MS 260 Took 4" of water

[LSUNo1]

Cant believe I didnt put it back on the shelf before Katrina. It was on the floor in my shop which took about 4" of water. I've let it dry and drained of gas and oil. I plan to take it apart and wipe it down.

Anything else I ought to do?

[fishhuntcutwood]

The only thing I can think of would be to get into the cylinder and get some WD40 or something similar in it to make sure everything is moving freely and smoothly before I started it up.  How long did it sit like that?

Jeff

[Bronco]

Here's my advice:

Get it running ASAP.  The longer it sits, the more corrosion will set in.  My buddy flipped my jon boat once with my fairly new outboard running.  We got it to shore, pulled the spark plug and started pulling/pumping water from the cylinder. Half an hour later, we were running down the river again. 5 Years later it's still a good motor.

[beenthere]

I'd worry most about the silt and stuff that is in that water. It seems to get into everything.

But that said, I once left my 041 Stihl set idle on some wet sand, and when I turned around, the vibrations had worked it down into the sandy mud about 3". It was gurgling away when I shut it off. That was about 15 years ago, and I didn't do anything but shut it off, and wash (hose) it off with clean water and let it dry. Since that time, I've worried about sand in the bearings and such, but the saw still runs like new to this day. It has required no maintenance other than plug, filter, and the fuel pick-up since it was new (drive sprocket new with each new pair of chains).
I wish my MS361 would start as easy as that old one. Most of the time I grab the 30 year old 041 and go cutting. 

[kenskip1]

How about a new Rope? Ken.

[jokers]

If it was only in 4" of water, none should have been able to get into the intake of the saw. Assuming that you don`t have any leaky gaskets or seals, there shouldn`t be any water inside the saw.

I would give the exterior of the saw a good washdown and then lubricate the recoil. You should be good to go.

Russ

[gumnut]

Well thats no good at all.

I had my linetrimmer suffer a similar adventure, but immersed a bit deeper. I rinsed it off immediately, pulled the plug, and soused it with methylated spirits. Its been as good as gold in the 10 years since.

I think the damage is done after imersion when it is drying out, and if there is any mud/sand etc left inside