1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

[M. L. Burris]

what a site. great info here. my first post so here goes...my 85 9.9 johnson had cooling problems so i replaced the impeller, impeller housing and thermostat. i also noticed that when the lower unit was disconnected that if i put water back up the copper tube that runs from the water pump that water leaks down from the top of the tube where it goes into the powerhead. in addition, after reassembly when motor reaches temperature and thermostat opens the water does not stream out, but instead inconsistently spits out. it's not a very good flow at all. is this a bad grommet under the powerhead and will a new one remedy this problem? i have limited outboard repair experience so is this too much for me to tackle? will i need any special tools? i just hate to take it to a shop if i can do the work because of the extra cost. thanks for any help.

 

[sloopy]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

a little bit of plumbers buddy and/or some of handymans best friend (duct tape) should fix that problem!!! you might also want to clear the lines out there might br some stuff stuck in them.

 

[sloopy]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

**** puddy

 

[clanton]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

You have to remove the power head to replace the water tube grommet

 

[Reel Appeal]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

M.L.,<br /> If your motor has a "pee" tube(I think it does,not sure).Check where the water exits from the motor(where it's dribbling out).Remove the hood and find the rubber(pee)hose inside at the back.It should be connected to a plastic fitting which snaps into the lower cowling of the motor.The inside diameter of that fitting is smaller than the tube diameter and is prone to clogging with silt/sand.Remove the tube from the fitting and clear any obstructions with a straightened paper clip.Check this first,it's simple.

 

[M. L. Burris]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

thanks for the responses guys...<br /><br />clanton, how extensive is removal of the powerhead? I have ordered the shop manual for my engine (which i should have already had) but do not have it yet. Will i be able to do this with basic hand-tools? <br /><br />Reel Appeal, i did as you suggested. I checked the "tell-tale" on the right side of the engine for a blockage and it has a strong flow. However, the exit leading from the thermostat gives very poor flow that is more like a spitting when it reaches temp. I just replaced my water pump, pump housing, and thermostat and am fairly certain that I don't have a blockage. It seems that this grommet is leaking bad enough that little water can make it through the engine and out the exit. This is just my guess though. <br /><br />I'm a little timid to attempt to remove the powerhead as i don't want to break anything that's not broken. I called several marine mechanics yesterday and was quoted about 250 to 300 dollars parts/labor. This just seems a lot for this old engine so I was hoping to do the work myself. Please keep the great suggestions coming. Thanks again.

 

[Bear]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

Have you seen this already?<br /> Maintaining Johnson/Evinrude 9.9 & 15 hp outboards <br />Somewhere at the lower third of the page, Removal of the Powerhead...<br /><br />I hope it helps!

 

[P.V.]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

Ok, here goes! The proper way to remove the powerhead, versus the way OMC's service manual says to do it!! Do not remove the air silencer, carb, mount bolts or any of that..... Here's how. <br />Remove the gearcase. Take off the tiller handle OR take out the throttle shaft from the tiller handle. (later units had a throttle cable, in which case you only need to remove the handle from the bracket, the whole handle would stay with the powerhead and pan). Next, with a small set of snap ring pliers, remove the snap ring that holds the "next" throttle gear and it's small, about 3" long shaft. That would be the throttle gear inside the steering bracket that "butts" up against the throttle shaft on the tiller! Got it?? (again, the later throttle cable models didn't have this additional geat and shaft). Now remove the six powerhead bolts. The two aft ones are slightly longer than the other four. Take a fairly large prybar or screwdriver and place it between the motor pan and the bracket that the tiller arm attaches to. (the steering bracket). Give it a quick "twist" or pry, and you will seperate the powerhead gasket (and the powerhead from the exhust housing. Grab the motor pan. Lift straight up (clearing the water-tube and shift shaft) and place the engine on it's flywheel. You now can service the inner exhust tuner, water-tube, grommett etc... <br />Putting it back is the same but for the following. put a rubber band around the water tube and exhust tuner. Oh, did you inspect the upper mounts???? Stand next to the powerhead so that as you grab and rotate it, you will be on the port side of it in it's normal position. If you look carefully, you can see between the pan and block and down to the water tube hole inside the exhust housing as you lower the powerhead down inside . This way you can see the tube and not damage it as you lower the powerhead. Also, it helps if a friend takes a thin, long screwdriver up inside the hole in the exhust housing for the tube. this way you can guide the tube throught the hole. Lower the powerhead and you can situate the shift rob into it's hole also. Just worry about the water-tube first. Then reassemble as you took it all off.

 

[M. L. Burris]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

Bear, thank you for the site. That's actually the information that I used to change my water pump and thermostat. I printed it out and look at it before I need to do any work. There is a lot of great info. there <br /><br />P.V., I'm going to give it a try like you describe. My motor is a little different though as it has both the tiller handle and a throttle cable. As you've described it though it doesn't look to be a major problem. You're description seems pretty straight forward. I only hope I can perform it as smoothly as you describe it. <br /><br />I'm just a little confused on why the manual begins with "...remove the flywheel, armature plate, fuel lines, carburetor and fuel pump, etc"? Is this to work on the powerhead itself?<br /><br />Am I correct in thinking that all I will need will be a new powerhead gasket and the new grommet?<br /><br />thanks. i'll let you know how it goes.

 

[P.V.]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

M.L. There is a reason that the OMC manual says to remove all the "bolt-on" items first, but nobody knows it!!!If you do it my way, you will not have to screw with any of it though!! As you say, if you have the throttle cable, just un-bolt the whole tiller arm from the steering bracket, remove the gearcase and remove the powerhead/pan as a complete unit!!!(with the tiller arm hanging from the powerhead/pan!!)OMC used to pay 3.8 hours warranty to do the upper mounts, I do it in about an hour. Grommett, same thing! Again, I will bet your mounts are toast also. There are three. two upper mounts and a "thrust pad" that probably are wasted!! Let us know what you think about doing it this way !!

 

[M. L. Burris]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

PV - picked up the parts from the Johnson dealer. Can't get to it till the weekend but will post and let you know how everything goes. Thanks for all the info.

 

[sloopy]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

you should unscrew every thing to check the condition of the bolts and too applie oil too them.

 

[M. L. Burris]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

thank you to everyone that posted on this topic. all your suggestions helped greatly. P.V. the method you described went smooth, smooth, smooth. i removed the powerhead and the grommet looked like total crap. it was deformed and the hole was closed off almost completely. i cleaned up everything well, replaced grommet and gasket and reassembled. strong flow from my telltale now and a great flow through the thermostat when at temp. also checked the mounts and as many fasteners as I could easily get to. ran it for a couple solid hours yesterday and she stayed mighty cool. thanks again guys. i couldn't have done it without you.

 

[P.V.]

Re: 1985 9.9 Johnson with leaky grommet

ML... You're on your way to making millions in the marine repair business.... Glad it worked!