2 stroke or 4 stroke

[jayg0351]

I have recently purchased a 1980 9.9 hp Montgomery Wards Sea King. The preivious owner was not sure about the motor. He always used a 50:1 mix in it. I asked if it was a 2 or 4 stroke motor and he did not know. The motor starts after 2 pulls but smoke alot for the first few minutes like my old lawnboy mower. Any information or know issues to watch for would be great to hear about.

Thanks,

Jay

 

[CATransplant]

Re: 2 stroke or 4 stroke

I have recently purchased a 1980 9.9 hp Montgomery Wards Sea King. The preivious owner was not sure about the motor. He always used a 50:1 mix in it. I asked if it was a 2 or 4 stroke motor and he did not know. The motor starts after 2 pulls but smoke alot for the first few minutes like my old lawnboy mower. Any information or know issues to watch for would be great to hear about.

Thanks,

Jay

OK, that 1980 Sea King 9.9 was made by Chrysler. Look on the engine, and you should find the model number VWB52299.

It is a 2-stroke engine, and uses a 50:1 fuel to oil ratio mix. It may smoke at first, but the smoke should die off quickly. Use only TCW-3 outboard oil in this motor.

As a Chrysler, some parts will be available here and there, but it's not always a breeze finding them. If it's running OK, then you're all set for now. If it needs repairs, you should be able to find the most common parts easily. You can also ask questions in the Chrysler/Force area on this forum. There are lots of folks who can help you there.

Good luck with this outboard. It should give you good service. They're nice and quiet, and put out a good amount of power. Great for a small boat.

 

[jayg0351]

Re: 2 stroke or 4 stroke

Thanks for the advice, I emptied the fuel tank that came with the motor. I was not willing to trust he mixed the proper ratio of oil to gas. I think starting out fresh is the way to go.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: 2 stroke or 4 stroke

Good move. That was probably old fuel, anyhow...not a good thing. A fresh tank of fuel/oil mix and you should be set to go. One thing I've discovered is that getting an outboard running that hasn't been running a lot often has the outboard running a little lousy at first. If you can get it running, set the throttle at the START position and just let it run in your tank or barrel for awhille. Often, what started out as a rough-running engine ends up smoothing out and running just fine.

Do watch the water coming out of the tell-tale. If it doesn't come out or the little stream dies off, then shut down right away.

Lots of folks just clean the carburetors immediately on getting a used outboard as a matter of course. You may have to do that, anyhow, but you also may not. Same with the impeller. If it's putting out a good stream and keeps doing so, you may not have to do anything at all.

I found this out with a 1958 Johnson 35hp outboard I bought. It had sat for about four years without being started. I automatically replaced the waterpump impeller, but the one that was in there was fresh and nice. I was going to overhaul the carb, too, but, after I started it and ran it for about ten minutes, it started running beautifully. I kept the carb kit to give to the next owner.

 

[jayg0351]

Re: 2 stroke or 4 stroke

I ran it the day I got home in a barrel. It ran good and spit out water like a champ. The only thing I noticed was the excess smoke. I understand that smoke is a common thing on these motors. The smoke amount did calm down. I really think it was due to the barrel collecting the smoke but decided to change the gas anyway. I am looking forward to getting out on the lake in the morning.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: 2 stroke or 4 stroke

Great! Let us know how your outing went. Don't worry about the smoke. When you're in a barrel, you'll always see more than on the water.

 

[jayg0351]

Re: 2 stroke or 4 stroke

I took the boat out this weekend. Boat and motor did really weel. I was not able to open it up all the way due to lake restrictions. This coming weekend I will take it out and open it up on a different lake. The best part of the trip was when we were docking. There was a big expensive bass boat with a 250 hp motor on it. There were three guys in their 20's luanching it. The started it up and pulled it to the dock. I went up and backed my truck down to the ramp. When I got back to the dock they could not get their motor to restart and were kind of just drifting away from the dock. I got into my 37 year old semi-v jon boat with my 27 year old motor and with one pull on the starter she came to life. I just grined and loaded my boat as they were cusing their motor.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: 2 stroke or 4 stroke

Good deal. Now you're ready for the boating season. I'll be doing my initial launch for the season this week.

 

[perkdp]

Re: 2 stroke or 4 stroke

When a motor sits up for a period of time the gas in the carb and tank evaporates leaving a higher oil to fuel ratio. Plus, the barrel gathers the smoke and make it look worse than it really is.

Sounds like you're in good shape by changing the gas and running it in the barrel.

Keep an eye on the teltale, as the fins may not have broke off immediately if they were a bit dry. It may take a little more run time before you see a problem.

Also be sure to check the oil in the foot that it is full and not milky colored.
Milky oil indicates water getting in.