I was just given ANOTHER motor....

[dgjones]

Hi all, I have just acquired (free) an early 80's Johnson 9.9. I picked this motor up from a guy that had no use for it. When I arrive to pick up the motor he was adimant about showing me how well it started up. He had the motor hangin off of a pair of horses. He dribbled some gas in the carb and pulled the motor over and it started and ran great for about 3 seconds. (I would normally not start a motor out of water with what I know now but this guy turned the thing over before I had a chance to stop him), AND THEN I noticed that the gas he was pouring into the carb was clear so I asked him if it was premix...he looked at me with a blank stare...and thats the end of that story. I took the motor home and ran it in a tank with premix and it seemed to run and idle fine. MY QUESTION IS, how much can an outboard take of running off straight gasoline without burning up?? I know the motor runs now but I'm just worried about it crapping out later on because of this guy running straight gas in it.

 

[backyard mechanic]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

Check the compression to be sure but sounds like the guy didn't run it without oil or at least not very much. Any engine that starts and runs as fast as you say this one did................. it's a good deal.

Now pickle the engine correctly and do a little check over maintenance work. Obviously you'll want to run it and check it out thoroughly before you use it on the lake.

 

[RadarRick]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

Run without water = ruined water pump

 

[dgjones]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

haha oh I know the damage running out of water can do. I was just more worried about the powerhead being run without premix!! if only for a short while. Anyway, I already replaced the impeller (it was pretty bad) and the engine seems to idle and run fine so we will see how she does on the lake in spring!

 

[samo_ott]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

If you wanted to you could pull the head and check for cylinder scoring. BTW, nice free pick up!

 

[dgjones]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

If you wanted to you could pull the head and check for cylinder scoring. BTW, nice free pick up!

haha thanks, I guess luck finds us all once in a while. Pulling the head may be a little too labor intensive for me. I shined a flashlight inside the spark plug holes and all I could see was the top of the pistons and they did look somewhat burnt, as in dark brown on the top of the pistons. The cylinder walls (from what I could see) looked ok though.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

Carbon build up on the piston crowns is normal. Running a motor without oil in the mix kinda worries me, but if it has good compression and no scoring, then you're okay. Running it out of water will fry the impeller in the matter of seconds.

 

[boobie]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

If it's running okay now don't worry about it. That mtr will run ok at IDLE for some time on straight gas only. But don't rev it up. That's when the probs start.

 

[dgjones]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

It seems to run good and I hope I have a good one here! thanks for all of the input!! I will keep you posted if any problems arise.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

Take a compression test and let us know whatcha get.

 

[bktheking]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

Run without water = ruined water pump

Not always, all depends on the condition of the impeller. There is always wear against the impeller cup regardless of water or no water, it's a matter of heat. Now if he started it up and ran it for 5 minutes like that- whole different story, the impeller would be my last concern

 

[RadarRick]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

Good point BK

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

But I would suggest changing it out anyway as it is an unknown at this point.

 

[jmendoza]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

Given you had no idea about the engines history or the last time the impeller was changed, and from how you described the old impeller, that was a smart move to replace it.

As to lack of lube, the engine would have to been run hard enough to put a load and heat on the bearings and cylinders, and that load would have to be of such severity and duration to cause damage. I doubt a quick fire up would do that, especially given there is always some residual oil in the engine, and the fact that there was no load, nor was it run long enough to create any real heat or do any real damage. If damage was occuring, you would have heard the engine tighten up and then die, and it would have smelled hot too.
You are OK, but give it a good de-carb, I preffer Valv-Tect sprayed into hot cylinders over sea Foam in the gas, it's more effective for that. Change the lower unit oil too, just to be sure it's sealed and doing fine, add new plugs and you should be good, but have a spare fuel pump kit, fuel line connector o-rings, and new fuel lines and clamps handy.

 

[dgjones]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

Hey thanks for the input and I will take your advice and purchase the fuel pump etc. just in case! I haven't been stranded on the water yet and I hope it doesn't come from this motor lol.

BTW is there a conversion chart on iboats that tells me what spark plugs my motor takes? The motor is at a seperate garage away from my home at this time, but i would like to order some new plugs.

 

[bktheking]

Re: I was just given ANOTHER motor....

Champion QL77jc4's on the CDI motors