Hurricane Faye played a nasty little trick on me and sunk my fifteen-foot fishing boat and 6hp Eninrude outboard motor in fresh water. The motor wasn’t running when it went down. It’s been in the water for over 24 hours since sinking. Do I have to bring the motor into a shop and get it taken care of professionally or can I just let it dry out for a while? Thanks in advance for your advice. 8T 
First, quit looking at in the water and get it out! I would just let it dry out and pull the rope. It should start right up. If you have an onboard fuel tank, you should probably drain the fuel and properly dispose of it, and add new fuel before trying to start it. Pull the plug(s) and squirt WD-40 into the cylinder to displace any water that may have seeped in.
Unless you totally lack basic hand tool competency, there’s really no need to take it to a shop unless it won’t start after doing the above items.
I sank my 10 hp Johnson motor several times and it always came back to life with the above maintenance.
Good Luck
Joe
8T -
Hope that is the worst of it for you.
John
Just for the hell of it—before you try to start it—pull the spark plug out and turn the engine over a few and see if water comes out the spark plug hole—if any water got into the combustion chamber, you could break or bend something if the water got into the cylinder thru the open exhaust port.
Hi John,
The sinking of my fishing boat was all that happened from Faye and to be honest, we were grateful for the rain in SC. Lake Hartwell had fallen almost 15 feet during the summer. I have learned from past experience that I have to go bail out my Sportscanoe if we get over five inches of rain. I had tied the boat at the edge of a covered docking thinking it would get some shelter from wind and rain. In actual practice the roof of the dock collected all the rain and poured it directly into the boat. Not my brightest move, I have to admit. Three inches of rain plus the collected rain on the dock roof put her under like a torpedo. Thanks for asking. Everything else is fine. 8T
When mine sunk, ( don’t ask ) I took the plugs out of my 9.9 merc and balanced it upside down then yanked the cord several times. water gushed out at first. I then sprayed wd 40 in the plug holes, drained the lower leg of oil then replaced it with new. IT started right up so I let it get warmed right up and it was fine. I heard that if it sinks in salt water you should clean it with fresh water to get rid of the salt. I probably didn’t have to do the lower leg but better to be safe than sorry I always sometimes nearly say.
What they said ! Unfortunately, I’ve sunk more than my share of motors - can’t rely on those doggone transoms to hold anything. If it’s in salt, flush it with fresh water, let it dry out real well, change the plug (should pull it anyway and crank it over a few times) and let 'er rip. The ‘empty the tank and new fuel’ suggestion is a must.
Now that I’ve repeated everything others have already told you 
. . .
Joe
It is critical IMO&E that you do it IMMEDIATELY. Start that sucker and get it running to dry it out. Any rust inside is a bad thing. Usually I have to replace the oil at least a couple times to get all the water out…