Saving Old Seagulls

After a shocker of a fishing trip and several items failing on me l managed to drop my featherweight (serial number F114Jj6) in the tide this morning for about a second or two..

I now can't get the engine to start.

Rightly or wrongly l have carried out the following

Changed spark plug.
Changed fuel
Removed top cover to allow electrics to air, wiped any water out.
Removed spark plug lead and dried both ends
But WD40 through the carb and plug hole to remove any water and turned over to clear out.
Empty bowl on carb and flushed through.

It is getting fuel to the plug, but can't be getting a spark any ideas or suggestions to get it running again?

Thanks

Salt water or fresh water?

H-A

P.S. "In the tide," does that mean salt water?

Sorry, yes unfortuntely salt water.

I would take the fly wheel off and wash the electrics with soap and hot water.

Leave it in the sun to dry well, then give it a shot of WD40.

Clean the points and reassemble.

Then it should be fine.

Was it running when it went in?

H-A

No it wasn't running, literally in for a second or two l did manage to flush the cooling system with my hose adapter.

Any suggestion on cleaning the electrics without having to remove the flywheel, l did give it a good blast with some wind in a bottle to help push any moisture out.

As it was not running there will be no mechanical fault. It is probably just the points earthing out.

You could stick it upside down in a bucket of water with the hose running, to flush all the salt out.

But at least remove the flywheel nut and the black plastic cover to expose the points. The points will need cleaning and lubricating when dry.

If you have access to an air line that will help in the drying process.

It is good to get rid of the salt as the magneto laminations will not like it.
Post a picture so we can judge the condition of the motor.

H-A

Remove flywheel cover, cover the top with bags of silica gel, cover whole flywheel & base plate with taped on plastic bag & leave for a week, then clean & set points & try starting again.

The normal treatment for salt water immersion, is wash well in fresh water, blow everything dry with hair dryer, clean & set points, same with plug, fresh fuel & try starting asap.

Thanks guys, l'll try as suggested.

...and most importantly have faith.

I have a Nissan 4 stroke engine that has had four baths - two in fresh,and two in salt water - going down 2 metres in depth the last time.

Each time a water rinse and an oil change and fresh petrol have resulting in a running motor.

Thanks H-A and Charles, got it going secong pull this morning.

I took the cover off the top of the flywheel which had two inspection holes, l blew threw with compressed air, sprayed some WD40 on everything l could see, let soak for a bit then used the Mrs hair dryer to clear out the WD and warm everything up to rid the moisture. Let air over night and gave it a good run this morning for about 15 min and l wouldn't know it ever happened.

Again thanks for your help!