Lots of air bubbles in Johnson 80hp telltale hose?

[BonairII]

I just started my '67 Johnson 80hp today. My newly installed telltale has a clear hose. While the engine was idling(somewhat poorly), I noticed that the telltale was good, but lots of air bubbles are coming out of the water jacket into the hose.

I also noticed that I have a drip coming from the bottom right corner of the exhaust housing. Could these two things be related?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIbCJ1FQLCQ
Could any of these symptoms have any affect on the idle performance?

 

[BonairII]

Re: Lots of air bubbles in Johnson 80hp telltale hose?

Update:
I now think that the bubbles must be from the fact that the lower unit is in a garbage can. :facepalm:
I would assume that the water intake sucking in air is normal.

Ironically, the bad idle performance is being caused by the fact that that my fuel lines are full of air bubbles also. I replaced all fuel lines on the motor with clear hose and can see tons of bubbles.

The fuel line(15ft) was replaced last fall and the bulb is brand new. Now I'm going to use a length of clear hose to find out if the air is getting in somewhere between the tank/bulb or the bulb/motor. It's a bit frustrating, but I think I'll have it figured out soon.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Lots of air bubbles in Johnson 80hp telltale hose?

Running in a bucket or on muffs isin't the best.
The missing at idle,some outboards will always do that but your seem to be a bit much.
I'd start with new hoses,rebuild the pump.
Clean the carbs.Pretty easy to do.
Any inline connectors should be replaced too.People NEVER replace them and should.
They have plastic and rubber and the Ethanol is messing them up too.
Some Johnsons have preset carbs so there isin't much you can do if they are your type.
Look for air screws and turn in all the way GENTLY!!! Then out 1 turn.
Start and warm.Then turn in till it just starts to cough/buck or stall then out 1/2 turn.
Same on the next carb.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Lots of air bubbles in Johnson 80hp telltale hose?

I bypassed the male fuel connector at the engine and ran clear fuel line. A LOT of air bubbles were in the line. I"m guessing that it's the new Attwood bulb and/or it's connections.

Just as a quick test, I put premix in a large gatorade bottle and ran a clear line straight to the fuel inlet on the fuel pump. Motor started and ran well and no bubbles in the other clear line feeding the carb.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Lots of air bubbles in Johnson 80hp telltale hose?

I"m guessing that it's the new Attwood bulb and/or it's connections.

Seems likely to me also but check all hose clamps leading up to the fuel pump where sucking in air would be possible. Regarding the air bubbles in your telltale, I looked at your video but could not see the water level well enough to determine if it substantially above the anti-ventilation plate. My reason for pointing that out is that when the motor is in neutral or reverse, the primary source to the water pump is the "by-pass inlet" which is located above the AVP. Short of blocking the exhaust relief hole, the higher you can get the water the better when running in a trashcan. FYI, I modified an extra by-pass water inlet cover with a water hose adapter so I could run my old beasty on the hose. Two machine screws are all that is involved AND the hose will not fall off like muffs. Good luck!

 

[archcycle]

Re: Lots of air bubbles in Johnson 80hp telltale hose?

I bypassed the male fuel connector at the engine and ran clear fuel line. A LOT of air bubbles were in the line. I"m guessing that it's the new Attwood bulb and/or it's connections.

Just as a quick test, I put premix in a large gatorade bottle and ran a clear line straight to the fuel inlet on the fuel pump. Motor started and ran well and no bubbles in the other clear line feeding the carb.

It wouldn't hurt to replace the connector on the tank end of the hose, the connector on the tank, and the hose clamp. I re-did my fuel lines last month and two connectors and a hose clamp came out to about $12. Considering how much you spend between hoses and bulbs you might as well do the whole job.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Lots of air bubbles in Johnson 80hp telltale hose?

It wouldn't hurt to replace the connector on the tank end of the hose, the connector on the tank, and the hose clamp. I re-did my fuel lines last month and two connectors and a hose clamp came out to about $12. Considering how much you spend between hoses and bulbs you might as well do the whole job.

All connections both male/female on hoses and fuel tank were just replaced earlier this week.

Today, I replaced the the entire fuel line from bow to stern (even though the old one was only 6 months old) and replaced the bulb AGAIN. $19 bucks for the new low permeable bulb.

I replaced all fuel lines on the motor itself also. I upgraded all hose from 1/4" ID line to 5/16" ID hose. I've had been wanting to go with the larger diameter fuel line anyway, so this was a good time to do it obviously.

Even after all that I was still getting a lot air in the line(I could see large bubbles in the clear line). I took the female fuel connector off the end of the line and just put the hose in a regular gas can with premix fuel. No air in the lines now!!
Motor idles smoothly with no hiccups now.


Only 3 culprits left.... it's either the new female connector, the new brass male connector on the tank, or the pickup tube in the fuel tank.

Ran out of time to do anymore today.

Tomorrow, I'm going to dial in the low speed needles a bit more.