qd 23, possible leak?

jmac73

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Sep 3, 2008
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Hello to all, my first post here, but surely not my last. Looks like a good amount of information on this motor is available here and i thank you all in advance for letting me pick your brains. I recently purchased a 1962 Johnson 10 hp. It ran great in the barrel, from idle all the way to full throttle, was much cleaner than expected given its age and had recently been tuned up by the seller. I took the motor home, put it on my boat and went out for a sea trial. The motor performed almost flawlessly; it did shut off a few times shortly after starting it at various times throughout the trip, but i think i can chalk that up to operator error. I did not read the Joe Reeves thread on needle adjustments prior to sea trial and don't think i had the needles adjusted properly. I still have one question regarding that post since it did not cover my exact needle adjustment configuration (I think). See pic in regard to that.
My main reason for posting is the oil leaking from various points on the lower unit. I did find and read this thread in regards to leaking oil prior to posting: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=207285. I took the upper plug for lower unit lube out first and none spilled out, though that is certainly not a definitive sign i was low on fluid. Next, I drained the lower unit. No water came out before the lube, although the lube looked strange to me. No surprise, I am relatively new to outboards, but comfortable and somewhat competent with most internal combustion engines. The oil looked like butterscotch syrup, more opaque than translucent and the amount that drained out, although not measured, seemed to be sufficient for that size gear case. So, the 64 thousand dollar question is, is it normal for this motor to have grey frothy crud covering everything when the lower unit is dropped? The shaft, the copper water tube, top of the water pump housing and puddles of it in the recesses around the water pump housing. I have previous experience with two stroke outboards, albeit only one and when i changed the impeller on that motor (2003 Merc 3.3hp) there was no oil anywhere in the same places as my Johnson. I do realize that the Johnson is 41 years older than the Merc, but it just doesn't look right to me. Do i refill the lower unit and keep fishing, or do i need to repair/replace something? Thanks again for your replies and patience in reading this lengthy post.
 

Xcusme

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Apr 21, 2003
Messages
2,888
Re: qd 23, possible leak?

Welcome to iboats!

The froth around the water pump etc. sounds like a mixture of unburned fuel mix and exhaust...which is normal, especially in a motor that is run at slow speed for extended times, as in trolling....or when the motor is running too rich. Properly adjusting the carb mixture needle valves and running the motor like you stole it, helps to clear things out.

Re-fill the lower unit from the bottom screw hole until lube comes out the top hole. Without removing the lube bottle, replace the top 'vent' screw (with new sealing washer). Remove lube bottle and replace lower "fill' screw ( with new sealing washer).
 

jmac73

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Sep 3, 2008
Messages
3
Re: qd 23, possible leak?

Thanks for the reply. I suspected the same, but the published ratio for fuel/oil is 24:1. So, i mixed it and ran the boat. I live on a canal and have a twenty minute idle before i can get up on a plane, so after i get out i run it awhile, play with the rich/lean settings and it does well. Then the trip home, flush and wash and back to the garage.

I just returned from the dealer for some lower unit oil and other things and he looked at my lower unit and said it was too rich and to change the ratio to 50/1. Anyone here have any thoughts on that?
 

wbeaton

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Jul 30, 2006
Messages
2,332
Re: qd 23, possible leak?

I just returned from the dealer for some lower unit oil and other things and he looked at my lower unit and said it was too rich and to change the ratio to 50/1. Anyone here have any thoughts on that?

Yup. Don't do it. Using synthetic oil will greatly decrease the smoke and oily sheen of 24:1.

Your lower unit oil sounds good. In motors of that vintage its usually a frothy cream colour due to water intrusion. Black oil is burnt and over used. Yours sounds just right.
 

jmac73

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Joined
Sep 3, 2008
Messages
3
Re: qd 23, possible leak?

Thanks, Wayne. Are you or anyone else familiar with the white knob and red knob to adjust high and low speed fuel air mix? Can I adapt the info in the Reeves post for high and low speed settings to this particular setup? The white knob is actually a dial that does not rotate fully. It is attached behind the faceplate to a vertical rod which has less than 180 degrees of travel so 1 to 1.25 turns doesn't apply there. The red knob, high speed, can be turned a number of revolutions and should adapt to the tuning guide. Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you all.
 
Last edited:

wbeaton

Commander
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Messages
2,332
Re: qd 23, possible leak?

Yes, use Joe Reeve's procedure. You will have to disconnect the knob linkage to get the full rotation.
 
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