Motor washing

[Wishiniwuzfishin]

Just purchased a 1974 Johnson 115HP outboard. I would like to clean up the engine a little if it wouldn't cause problems. Thinking of removing cover, spraying powerhead with some type of degreaser and rinsing with garden hose(low pressure). Am I asking for trouble? If it's ok....anything I should cover with plastic wrap to keep dry? Just would like a fairly clean engine to make it easier to keep an eye on any possible future leaks. Thanks

 

[zach103]

Re: Motor washing

Do you have a compressor?

 

[Wishiniwuzfishin]

Re: Motor washing

No.

 

[zach103]

Re: Motor washing

ok so that options out.. well i dont know about your idea someone with more experience will chime in.. for mine i sprayed it with the degreaser and cleaned that up with towels..

 

[robert graham]

Re: Motor washing

Maybe rinse power head off very lightly with just a garden hose, careful to avoid electricals. I only rinse mine during the hot summer on a sunny day, so it'll dry quicky. No real need to remove all oil/grease from motor. After it dries then spray motor all over with WD-40 or similar to protect from moisture. Take a rag and wipe dirt/oil/grease from areas where it shows. Good Luck!

 

[Chris's CVX16]

Re: Motor washing

I've cleaned my '79 100 several times. Used everything from Castrol Superclean to an entire can of carburetor cleaner. Finally got the white paint to show thru and my hands are clean when I am working around it now. It's good to have a clean motor.

Couple rules though.

Be gentle around anything that looks like a seal.
Keep the liquids away from the electronics.
Lubricate the pivot points of any linkages after you are done.

Remember this is a boat motor. A little water can't hurt it. Once it is good and clean it should stay that way pretty easily. I've got a '69 Merc that has been cleaned like this since May of '69 and so far so good.

 

[pine island fred]

Re: Motor washing

Its a motor, same as in a car, truck, lawn mower. Just dont get to carried away with hose rinsing. On a sunny day you can use a detergent full strength. 409 or FASTASTIK comes to mind. Or ENGINE BRIGHT or GUNK, both petrolemium products made for that. Consider VARSOL ( high refined KEROSENE) or a TURCO product. Can even use spray oven cleaner, which is a mild lye product. Rinse it with a misting water spray and let dry.
I use MERCURY quicksilver corrosion guard afterwords. Dries overnight into an oily, waxy finish like ZIEBART. And as pointed out, hit all the grease fittings. regards FRED

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Motor washing

WD40 is a drying agent that attracts salt. (WD=Water Displacement). Maybe OK to use to clean but not to protect afterwards. I love the aerosol white lithium grease to lube and protect moving parts such as linkage, bolt heads, etc.

For this reason don't put it on your fishnig gear!

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: Motor washing

I had a 70 Hp Merc (1977) that I used in salt water. After every trip back to the house I would pull the cover off, spray off the powerhead with a hose (don't get too carried away), put the muffs on it and then run if for 10-15 minutes at idle to flush the salt out of it. This would also up warm the engine and help dry if off. I'd then follow with a little lube here and there before putting it back in the garage. I never had any problems with giving the powerhead a little rinse. Just stick with a fine/medium spray rather than a solid stream of water and avoid going into the carbs or directly onto any connectors. After all, every part of these engines was engineered to operate on the water. As long as there is no rot on the rubber components you should be in pretty good shape.