(2 Stroke Ski)
First question is….. 4 stroke or 2 stroke? Water in a 2 stroke is in the crankcase so you need to get it out.
On 2 strokes, especially older skis, flipping and sinking is something that might happen, and if you ride aggressively probably will happen. It is possible to fill a 2 stroke engine with water and clear it and have no long term bad effects.
IMPORTANT NOTE: CLEARING WATER OUT OF AN ENGINE AFTER SINKING OR FLIPPING IS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE RIGHT NOW! Every minute that there is water in the engine there is potential for corrosion. For 2 strokes this means within minutes or at max hours from the time it is pulled from the water.
Arrgh! I sunk my 2 stroke!
1. Remove the spark plugs (attach spark plugs back to wire or ground wire on posts if the ski has them)
2. Push the starter and spin motor for 5-20 seconds. Depending on how much water is in the engine it may spray out of the holes really hard and 10 feet in the air, so stand back. After a few seconds the water will stop.
3. Re-install the spark plugs (the wet icky ones are fine, you don’t need new ones yet) and spin the motor for 10 seconds.
4. Repeat steps 1-3. Some more water water out of the crank case will now be on top of the piston and spray out the plug hole. Repeat these steps 3-10 more times until water stops coming out.
5. When the water stops coming out in step #2, install new plugs (and hope it starts)
6. This process can take 20 minutes to 2 hours.
7. Once started, it is best to run the ski hard on the water for 30 minutes to clear all water out of the engine.
