2-cycle oil tank service

levittownnick

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 2, 2003
Messages
789
'97 Pro-Line 201 with an 150 Johnson outboard, not fuel injected. Th rig is 20 years old and I ran low/out of oil and limped home at 1,000 rpm for about 45 minutes. (Shame on Me.) I put 1 gallon of OMC 2-cycle oil in the oil tank and another gallon in the gas with about 45 gallons in the tank. I tried to squeeze the oil primer bulb (located in the bilge resting on top of the oil tank) but the bulb feels almost rock hard. I've purchased a new oil primer bulb today but have not installed it yet. This oil tank is in a difficult location for me to work on and I would like any advise on servicing it so that I don't make it worse than it is. Any advice?

Thank you,
Nick
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,033
Nick, Stow a gal of 2 cycle oil in your boat, so it is handy the next time you run low.

If that motor is a '97, it will give an oil low alarm, long before it runs dry.

If she is a '97 motor, the oil reservoir (if factory), is 1.8G. Since you already put a gallon of oil. I would measure out another 3 qts (1.75 G) and see if all will go in. If not, you still had some oil in the tank.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,033
Nick, Annually, I use a "syringe like" device to pull oil, water and dirt off the bottom of the oil tank. I have never found any....
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,414
There is nothing wrong with your primer bulb.

The oil bulb stays hard because the line is dead ended flow, i.e. there is no place to pump the oil too....

You need to remove the hose from the fuel pump fitting (open ended flow) to "pump" oil using the primer bulb.


System maintenance:
Pull the sending unit out of the tank and clean or replace the filter on the foot.

Pull the oil line off the fuel pump and pump a bunch of oil into a container to clear the hose of any accumulated debris and or water. Almost always a "plug" of some sort comes out.

While your at it, change the oil ring in the cap. They don't last forever.
 

levittownnick

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 2, 2003
Messages
789
Great advice, thank you. This is the best forum ever. I have been seeking and getting good advice on this site for many years.
Happy boating,
Nick
 

levittownnick

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 2, 2003
Messages
789
Nick, Stow a gal of 2 cycle oil in your boat, so it is handy the next time you run low.

If that motor is a '97, it will give an oil low alarm, long before it runs dry.

If she is a '97 motor, the oil reservoir (if factory), is 1.8G. Since you already put a gallon of oil. I would measure out another 3 qts (1.75 G) and see if all will go in. If not, you still had some oil in the tank.


Chris, Dingbat, You are right On. I removed the oil line from the oil pump and was able to squeeze the primer bulb as is normal. Oil came out of the line at the end of the tube without any sign of air. Reconnected the line and the primer bulb is hard just like before the line was disconnected. I am confident that everything is normal.

My most sincere thanks for your help,
Nick

P.S. I tried to quote both of your posts but I'm doing something wrong.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,033
Nick, if you disconnected the oil line from the OMS pump, you should reconnect the oil line, fill the oil reservoir, and run 6 G of premix thru the motor. Now inspect the oil reservoir and make sure the OMS is pulling oil.
 

levittownnick

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 2, 2003
Messages
789
Nick, if you disconnected the oil line from the OMS pump, you should reconnect the oil line, fill the oil reservoir, and run 6 G of premix thru the motor. Now inspect the oil reservoir and make sure the OMS is pulling oil.


I have added oil to my gas so I'll be running on double the oil. When I disconnected the oil line it was full to the end of the hose, I squeezed the oil primer several times and each time the oil pumped thru without any air bubbles and then I reconnected the oil line and squeezed the bulb again but after the reconnect, just as before, the primer was hard and could not be compressed. Since I have already put oil in the gas, the only thing I can do is keep a check on the oil level in the reservoir to be sure the oil injection is operating.

Thanks gain,
Nick
 
Top