[loonzter]

I have a 1992 Johnson 48 Special on the back of my 16' V hull, the motor is in great shape and works flawlessly day in day out. I have it serviced each year in the beginning of the season to keep it in this condition but there does seem to be something amis. Come days end when I trailer my boat home and flush and clean it up there is an oilly residue that weeps from beneath the engine cover at the height where the water exhaust port is located as well as out the prop and down the skeg (I realize the exhaust is through my prop). I have changed the bearing seal on the lower unit thinking that might help but nothing changed. My mechanic says to remove the gas fitting from the tank to reduce pressure in the motor but that hasn't helped. I'm not loseing any lower gear oil so I'm assuming it is exhaust from the gas oil mix (must be). Can anyone explain if this is normal it wouldn't seem so because if I don't place a catch pan under the motor the driveway gets stained with oil. The amount of oil lost is not great maybe a quater of an ounce but it is always there at the end
I clean the motor down with a degreaser but I'm confounded about where this is coming from. I read a recent thread about yamalube and different tcw-3 oils, does anyone know if upgrading to a more expensive oil might be the ticket (I currently use EXXON TCW-3 in gallon containers). I don't believe I'm in jeapordy of doing damage to my engine but it's a pain in the A** to keep cleaning up the residue. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[621938]

pre-mix resdue

hi loonzter,

if its not lower case oil, smear yorr fingers in it and smell it. i bet its premix residue

its comeing from a point higher than where you see the seepage. probally something leaking and the warm motor evorpates the gas and the oil resdiues seep

i would do the following to narrow it down

smell the stuff

pop cover off , get good light and look for source of possible gas leaks, carb bowels, fuel line and fittings, carb fittings, fuel filter

then take corrective action

or it could be grease washed from the tilt mechism from raw fuel when you tilt the engine?

it is correct to disconnect fuel lines when motors are tilted or they can "siphon" and lots of fuel can spill into carbs and out the drains, thats why they make fuel lines easy to pull with clip connectors

also tilt the motor one side or the other when she is up

let us know when you figure more

i know my old (early 80's) main motor, a merc 800, does not suck gas when tilted, but my 7.5hp merc kicker will suck the aux tank dry if your leave her fuel line on when you pull her up

but it dont look like oil, its rew premix, i guess if left over nite on a asphalt driveway it may look like greaseey oil

put some clean cardboard under the spill area and get a good clean sample to sniff and inspect

let us know

dino

 

[loonzter]

Thanks roslynny for your reply and I'll give it a look. When I lift my engine cover I don't seem to see any leaks from up top but as I mentioned just below the bottom of the engine block is where the residue is weeping out. There has got to be something there I'm not seeing, an interesting point that the gas may be evaporating and leaving behind the oil mix sounds logical. I see the discarge right away before I get the cover on after flushing it out. I'll get my nose working to see if I can smell gas.

 

[Scalawag]

Its normal

Especially after fogging.
One thing to watch on that motor is # 2 cyl. salts up and it can get bad if you dont wipe the head with CrC or WD40 do every once in a while. Theres a big opening where the cover meets the case.
I had a Evenrude 50 SPl. 2 cyl., they shake like a SOB but are good engines.

 

[loonzter]

Thanks Scalawag, I take alot of pride in the motor and clean it up regular inside and out. When I first got it the starter didn't always engage, just needed a little TLC with some WD40 and some grease on the shaft and spring to alow it to move up and down. May shimmy and shake but knock on wood gets me out and back and thats all I can ask for.tight lines/safe returns

 

[Scalawag]

Great motor & bang for the buck.

Enjoy it.