68 Johnson 9.5 Constant Water Flow From Pee Hole

[great_white_fisherman]

So first off, I had constant water flow from the day I bought the motor. Didn't think anything of it till I read that this shouldn't be the case. Water should only flow once the thermostat opens. That got me thinking and I tore out the thermostat to find it was stuck open. Replaced it and started it up and still the same issue from a cold start

So is this normal? From what I can see, there is only one way for the water to get out that pee hole and that's by going through the exhaust manifold which means it is circulating through the engine when it shouldn't be, right? Why is it pissing if it's cold and the thermostat is closed?

 

[F_R]

You have been misinformed, Water should blow out anytime the motor is running.

 

[great_white_fisherman]

So how am I supposed to know the thermostat is opened and circulating like it should?

 

[racerone]

They usually fail open.----See it all the time.-----Install a new one and go fishing.----They did a good job designing that fishing motor.

 

[TrueNorthist]

Yes, I spent my earliest years to the sound of a '65 9.5 "egg" on the back of a 10.5 foot crestliner aluminium car topper. One year the carburetor fell apart on Loon lake Ontario and a local Johnson tech also recommended we upgrade it with a telltale and some other factory tweaks. Thereafter it went wee wee from the start, regardless of thermostat. Can't recall where exactly it was plumbed into, but clearly the stat had no effect on it. Fine, quiet, smooth running motor with plenty of power for the day, but still tempermental to start and kinda heavy to pack back and forth to the trunk of our '67 Dart.

Ah, memories of happy days watching my father pull and pull and pull after flooding it, again... Likely what made me go to Marine school and subsequent decades of monkeying with OMCs, even though I went straight from college into working for a Toro commercial/golf and turf distributor.

Just enough marine knowledge to really mess things up.

 

[F_R]

great white, perhaps if you understood how it works,, it might help. Water always flows through part of the block, and out the blow hole, regardless of thermostat state. That is necessary in order to cool the exhaust. Only part of the system is thermostat controlled.

 

[racerone]

???----What I can't believe you would say the 9.5 is heavy.----Listed at 60 LBS in the brochures.----Newer 9.9 models wore listed at 72 / 75 LBS !!!

 

[TrueNorthist]

I had that motor for a very long time after old dad bought his dream 16ft boat with a 105 Chrysler, which I also now have -- minus the 105 and now sporting the L3 some of you might be familiar with. During that time I also had both a Merc and an evinrude 9.9, which were noticeably lighter. It might prove a chuckle to read that brochure. Probably states it's easy as pie to start! One had to nail the priming and choking steps and posses tremendous upper body strength if you missed it by that much...

But I loved that motor. It idled lower and slower than my 6hp and again was surprisingly powerful at speed. Always very quiet with that exhaust jacket arrangement.

 

[Trilogyinc]

They are great motors. You can spin my flywheel by hand and start it. There is always water coming out the blubber hole on mine

 

[TrueNorthist]

Ours was always persnickety, even after careful carb rebuild and new reed block assy. The fella die-grinding the carb at the factory probably had a bad day, or it was assembled on a Friday.

I saw a '74 once at Chilliwack lake that was like yours. Just sneeze and it fired up. Mine, not so much...

Sorry for the drift.

 

[racerone]

Most motors properly tuned and with the CORRECT procedure will start with little effort.

 

[F_R]

I used to demo-start the 9.5 motors by spinning the flywheel 1/2 turn by hand. Warning: Do not try this at home. You may lose some fingers.

 

[TrueNorthist]

Most motors properly tuned and with the CORRECT procedure will start with little effort.

Was that the snap and sting of a wet towel flick? I seen a book once you know... :fencing:

 

[great_white_fisherman]

I just don't understand how it can get to the exhaust. The hole that allows water in is after the thermostat. I guess there's another tube somewhere else to allow it to bypass the stat and go through the exhaust

 

[racerone]

On most outboards water enters the block and cools the exhaust part of the block FIRST.---Then circulates through cylinder water jackets and dumped out with the exhaust.----Factory manuals often have the water flow diagram.

 

[great_white_fisherman]

Update:

I was a bit nervous about getting on the water because I had no way of knowing if the thermostat would operate properly. But I went out anyways.

The result was nothing less than jaw-dropping. She ran before but had some issues and never sounded quite right. But now? She purrs like a kitten! I never heard that motor sound so good!! No back/misfires, the engine noise was a lower decibel and not whiney anymore (except full throttle), and it idled pretty smooth without trying to die at low speed. That thermostat fixed everything! Who knew a stat could have that kind of effect?!

 

[NicoPags]

+1 on racers response. for general illustration take a look

 

[great_white_fisherman]

Ok so it appears I had the visual backwards. I thought the water came UP to the thermostat and waited for it to open before flowing. I can see from that illustration that the thermostat doesn't control the flow coming in, rather going out. And until it's open, the path of least resistance is straight to the pisser