Water in the bottom cylinder??

I've got a 1964 Johnson 9.5 that was in storage for about 18 years. I rebuilt the carb, installed new plugs and put in a new impeller. It starts in 3-4 pulls when I first start it. After motoring out and stopping, the engine is hard to start (15-20 pulls). Once it is restarted, it will runs fine although it does not idle very low.

When I got home the other night, I pulled the plugs to see if I could tell what was going on and there was a considerable amount to water in the lower cylinder. The paint on the head is a little darker than the rest of the motor so I figured it got hot at some point. My first thought was that the head gasket was shot. I pulled the head and I cannot tell that any water is getting pass the gasket. The cylinders are smooth and the pistons look good besides a little carbon buildup. I've attached a couple of pics. Any idea where the water could be coming from? I've not messed with outboards much, but water in the cylinder doesn't sound good to me.


Also, any advice on removing the lower cowling? Do I have to disconnect and remove the tiller?

Thanks!

Re: Water in the bottom cylinder??

I'd try placing the head on a piece of flat glass with sandpaper on it and checking to see the head is nice and flat and reinstalling it with a new gasket. About the only other place I can think of for water to get in is the exhaust cover gaskets. Sorry, luckily I've never had the displeasure of working on one of those 9.5's. So I'm useless on removing the lower cowl.
Good luck,
JBJ

Re: Water in the bottom cylinder??

What do you mean you can't see where the gasket was leaking? It is leaking like a sieve. See all that black stuff around the copper rings? That is from blowby. You have to clean it all up, make sure everything is very flat, and install a new gasket.

The other possible leak is the exhaust manifold on the left side in your first picture. You have to shuck the motor out of the cowlings to remove that. That is a MAJOR job and a service manual is a must.

Re: Water in the bottom cylinder??

Just to follow up, it was definitly a leaking head gasket. I had to do a little work to get the head flat, sandpaper on an old solid core door and some elbow grease, installed the gasket. It ran great in the tank and today I took it to the lake and it started on the first pull after sitting for 30 minutes in the water. Got home and pulled the plugs, no water.

Thanks for the advice.