1997 Johnson 5hp Dunked!!

[ChrisP]

Depends if the engine was missfiring, the petrol would evapourate but the unburned oil is left and runs down the exhaust till it finds a way out. The oil could just be that or it could be coming from the gearbox.

Drain the oil out of the gearbox and have a look at it, is it Milky?

Put fresh oil in the box and run the engine on 25 to 1 mix in a tub for a full tank. Then run a nomal 50 to 1 tank through it.

Let me know what you got then and if the gear oil is milky.

[Steviecops]

The gearbox should be alright. They should be watertight anyway, so a dunking shouldn't make any difference.

As Chris says, it depends how long the engine sat after being dunked. Salt water will destroy bearings very quickly, and could lead to pitting on the crankshaft journals. It might run O.K now, but if it sat for much more than 24 hours after it's swim the damage will rear it's ugly head at some stage.

If you want to keep the engine I'd strip it down anyway. Change the bearings and clean the crankshaft journals thoroughly. At least when you put it back together you'll have confidence in it. Leaving it is going to be like russian roullette, you'll never know when it's going to self destruct!

P.S. The oil is just unburnt 2 stroke oil.