Is this exhaust vapor excessive? **** VIDEO****

[Big6ft6]

1978 85hp Crossflow. Is this exhaust smoke normal? I took my boat up north this weekend and I had to do a lot of no-wake slow driving. I noticed a big white plume of exhaust that I've never noticed before. Here is a video I took. Everything else seems to be working great, she starts right up, runs at high speed really well. I did notice that the vapor/smoke doesn't happen until about 3 minutes after I started the motor. The motor does seem to wiggle/jiggle/vibrate at these really low speeds, but nothing terrible...I think it is just normal 2-stroke vibration. I don't see the vapor/exhaust at higher speed, but I assume just because I'm moving fast enough?

Appreciate any thoughts/insight

 

[nwcove]

dont see any vid, but under the right atmospheric conditions, your motor will appear to blow steam from the exhaust. kinda like your car does on certain days.....or when its 20 below zero. jmo

 

[Big6ft6]

Not sure what to do, I have a video uploaded to you tube, it ried using the link feature and it showed it in my preview, but it isn't showing on the actual post? I just tried pasting the link directly into the forum and I get an error message??

 

[Big6ft6]

Go to you tube.com and search for this video "85hp 1978 Johnson Crossflow outboard - is this too much exhaust vapor? "

Sorry for the hassle....appreciate anyone willing to look at the video and comment

 

[nwcove]

tried the search...nada. ya sure you dont have it private etc etc??

 

[Big6ft6]

OMG....this is so annoying...I went to all this trouble to upload a video and I can't find a way to share it with you guys. Your'e right the you tube search doesn't pull up the video... I don't know why what a PITA...I pasted the title right from the video on you tube...the video is live, I can watch it from my own yout bue account...the setting is public....man this is maddening. it is maddening the the link feature on the forum doesbn't work...when I paste the link into the link tool, it shows my video in the post preview, but as soon as I publish the post...it doesn't appear.....freakin' a. I'll try adding the link again to the post...just in case that doesn't work the link is h t t p : / / youtu.be/hKDOsvvA2vM but take out the spaces between for the http part and slashes.

 

[Big6ft6]

h t t p : / / youtu.be/hKDOsvvA2vM but take out all of the spaces after the first the "h". yes there is a "." in the middle of the word tube for some reason?? don't ask.

http://youtu.be/hKDOsvvA2vM

 

[Big6ft6]

hey it worked to just paste the link itself into the post, the link is clickable to my video!!

 

[theBrownskull]

What was the temp outside?

 

[Big6ft6]

I'd say it was 65-70F

 

[emdsapmgr]

Your engine seems to have a nice grunt sound to it! I have that exact engine, except in a 1979 version. The exhaust looks normal to me. It will take a minute or so for the thermostats to open. Once they do, the exhaust relief ports will spit water and that will mix with the exhaust. It's also got nice water flow out of the exhaust relief ports. I note that you don't see much exhaust exiting the prop underwater. So most of the idle exhaust will exit from those relief ports. They are put there to assist in idling. It's normal that once you get on plane and the exhaust comes out underwater that you won't see anything but water streaming from those relief ports. You can check one thing. If the one (or both) of the stats are stuck open, it could be running cold. If that's occurring, it will tend to smoke somewhat more at idle. You can check for idle temps with a laser temp gun. Should be around 143 or so at idle. Maybe warmer if it's in the dead of summer in a warm lake. Since you don't see the smoke for a minute, it's likely the stats are opening properly. If you have borrowed/rented a laser temp gun, you might as well check/verify the cyl head temps under two conditions: Should idle at 143-150 degrees. When on plane (and the thermostat pressure relief valves open) the cyl head temps will go down maybe 20 degrees or so.

 

[steelespike]

It does seem to be "steam" As suggested it may go away when the thermostat opens.
Excessive "steam" could be an indication of water infiltration Perhaps a bad head gasket.
If it persists try a compression check or carefully feel the heads should be too hot to hold your hand on but not so hot it burns you.
Too hot is probably a thermostat or perhaps it's simply the impeller.
If its water infiltration one or more of the plugs may be excessively clean.
Slight water infiltration the motor may act normally except for the "steam".

 

[Big6ft6]

Thanks Guys, really appreciate the responses and the education. I was worried about water in the cylinder due to a head gasket, but good to know that at low speeds those exhaust ports are suppose to be the primary exhaust location and some exhaust vapor is expected. I was doing a lot of very low speed driving this past weekend because we had to go through a long no-wake zone to get the larger lake from our dock. So I had a lot of time to watch this steam/exhaust plume and worry. I did a compression test when I bought the boat this spring and it was strong and consistent 120+ on each cylinder.

I did get an overheat alarm once this summer, I stopped, raised the engine (didn't see any obstructions) and let it cool down, never had an issue since, but that is always in the back of my mind too. It has a strong tell-tale stream, but I'll probably get a new impeller in soon just to be safe.

I also have a laser temp gun and will do some head temp checks next time we're out.

 

[loiner1965]

nice motor and sounds and looks ok to me....