I Don't Think it is water

[buckstop108]

I thought I had water in my gas, well I thought that was my only problem. I jacked the boat up the bow, like I was told and let it sit. This was supposed to get the water to settle towards the back of the tank. Then I started to pump out gas into a clear container until it looked like it was all gas and no water. I did that. Then I changed out all my hoses and installed a water separator, that went well. Then I removed the bottom screw on the carbs top and bottom and flushed that out. I was told that would remove any water that may be in the bowl. I think I did that correctly. Then I changed the fuel filter and cleaned the plugs. The first start was rough but she started . She didn't sound so great and she wouldn't idle. I shut her down let her cool and removed the plugs and cleaned them up. Re-gaped and put back in and started her . She started better but still not running right. I let her run for five or so minutes thinking maybe she would break free. Well I started to notice that the water coming from the exhaust near the prop was loaded with what I think is oil. It was a creamy beige and foamy. A lot of it. So now I'm thinking I have bigger problems. BUT WHAT?? Is it a cracked head. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
John

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

What motor, what year ???
Start with a compression check and let us know the results.

 

[F_R]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

The gunk coming out the exhaust is unburned fuel which has mixed with and emulsified with the cooling water. So, combining that bit of info, with the rough running, we can sort of surmise that your motor is misfiring on one or more cylinders and not burning the fuel. Without more info, that's about all we can come up with.

 

[buckstop108]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

The motor is a 1992 85 HP evinrude V4 Tiller. What is the tool that I need to check the compression , where do I buy it and How do I do it? What could be the causes if not too many to list. My mechanical abilities are very limited so if this could get complicated I am thinking that I should be bringing her in for repair. I like to do the work , but just lack the know how. I did fail to mention one thing, One of the plugs when I removed it the small ceramic piece that is under the center electrode was all broken.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

Was the ceramic missing pieces or just cracked? You don't want any bits of ceramic in the cylinder. If you can't account for all the ceramic pieces I'd remove the head and clean out he cylinder. Was the electrode ok? Hopefully, it was just a faulty plug. Try another.

 

[F_R]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

The broken plug might be all that is wrong with it. OR at the other extreme, there could be catostrophic damage inside the motor that broke the plug.

A compression guage is what is used to check compression. Get the kind that screws into the hole. Remove all spark plugs and ground the wires, screw the gage in one hole and crank the motor with the starter till the gage achieves it's highest reading. Repeat with the other cylinders. They should all be more or less equal. It always starts an arguement about whether the throttle needs to be blocked open. Go ahead and do it if you want to, but it is not necessary with a two-stroke in my opinion and let's not fight about it again.

The possible causes of your misfiring are numerous. There is an orderly troubleshooting routine or you can guess and spend money trying to fix it by accident.

 

[buckstop108]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

Well I will opt for the orderly routine. I can't afford the guessing game because I never guess correctly. So I'm assuming that the first step is to determine the compression in each cylinder to see if the a cylinder can be isolated (the problem) . then take it from there. As for the cracked insulator shattered would be more correct, what kind of damage can I expect from the pieces inside the head. When I pulled the plugs I went to the second set and just put them in,it wasn't until after the motor was running for a while did I examine the plugs to see if they were really fouled from the first starting. So as my luck goes I know I am in for the worst. I know that was a real rookie mistake, that will never happen again, never saw that before.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

Others may disagree, but if it was me I'd pull the head and clean out the cylinder. Those bits of ceramic can score pistons/cylinder walls and damage rings. It'll also give you the opportunity to check the state of the piston/cylinder. If the plug wasn't damaged before it went in then something in there damaged it.

I just checked online and it appears that the head gasket Part # 305174 is no longer available. Anyone know if its available under a different part number?

 

[buckstop108]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

Thank you for the help , I really do appreciate it. I checked the diagram and it didn't look like it would too bad, so my next day off I will go get the gaskets and pull the head clean it out and buy a compression guage and go from there. Thank you.
John

 

[Solittle]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

You need to do the compression check before you pull the head.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

Torque head bolts in a circular pattern like in the diagram supplied in the link below. Torque the bolts to 15 ft/lbs.

 

[buckstop108]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

Good , compression check first. From reading some of the past posts, I'm getting I should be somewhere near 100 PSI and all cylinders should be reasonabily close. If not then what? Why do I feel like I am getting into the area of a valve job , pistons and rings and things ? When it does come time to pull the head to make sure there isn't any parts of that spark plug there, what else should I know? Do I need anything like perma-gasket, sealer anything or does it go on dry.

 

[buckstop108]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

Not to get back into the guessing game, I know that is not the best option. But Is there still a chance that I have a fuel problem? If the carbs aren't doing there job correctly jets clogged or I still have water in the system and the separator isn't getting it all, will that cause the unburned fuel to come out of the exhaust?

 

[Monkaroo]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

Go to any of the auto parts store for a compression tester . They are not very expensive . All it is , is a peice of rubber hose with a pressure guage on one end and threads on the other end that you screw into the spark plug hole . They come with different size adapters to put on the threaded end so it will fit different size plug threads . Really no big deal . Do like the guys said and write down the results on each cylinder and come back . Then you'll get some hits from the forum on what's really up .

 

[Monkaroo]

Re: I Don't Think it is water

Personally , I think it would be hard to get the porcelain chips from the plugs to fall into the heads on the V4 engine unless you had the engine trimmed up until the cylinders were almost vertical while removing the broken plug . I would do the compression check first off , and see where I stood .