Oils

[John McFarlane]

Hi there. I'm in Australia with a 1979 Johnson 70HP 2 stroke. What sort of gearbox oil(car type high viscocity?) and hydraulic oil should I use in the tilt control please. How strong is the tell tale supposed to be please. Should it be a very powerful hand stinging stream or a steady and moderately forceful stream. Thanks in anticipation.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Oils

John, welcome to Iboats! Let start off a little slower. Do you have a manual? That will answer most of your questions. Let us know that first. But I will tell you that you should NEVER use car oil. You need Lower Unit oil made for outboards. And do one question at a time. Feel free to post a different topic (Tell Tale) in a seperate post..

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Oils

You can use the Automotive oil in a pinch if you have trouble getting marine oil, A synthetic would offer the best protection, and they are fine most anytime for a lower unit, but if you have to use automotive gear oil, I would suggest not running it for long trips and changing it out a minmum of two to three times a season if you use your boat a lot, and after its filled, let about an OZ, of lube drain out before you put the plug in, this allows for expansion because the oil will foam some. The automotive gear lubes do not have the anti foaming and water separating qualities you desire in a lower unit oil. Also if you use an automotive oil, it would be a good Idea to open the drain plug when you get the boat out of the water and actually check to see how much foaming you do get. If it is realy foamy, dont use that oil anymore. It would take at least an hour or more for all the bubbles to rise out of the oil.

 

[OBJ]

Re: Oils

Welcome to iboats John!<br /><br />You can also just pop in to a local dealership and have them fix you up with some TNT fluid for your rig.<br /><br />When topping off the reservoir, raise the engine all the way up and top off the reservoir. Cycle the engine up and down 2 to 3 times and leave it all the way up. Check the reservoir again and top off if needed. Repeat until reservoir does not need any more fluid. Also, after topping off each time, leave the filler plug in lose. This will let any air in the system to escape from the reservoir.<br /><br />The manual says the reservoir should be level while topping off but sometimes this is hard to do unless you got the whole rig pointing down on a steep hill.....so just get the front of the boat down as far as ya' can.<br /><br />As far as the tell tale stream, it should be a strong steady stream coming out. No, it won't sting your hand and it should be near the same temp as the water your in.<br /><br />Thanks for posting.

 

[BillP]

Re: Oils

Hi-Vis 80W-90 is speced for that motor (14.9 oz). I wouldn't be too concerned about auto lube foaming. I normally use the motor mfgs brand but have used 80W-90 "auto" lube many hrs in other ob gearcases without problems...with and without bad seals and water. Early obs speced auto gear lube and their gears didn't self destruct.<br /><br />The telltale stream should shoot almost straight solid stream to the water at idle. My 70 stream has an ever so small curve at idle after a new wp installation. At any speed over idle it will be a straight shot.

 

[John McFarlane]

Re: Oils

Many thenks for the advice all.