How to clean oil reservoir for 2-stroke engine

[capslock118]

Hi there,

I purchased my boat about years ago and as far as the oil goes, i've only refilled the reservoir.

So today, I wanted to change over the oil in the reservoir, reset it if you will, because its a very darkish color - not what i expect out of new clean oil.

What I found was some think chunky particles in the tank. The pipe that sucks the oil out when the engine is running does have a filter on it but i'm wondering:

what is the best method to clean the inside of the reservoir? Can I blast the inside with a hose with water and then just drain into a can for proper disposal?

also - i noticed when emptying the reservoir that there was another filter screen just floating in the can along with at least an o-ring. I'm not sure if there were any other parts inside the oil as it's so thick. Can you guess what that might be since there is already one screen attached to the line? a second screen that was suppose to be attached perhaps?

thanks

 

[will941s]

Re: How to clean oil reservoir for 2-stroke engine

For the cleaning part, I would say to remove it from the engine, dump and dispose of the oil. Pour some engine degreaser in the bottle with some water and slosh it around and repeat a few times til the oil is gone. Then rinse it with fresh water until there are no traces of oil or degreaser in the bottle. Then dry it very well, maybe with a hair dryer and make sure all the water is gone. Then reassemble. Also this will give you good chance to change / inspect the filters on the lines. As far as how everything hooks up and the mystery parts you found, a service manual should tell you everything you need to know about install and hook ups. I know on some motors there is a bleeding process you have to go through to get air out of the lines after a bottle or line removal. Heard it was simple but I've never done it. Wish I could be more help. Good luck.

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: How to clean oil reservoir for 2-stroke engine

Gasoline works better for cleaning the tank and won't hurt anything.

 

[capslock118]

Re: How to clean oil reservoir for 2-stroke engine

Good ideas fellas, thanks.


I think I should note that I am not referring to the small oil tank on top of the engine block, I intend to keep the oil that is in there as-is as it cann just burn away this summer. My plan was to just clean the oil reservoir found underneith the back seat of the boat.

As far as how everything hooks up and the mystery parts you found, a service manual should tell you everything you need to know about install and hook ups.

Now this one is tricky. I have a seloc manual but there is nothing in there that talks about the reservoirs specific parts, unless i missed a page or two.

I noticed on mercurys parts express website that I can buy my particular engines user manual, parts list, and service manual. The service manual is $70 though and I am wondering if the part's list would do it $25 OR if this reservoir is just a seperate entity entirely.

I cant seem to find information about oil reservoirs and the only oil filters i can find are for 4-stroke engines...any thoughts?

 

[capslock118]

Re: How to clean oil reservoir for 2-stroke engine

update: actually, I was finally able to put in my serial number in the parts express search by engine serial number option today (it wasnt working for me yesterday) and found detailed parts lists for my engine. terrific, i'll just replace the parts in question.

Thanks for your help everyone.