stihl under water

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
We had a nasty flood here, the water came up so fast
I couldn't get my ms230 out quick enough to save it
from drowning. Does any one have ideas what I can do
before I take to the dealer to have it gone over and
dried it out. So far I have turned it every which
way and got some water out but I'm sure there is
still some in there.
 
The sooner you can get it running the better. Put it near a heater or fan and get it completely dried out,pull the plug,air filter etc,try to get it dismantled somewhat until it is absolutelt dry,then try starting it..the longer it is wet the greener the copper wire turn and then you have problems
 
I got a Husky from a nephew that had the same thing happen to it. It had a tank of fuel so all we did was dump fuel(new fuel filter) dried out carb and blowed the complete engine dry. There was no water in firing chamber. After it was dried we put new fuel in it and it started and thats been 8 years ago. We also took bar & chain off and drained and cleaned chain oil reservoir and replaced oil filter.
 
My son had a mishap with our boat - little Johnson outboard got a good bath - we dumped all the fluids and pulled the spark plugs and gave a generous dose of oil in each cylinder, then turned it over slowly with the plugs still removed. We set it up and let it dry out for a week or so. Hooked the fuel to it and it started the first pull. That motor still runs good, and that mishap was almost 30 years ago. I hope you have the same good results.
 
Not a real big deal if you get it running fairly soon afterward. Pull the spark plug and air cleaner and pull it over a few times to get any more water out. You could spray some WD40 in the cylinder to help dry it out. You might want to drain the gas tank too in case some water got in. Put a dry plug in and try to start it without the air cleaner. I had my floating water pump flip over in the pond and it wasn't too much trouble to get it running again. It's 4 stroke but I let it warm up and then changed the oil. Once you get it running, let it warm up for a few minutes and it should be fine. If you leave it sit without doing anything could cause some damage.
 
I also had one that was in a flood I changed the fluid still wouldn't start so I took it in for repair. They took off flywheel and found it had dirt in points cleaned it and it fired right up like a new one.
 
Dump the fuel. Take off the air cleaner and pull the plug. Gently blow it out with an air hose. Wash it with some kerosene if it got any river mud in it. Get the saw running as soon as possible, till it gets good and warm. A running 2cy engine will pull any water out of itself in a few minutes. You may want to squirt a little oil through the carb as it runs to lube the engine up real good. Doe this "one squirt" and a couple more after you get it started. Four cycle is a whole nothert now! Don't let rust get started in your bearings, Jeffcat
 
I agree, the sooner the better.

I've never dealt with a chain saw that was submerged, but when I was in the outboard motor repair business I coped with a few outboards that had been sunk.

Sunk in fresh water isn't real critical, but I always heard once an outboard is sunk in salt water you have four hours to get it torn down, cleaned out, dried out, fired up, and running again. By the time four hours has elapsed, cylinder walls and other bright metal parts start to corrode.

Never had to deal with one of those.
 
Clean water is one thing, usually flood water is loaded with silt. If it was submerged in silty flood water, the only way it is ever going to be ok is to take it all apart and wash out that silt. Friend of mine had a boat and outboard go over the dam and down the river in a flood, found it 20 miles downriver. he got it running, but wouldn't run right, everything was full of silt. carb especially. Cleaned it out several times, never did work right.
 
Dump the gas out. Remove the spark plug and dump out whatever drains out. I'd probably flush it with gas and dump that out too then slowly start pulling it over with the plug removed. Long as it turns free, put the plug back in, new gas... try it. You've not got much to lose. To take that saw apart and clean it you might as well junk it for all it's worth.

Rod
 

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