Help....won't start & oil dripping out by propeller

[7lazy77]

For starters, I have a 1994 Johnson 115hp V4. Went to take the boat out tonight & it wouldn't start. Initially thought that I had flooded it, so I removed the fuel line & bled it out. This wasn't the culprit, so I went back to pull the plugs to see how they looked & noticed oil floating on the water. When I tilted the motor, I also noticed a little bit of smoke/steam coming from the propeller area. Pulled the boat out of the water & lowered the engine & noticed more oil coming out by the propeller. Never did get the motor started & didn't want to try anymore after seeing the oil. (I about crapped my pants when I seen this). I am planning on taking it to the dealer tomorrow, but wanted to see what others had to say about it on here. Any idea what the heck happened???

 

[Daviet]

Re: Help....won't start & oil dripping out by propeller

Are you sure it's oil? Sometimes when you flood an engine the fuel will wash down the inside of the exhaust housing and flush out all kinds of crud, it will flow out around the prop. Does it have a gas smell?

 

[Sander]

Re: Help....won't start & oil dripping out by propeller

Hmmm, im not expert but you might be leaking gear lube from the lower unit.

 

[7lazy77]

Re: Help....won't start & oil dripping out by propeller

Are you sure it's oil? Sometimes when you flood an engine the fuel will wash down the inside of the exhaust housing and flush out all kinds of crud, it will flow out around the prop. Does it have a gas smell?

Yes, not only did it spit out a bunch of crud (which I might of possibly mistaken for oil), but it did have a gas smell to it. Went out a little while ago for a closer look at the motor & I ran my finger on the inside of the round part (sorry for my lack of knowlege on parts & names) where the propeller mounts to & had a bunch of crud on my finger that still smelled like gas. I also noticed that I also have some oil/gas leakage coming from the front where the lower unit is mounted to the midsection when the motor is in a tilted position.

 

[Haffiman]

Re: Help....won't start & oil dripping out by propeller

what is this?http://goo.gl/56xdy

spam!!!!!

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Help....won't start & oil dripping out by propeller

If you have a seal leaking on a lower unit, you may see a fairly clear oil. If the oil/residue you are talking about is black and looks like a tar residue-it is normal exhaust residue from any two stroke. The fact that you may have been choking it while trying to start it may have added further to the oily residue. There is an exhaust grommet/seal 320961 between the lower unit and the midsection. If that grommet gets out of position or starts to deteriorate, you will see exhaust residue leaking from that area. (this is more likely if the water pump was recently replaced and the grommet may have been out of position when the lower unit was reinstalled.) If the exhaust is leaking out from the exhaust tube, it exposes the top of the composite water pump to additional exhaust heat/stress and can reduce the life of the pump and housing.

 

[7lazy77]

Re: Help....won't start & oil dripping out by propeller

Well, the dealer made me feel stupid today. I never have claimed to be "mechanically-inclined" & since I am relatively new to boats, I am still learning as I go! Somehow, the manual choke lever had worked itself partially opened (most likely from the long trailering home after I purchased it). When he did this it started right up & he killed it right away since he didn't have it hooked up to the muffs. He further explained to me that this was the reason for the motor not starting & extreme flooding which caused the fuel to run down the exhaust housing thus spilling out all the crud by the propeller. I guess I will get it out again on Sunday to give it another try! I was sure relieved to hear what the problem was & that it wasn't anything major. Thanks again to everybody & their help & input.