Gravely Went For A Swim

oldebuttonwood · Jan 17, 2011

My Gravely Commercial 12 was being used to plow snow off of my pond for ice skating. Was working great by the way. Unfortunately, the ice was a bit thin near the edge from cattails, the ice broke, and the Gravely went down. See the pic. We got it pulled out within a few minutes and had the engine and transmission oil drained within 30 minutes. Later that night, I pulled the spark plug and sprayed in some fogging oil, put some kerosene in the engine and transmission, removed and drained the carb bowl, and drained all the gas. One week later with new gas (with dry gas), new oil, new gas filter, and finally, cleaned and dried points, it runs perfectly. My questions are, how long should I run it before changing the oil again? Also, is the air filter now damaged? It was almost new before the swim.

thatguy · Jan 17, 2011

Wow.. that must have given you such a sinking feeling (pun intended).. Glad you got it out quickly and back running..

Not an expert by any means - but when to change the oil again would depending on how well you thought you got the water out the fir time.. BUT oil/lubricants are cheap so I would run it a few hrs and drop the engine oil and transmission fluid again - just to be sure all the water is out..

Brian

JJT · Jan 17, 2011

If the air filter got wet, change it.

Craig Clayton · Jan 17, 2011

This does not answer your question but it is a fact about Outboat motors. Johnson says in the manual if you sink your engine as soon as it comes out dry it off supply fresh gas and get it running. If it will not go and you are in a hunt camp for a week throw it back in the water to prevent rusting until you leave then take it to a shop. Neighbours engine
was under water for a week and we found it had itr running within 30 minutes, mine went half under over night in a big storm and it was running within 30 minutes.
Craig Clayton

tcartwri · Jan 17, 2011

If the oil doesn't go milky or froth, it's fine. The normal operation of the motor will boil off any remaining moisture in the crankcase.

PILOON · Jan 17, 2011

Had an old Johnson that swam many many times. LOL
(so often, I had a retrieval cable permanently attached to the motor)
I can attest those instructions are accurate.

Just run that gravely hard, get her hot and all the water will simply 'boil' out.

Filter, for shure a new one.

buck12 · Jan 17, 2011

I have submerged a couple of motors over the years. Atv痴 in my younger days and most recently my deere lawn mower (GT235). I have always drained the oil/changed filter. With the drain plug removed I pour whatever old oil is laying around (the partial quarts of oil taking up space) until the oil looks somewhat normal coming out the drain. Then refill with fresh oil and let it run for a few minutes and drain. Refill with fresh oil again and run for 15 to 30 minutes and drain again. If this oil looks normal I will refill and change after an hour or so of normal operation.

adjusterr · Jan 18, 2011

oldebuttonwood: I have a Honda 110 Trailbike that was submerged in floodwater for several days in WV years ago. I did about the same process you used and the bike is still running great. I would change the oil and filter again rather soon, not so much because of water but because of whatever dirt came in with the water. Air filters are cheap and you can bet that one has some dirt in it. Good luck.

Gale Hawkins · Jan 18, 2011

Did the thin ice kill the ice skating event?

Glad you got her to running.

oldebuttonwood · Jan 18, 2011

Actually, it fell through the ice while cleaning up after about 4 hours of skating. Dark, cold, and wind actually put an end to the event. The sunk Gravely just put a bit of a damper on the fun.