95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

[degull]

Hi everyone. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to outboards so please excuse me if I say ask or say something silly. My fishing buddy has a 1995 30hp Johnson outboard model# J30ELEOB serial# G03863095 that has water in the lower cylinder. He made the big mistake of forgetting to add oil to 1/3 tank of fuel. What I mean is that he had a 1/3 of a tank of good fuel/oil mix left after a day on the lake then filled the tank with straight fuel. He had ran out of oil to mix so he thought, no biggie, I'll just add the correct amount of oil the next trip up to the lake. Well you guessed it, he forgot to add the oil on the next trip to the lake. He told me that it ran normal for about 20 minutes then died and never started again.

Thinking that cylinder must be scored I took the cylinder head off to see how much damage was done to the cylinders and pistons and to my surprise there is zero damage! I never carried out a compression test at first because I thought for sure the cylinder and at least the piston rings would be damaged.

Can anyone tell me if the head gasket is the culprit or the saviour depending on how you look at it? I figure the the motor overheated allowing water to flow past the head gasket and into the cylinder. Would this be a correct diagnosis?

Also is there a way to drain the crankcase? I'm afraid (not sure) that water has made its way into the crankcase as well.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[G DANE]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

Hi - Placing the motor with the plugholes down, and pulling starter rope og rotating by starter will drain crankcase. The water will damage bearings if it isnt lubricated, though. Motor must be started within hours to avoid this. I dont think the oil problem damaged anything. Omc ran 1:100 for some years, and there still was a safety margin. Changed back as it didnt leave enough oil for long sitting motors afterwards. Water can enter from a leaking headgasket and a leak in eshaust cooling water jacket gaskets. Most likely, a leaking headgasket. Why did it overheat ?? Check the impeller in waterpump, put it together and run it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

yep sounds good.

 

[degull]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

Hi - Placing the motor with the plugholes down, and pulling starter rope og rotating by starter will drain crankcase. The water will damage bearings if it isnt lubricated, though. Motor must be started within hours to avoid this. I dont think the oil problem damaged anything. Omc ran 1:100 for some years, and there still was a safety margin. Changed back as it didnt leave enough oil for long sitting motors afterwards. Water can enter from a leaking headgasket and a leak in eshaust cooling water jacket gaskets. Most likely, a leaking headgasket. Why did it overheat ?? Check the impeller in waterpump, put it together and run it.

I think the engine overheated but I'm not sure, I wasn't there when it happened. The reason I think it overheated was because the use of wrong fuel/oil mix. There was too little oil in the fuel mix. The mixture was probably 300 to 1 when the motor failed. I'm not sure if the water pump/impeller is good, but I know it was replaced last season.

When you say drain the crankcase with the plug holes down, do you mean the sparkplug holes down? Also the water (freshwater) in the crankcase has been in there for probably a month atleast. Is there anything else I can do help this or will I have to tear it down to see if any corrosion has started in the crankcase bearings. Thanks so much for your help

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

if water is in the crankcase for a month, corrosion has started. when a motor is submerged in water, the first thing you do, when you get it out of the water is to get it started, and run for a while so the heat evaporates the water. water and air equals corrosion.

 

[degull]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

if water is in the crankcase for a month, corrosion has started. when a motor is submerged in water, the first thing you do, when you get it out of the water is to get it started, and run for a while so the heat evaporates the water. water and air equals corrosion.

I was afraid of that. So what should I do at this point? Should I tear it down to the crankshaft or put it back together and try running it?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

depends really if the water got past the rings. you could start it. and get lucky, or unlucky. if you still have the heads off, turn the flywheel feeling for the slightest resistance, corrosion on the shaft or bearings.

 

[degull]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

When I turn the flywheel by hand, it turns easily, but I feel the resistance of the water pump impeller, I think.

 

[mikesea]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

get a new head gasket ,make sure you torque the bolts ,with a torque wrench,do it in intervals,run the eng

 

[degull]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

get a new head gasket ,make sure you torque the bolts ,with a torque wrench,do it in intervals,run the eng

I think that is what I'll do. You wouldn't happen to know what the torque value for the cylinder head bolts is?

 

[degull]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

I just thought of something else. The motor is off the boat and in my garage. The boat is stored a fair bit away and it's cold as you know what here. Is there anyway I can start the motor if hook up a battery and jump some pins at the big red plug? I don't have any wiring diagrams. I have a set of rabbit ears (as my friend called them) to hook up the water to the water intake. I really appreciate the help guys. Thanks.

 

[Harker]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

Did you see water in the cylinder? Was there rust in the bore?Was the spark plug "steam cleaned"? Go to the library and see if they have a manual, the bolts have to be torqued in sequence in ever increasing torque. Start at 1/3 and work up to max. Unless the motor was filled with water, I bet there is no problems unless it toasted the bearings from lack of oil and overheat. Use twice the oil in a gallon of gas to begin with to test the motor (25:1) so it forces more oil to the moving parts. I'll try to remember tonight to look in my manual for torque specs but I don't know how to post a pic of the sequence. Seems like 250-260 INCH pounds is what I did mine. I started at 100 and worked up in 25 INCH pounds at a time. Lay a straight edge on the mating surface of the head to make sure it isn't warped out of whack.

 

[degull]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

Did you see water in the cylinder? Was there rust in the bore?Was the spark plug "steam cleaned"? Go to the library and see if they have a manual, the bolts have to be torqued in sequence in ever increasing torque. Start at 1/3 and work up to max. Unless the motor was filled with water, I bet there is no problems unless it toasted the bearings from lack of oil and overheat. Use twice the oil in a gallon of gas to begin with to test the motor (25:1) so it forces more oil to the moving parts. I'll try to remember tonight to look in my manual for torque specs but I don't know how to post a pic of the sequence. Seems like 250-260 INCH pounds is what I did mine. I started at 100 and worked up in 25 INCH pounds at a time. Lay a straight edge on the mating surface of the head to make sure it isn't warped out of whack.

When I removed the head, I'd say a couple ounces of water came out of the lower cylinder. There in no rust anywhere inside the cylinder bore or the pistons and rings from what I can see. The spark plugs were not steamed cleaned, they look like they have a black film on them from burnt oil I'm guessing.
Another friend has a Evinrude manual that he is going to look for. He said it might cover this engine. I'm hoping that I can find the torque sequence in there.

Is there any way to start this engine off the boat? I was thinking that I can just rig a momentary switch to the big red plug to simulate the ignition switch but I'm not sure if there is anything else that I have to bypass?

 

[david_r]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

you can hook it to a battery and jump the solenoid with a wire or screw driver but youll have to pull the plugs or choke it out to kill it.........you dont have to do anything with the big red plug--once it is unplugged the key no longer matters.

heres a diagram of a starting circuit
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/electricStart.html

on the picture diagram jump 3 to 6......or you can hook up jumper cables and put the ground on a good spot on the motor and touch the pos to #8 on the starter


some more wiring
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/wireColorCode.html

 

[Harker]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

If you look at the block, where the head attaches, you will see 3 rubber tubes stuck in the water passages. See if they look melted too. Is the paint bubbled up or discolored on the cylinder block?

 

[degull]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

Paint on the cylinder looks perfect and the rubber tubes look perfect as well. I'm guessing the head did not get hot enough to cause that much damage.

Thanks for those diagrams, I didn't realize that all I had to do was jump the starter solenoid. I thought there was some feedback through the big red plug that would prevent the motor from running if the red plug was disconnected from the boat circuits.

The head gasket is on order as of today and I should have it sometime this week. Just need the head torque values and tightening sequence now. Hopefully I'll have it ready for a test run on the weekend.

This is great guys, I'm learning tons about outboards and helping a friend at the same time. Thanks so much.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

check you library, for a manual.

 

[mikesea]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

make sure you have water for the waterpump or in seconds you will burn up the rubber impeller,also realize for certain,once it starts you cant shut down until you remove fuel or air by choking,tis could take a while,watch throttle and be suse its not in a high or wide open throttle position,when it fires it will have a hell of a torque and could cause damage if to much throttle is applied

 

[HybridMX6]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

Or just pull the spark plug wires. That'll kill as quick as you can pull them, no waiting.

 

[david_r]

Re: 95 30HP Johnson Water In Lower Cylinder

Or just pull the spark plug wires. That'll kill as quick as you can pull them, no waiting.

yep.........but be careful it will make you laugh later but you wont be laughing when it shocks the s*** out of you.

p.s. take a good look around also cause when you yell out ^&^%&%&^%*^&** you may not want too many children around.