Saw submerged in muddy water

[redoakneck]

Mother nature handed me a flood and my 026 was under water for a few hours and water got in thru the exhaust. The water was muddy and sandy.

I have not tried to start it, pulled the plug and put up-side-down and turned it over and water came out.

What is the best thing to do??? I feel I should break it down and flush the crank case with gas/mix. ..or should I just try to start it???

 

[barneyrb]

Mother nature handed me a flood and my 026 was under water for a few hours and water got in thru the exhaust. The water was muddy and sandy.

I have not tried to start it, pulled the plug and put up-side-down and turned it over and water came out.

What is the best thing to do??? I feel I should break it down and flush the crank case with gas/mix. ..or should I just try to start it???

At the very least, I'd pull both crank seals and then flush from carb, exhaust port, and spark plug hole. Sorta do a top down flush. If it was mine seals come out and jug comes off to flush.

 

[redoakneck]

Pull the seals,,, sounds like a little more work than I thought but it makes sense. Sand=silicne =silicone grease, not so much:yoyo:

 

[o8f150]

i would not try to start it,, that muddy water more then likely got into the bearings,, i would pull it all the way down and flush it good with mix

 

[zogger]

You got mud down in the crankcase. Think about it. Seems to me it needs a full tear down and thorough cleaning. Might as well do new seals and gaskets while there, and make sure the bearings are spotless before reassembly.

Sorry your saw got flooded, was it in the basement? How deep did the water get?

 

[rupedoggy]

These guys want you to do full teardown. I say wait until something blows for that. It may last for years. I would drain the tank and remove the spark plug and spark screen. I would pour mix into the carburetor until I had lots in there. Pull it over fast and furious and check out the stuff that comes out the muffler and plug hole. Not to bad? Drain for a day and use. A little dirty? Run a half tank of 25:1 in her and then use it as normal until it dies.
Those bearings, rings and internals are tough. The Stihl school showed my friend a new saw running at full throttle while they put fine sand into the intake. He said it sped up because it instantly broke-in, but it did not seize. Lots of saws in logging and tree service have been run for months without an air filter and they do remarkably well ingesting pounds of dust, dirt and sand. It may have a premature death but why tear it all down if you don't have to? Like I say, it may last for years.

 

[RBurtcher]

I would pull the cylinder, flush out the case very well, rinse and blow out the muffler. Pull the clutch and clean it all out including the bearing. Make sure no sand etc remains in the crank seals. Carb should be disassembled and cleaned along with the tank flushed. Chain brake might need some luvin too. I wouldn't want it to be questionable. New plug, clean filter, fresh oil and gas then it is what it is.

 

[Mad Professor]

Probably not a lot of debris made it in through the muffler, but you want to get the water out ASAP (RUSTY bearings/races).

Rinse with denatured alcohol or drygas first, that will take care of the water, then rinse with mix, it will provides lubrication and some rust protection. Turn it over slowly by hand to see if you feel any roughness from crap inside. If it feels smooth, run it until good and hot to bake out the moisture. Otherwise pull seals or cylinder to flush bearings as above.

P.S. I have/have seen MANY drowned dirt bikes, we flipped them upside down, pulled the plug and cranked them over until no more water came out, then put the plug in and drove them home. Never seen one worse for the wear.

P.P.S. I did see a dirt bike submerged in a sewage settling pond, that was a different story.......

 

[Chris-PA]

P.P.S. I did see a dirt bike submerged in a sewage settling pond, that was a different story.......

Yeah, I'm sure there's a story behind that. I don't want to hear it. :msp_w00t:

 

[fearofpavement]

I will not make a specific recommendation as to the extent of disassembly or cleaning but will just add this thought. Too much is better than not enough.

 

[blsnelling]

I would consider nothing less than pulling the topend, pulling the seals, and flushing it out very well. You need to do this ASAP, or you'll be replacing bearings too.

 

[Mastermind]

These guys want you to do full teardown. I say wait until something blows for that. It may last for years. I would drain the tank and remove the spark plug and spark screen. I would pour mix into the carburetor until I had lots in there. Pull it over fast and furious and check out the stuff that comes out the muffler and plug hole. Not to bad? Drain for a day and use. A little dirty? Run a half tank of 25:1 in her and then use it as normal until it dies.
Those bearings, rings and internals are tough. The Stihl school showed my friend a new saw running at full throttle while they put fine sand into the intake. He said it sped up because it instantly broke-in, but it did not seize. Lots of saws in logging and tree service have been run for months without an air filter and they do remarkably well ingesting pounds of dust, dirt and sand. It may have a premature death but why tear it all down if you don't have to? Like I say, it may last for years.

After all.......it's just an 026.








Just kidding. :msp_mellow:




I agree with Mike on this one. Great post.

 

[BrocLuno]

Been here, done this. I live on a river and have had plenty of two strokes get flooded (need to move other stuff that's more important like cars and truck, tractors, etc - sometimes you can't get it all ). They'll stay under for a day or two sometimes.

Used to work in a boat yard. Did a lot of outboards that went under too (you'd be suprised how many folks forget the drain plugs on the launch ramps ). Pull the spark plug(s), fill with fresh WD-40 (comes in gallon cans). Spin it over so it pumps out. Do it again. Shoot some 10wt oil down the carb and spin it over . Clean tank, maybe carb? Shoot some pre-mix into the carb and fire it off.

I've go two Red Max's and a Jonsered that were under back in 1995, still running today and running well. Never been torn down. The key is to fill with WD-40 liquid to absorb the muddy water. Diesel and kerosene won't work. Real WD-40 will

 

[Mad Professor]

Yeah, I'm sure there's a story behind that. I don't want to hear it. :msp_w00t:

Well come on it's sort of funny.

New sewage settling beds had big sand dikes that made perfecrt jumps for MC bikes, The new, unused bed ,had a flat clean sand bottom to land on. The kid had been jumping that dike for weeks. He forgot to check if it had been filled with 10ft of semi-solid sewage.

We offered to help get it out if he went and put a rope on it............

 

[fearofpavement]

Well come on it's sort of funny.

New sewage settling beds had big sand dikes that made perfecrt jumps for MC bikes, The new, unused bed ,had a flat clean sand bottom to land on. The kid had been jumping that dike for weeks. He forgot to check if it had been filled with 10ft of semi-solid sewage.

We offered to help get it out if he went and put a rope on it............

Well, just before impact I bet he said two words and the first one was "Oh"

 

[bplust]

I don't know I've you've moved the piston yet, but I'd pull the muffler and carb and see if it's blocking both ports. If so, I don't see how any solid material could have gotten in. If you got lucking in this way, I'd just pull the plug, and let the saw sit in the sun for a day.

Otherwise, I think you'd only have to pull the jug for a necessary deep cleaning.

 

[edisto]

P.P.S. I did see a dirt bike submerged in a sewage settling pond, that was a different story.......

Same idea...pull the plug, flip them, and crank the #### out of them.

 

[hiluxxulih]

My 2002 Honda Foreman ES was underwater muddy water for about a day ( my brother borrowed it :frown and I just drained the fluids and she is still going now ten years later , so your saw should still be OK .

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Last year I dropped my 026 in a muddy creek when the tree I was dropping pulled it in when it went over. It was in for about a minute and was filled with muddy water.

All I did was pulled the carb, plug, and exhaust and flushed the case and cylinder with mixed gas. After flushing I spun the crank over by hand to see how the bearings felt. Let it sit in the basement where the wood burner is for a few days to help dry things out and put it back together. Fired right up and has ran since, no noticeable loss in power.

 

[tpope]

Sorry about the flood. I hope that it cleans up easily for you and you do not have much damage. Never been there so I did like reading the responses about the saw. I agree with the flush and run myself, ASAP. Please let us know what you do..