolysis until all dried out.

Look carefully at the max water level and ID any electrical parts that were submerged. You want to get everything drying out as quickly as possible. All wet eboxes....disassemble, air out and spray with a CRC electrical contact protector to mitigate any corrosion. If they are sealed boxes, put in disecant packages as there will be residual moisture when you screw closed again. Any electric motors not designed to run submerged,,,dry out and try to spray internals with WD-40 to chase out water, lubricate. Run ASAP and frequently over the next couple weeks as they will seize up over time if left to sit. Any submerged harness connectors (engine or otherwise)....pull apart, blow out with air, spray with contact protector, reconnect.

Did you stop your engine or did it stop when it ingested water? If the latter...uh oh...not good. If the former, you need to change all your fluids...maybe 2x. Engine / tranny / gearboxes.

Sooner you can get it dried out, running and warmed, up, the better you will generally be. Good luck!