CD17 1960 Johnson 5.5 oil foam in tank

[meyerboy]

I broke a promise to myself, and bought this motor in peices that were in three or four boxes, with a handfull of bolts in an old hubcap. Took me an afternoon, but got her together, and she started in the third pull. Ran about 2 gallons of gas through just to bring her back from the dead.

I have a (small) foamy oil slick in the run tank, and it is light grey in color. I drained the lower unit, and it was jet black, and in good shape (no water at all). Could the oil be from the exhaust? Could the 24 to 1 fuel just be too rich for this motor to run any cleaner??

If this is a repair issue, I guess I start at the powerhead seals?

What do you think??

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: CD17 1960 Johnson 5.5 oil foam in tank

Sounds normal to me for an old outboard running a rich mix. In open water that oil is spread out and it breaks down/evaporates fairly quickly...

 

[F_R]

Re: CD17 1960 Johnson 5.5 oil foam in tank

It would happen at a 100:1 mix too---just not as much. Think about it, you put oil in the gas. Every drop of that oil goes through the engine. Some of it is burned (smoke) and the rest goes out the exhaust. Guess where the exhaust goes---yep right into the barrel.

24:1 is correct. Actually, it probably was originally 16:1. Don't be trying to wean it on any less.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: CD17 1960 Johnson 5.5 oil foam in tank

1960 and older 5.5's had the babbot bearing rods. 16:1 would be better just as F_R says. 1961 and later had needle bearing rods and take 24:1.

If you ran 2 gallons of fuel through it, then what you see there is normal. Fortunately, your lower unit oil is in good shape.