New Boat Owner, couple of questions

Hey all, great resources here and very knowledgeable folks from what I have read here. I recently purchased my first boat and had some questions about the maintenance I am about to perform.

I have a 115 Johnson on the back of my boat and I believe it is a '76 model motor (not at home so not exactly sure, but it is a late 70's model)

I am going to change the lubricant in the lower unit, I have watched many videos and read my walkthroughs on how to do it. My only question is, where can I buy this lubricant? What type of oil is it exactly? I live in a small town, so the only thing around is a couple of auto part stores (advance, autozone).

My second question is: are the washers that go on the 2 screws that you remove readily available anywhere they sell boat supplies?

I have had the boat in the water 2 times since I have purchased it. It runs pretty good for it's age, no problems cold starting or hot starting. Is there anything else I should change out, check, or anything like that?

One last thing, the person I bought it from told me the motor needed premium gas to run properly. Is this completely necessary? What would happen if I ran the boat with regular or mid-grade gas?

I am pretty handy with things, I just don't know a lot about boat motors, esepcially the lower units.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Re: New Boat Owner, couple of questions

I have a 1976 Johnson 115. The color is dark green. The original fuel recommendation in the Owners Manual was "Pump Posted 86 Octane".

The recommendation now is 87 or 89 US Octane. The oil must be TCW-3. I use Pennzoil Synthetic Because the plugs don't foul as much with synthetics, plus they are bio-degradable. The plugs that I use are QL77JC4 set at .030.

The lower unit needs high viscosity marine gear lube. I have been using Pennzoil 100% synthetic gear lube.

I have not found the seals for the lower units' fill and vent plugs at Boaters World or West Marine. If you buy them 2 at a time they charge a lot. The flat nylon type for the Yamaha are the same and probably for other models. I recently bought a bag of fifty Sierra ones here at iboats part 18-42481-9.

http://www.iboats.com/Sierra_18_424...42481-9--**********.975352066--view_id.270527


http://www.evinrude.com/en-US/About.Us/FAQ/Oil.Fuel.htm

BTW, if the former owner has had the engine modified, it may need the higher octane fuel, otherwise I don't know of any reason to use it.

If you want to use the best oil, you might want to get XD-50 for the engine and BRP gear oil. They are pretty fast on delivery from the on-line store: http://shop.evinrude.com/

Just click the parts diagram in the upper right corner of the page.