1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

[Pods]

I recently got my boat out of storage and removed and cleaned the carbs, drained the old gas and replaced all fuel lines. After this the motor fired up just fine. While running in the driveway on a muff I noticed that when I choked it gas squirted form out the top of the choke, I have a hookup type fitting sort of like a tire valve steam, for injecting carb cleaner. I guess maybe an o-ring malfunction. Second concern.... when the motor was running on the muff I noticed that there was a grey mixture floating on the water as it left the prop. It had a smell of gas/oil mixture. Could this be a problem with the lower unit seals or is it a function of another problem? In the past I have never saw this type discharge. Any help/suggestions comments are appreciated.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Pods

 

[piniongear]

Re: 1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

Sounds like the 'Gray matter' is a mixture of oil(gearbox) and water. I would hook up a vac gauge to the fill plug on the leg and see if the gearcase holds a vacuum. If it does not, then I would pull the prop and gearbox and check or just replace those top seals. Also check the seal at the prop/shaft.

 

[JB]

Re: 1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

Howdy, Pods.<br /><br />Welcome to iboats. <br /><br />What you are seeing (grey oil) is normal discharge of unburned fuel/oil. <br /><br />Good luck.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: 1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

The fuel leak is in the fuel enrichment solenoid,and your local dealer can sell you a gasket (and cover) as needed.The grey matter looks bad,but is a combination of a cold engine running on cold water,and maybe fogging oil.Not a problem.<br /><br />If this involved gearcase oil,the gearoil level would be down,and discolored as well.My money says the gear oil is clean if you changed it before storage.<br /><br />How long was the motor stored?If winterized properly,it should start without the fuel system work,for at least 2 years.<br /><br />DHP

 

[Pods]

Re: 1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

Originally posted by DHPMARINE:<br /> The fuel leak is in the fuel enrichment solenoid,and your local dealer can sell you a gasket (and cover) as needed.The grey matter looks bad,but is a combination of a cold engine running on cold water,and maybe fogging oil.Not a problem.<br /><br />If this involved gearcase oil,the gearoil level would be down,and discolored as well.My money says the gear oil is clean if you changed it before storage.<br /><br />How long was the motor stored?If winterized properly,it should start without the fuel system work,for at least 2 years.<br /><br />DHP

 

[Pods]

Re: 1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

Originally posted by DHPMARINE:<br /> The fuel leak is in the fuel enrichment solenoid,and your local dealer can sell you a gasket (and cover) as needed.The grey matter looks bad,but is a combination of a cold engine running on cold water,and maybe fogging oil.Not a problem.<br /><br />If this involved gearcase oil,the gearoil level would be down,and discolored as well.My money says the gear oil is clean if you changed it before storage.<br /><br />How long was the motor stored?If winterized properly,it should start without the fuel system work,for at least 2 years.<br /><br />DHP

 

[Pods]

Re: 1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

First of all thanks for all the replys and assistance...just found this board and it is great, alot of sharing of knowledge. The motor has been in storage for 2 years. During the time of running on the muff it was about 50 degrees outside and the water was cold as well. I did not recall this grey matter while it was in nuetral, but did notice it after placing the motor in forward/reverse positions. I was thinking that I probably cut the seal since it has not been wet for the two years and the seal went bad. Also I could not remember if the manual choke located on top of the cover to the carbs is in the correct position, this might explain the strong odor of gas from the grey matter. After sitting all night in the garage I did not notice any more leakage, if the seal was bad in the lower unit would this leak until all gear lube has run out..... any comments please let them fly.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Pods

 

[OBJ]

Re: 1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

Pods...if the fuel was squirting out from the red lever valve on the fuel enrichment primer, it may be that the red valve has a crack in it. This is not uncommon to these valves and can be replaced very easily. If the fuel is coming from one of the primer lines, then replace the head of the primer solenoid as DHP described because most likely one of the nipples on the primer head is cracked.<br /><br />The gray "stuff", as mentioned above is just from the exhaust. Did you let the engine warm up sufficently? If the engine runs cold, the combustion will not be complete and you will get a little more than normal, unburned oil and fuel from the exhaust. <br /><br />And you should remember, that on muffs, the engine runs easier than in the water because there is no back pressure against the cylinders.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: 1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

Seals don't usually leak when the motor is shut down,but real bad ones can.They usually leak because the shaft is rotating.<br /> <br />I'll stand by my last post.<br /><br />Also,whatever position the enrichment valve lever is in,it should NOT leak gas externally.<br /><br />Now it's your turn ... <br /> What color is your gear oil and how full was it ?<br /><br />DHP

 

[OBJ]

Re: 1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

And one more pennies worth....the red lever should point to the bottom of the solenoid. If it's not, you are pumping in a little more fuel than needed. This would also cause the gray stuff to be a little more heavy from the exhaust.<br /><br />OK....so it was a $.02 worth....

 

[Marc J.]

Re: 1984 Johnson 90 grey oil leak

I had the same thing happen when running my "new" 89' 90hp in a test barrel the other week. Fuel squirted from a perfectly round hole in the cover of the solenoid. The fuel went into the lower cowling, under the powerhead, and found its way into the barrel. It fouled up the water really quickly, a dark, frothy mess.