Bearing whine?/old outboard

I've got this old '79 Johnson 150 that just won't seem to quit. Runs great. We took the boat to the lake on Saturday to finishing flushing out the keys salt from the spring break trip. She ran well, started easily. After cruising for about 30 minutes, I throttled down to putt for a while and enjoy the sun. I heard what sounded like a bearing whine around 1100 rpm's. I am not an outboard guy, but I would equate the sound to a water pump going bad on a car. It was intermitent, and she ran fine after that.<br />Being a 23 year old engine, I am always looking for things that could break. Is this a warning sign of the fact that she is about to "kick the bucket"? At some point I will repower, but to this point she just has been running too well.<br /><br />Any ideas or suggestions?

Re: Bearing whine?/old outboard

Check the bendix gear on the starter,and make sure it operates freely. These are constantly getting hung-up in the flywheel gears,or not climbing the worm gear and engaging the flywheel gear..If it does the former,you will hear it raise cane.<br />If it does the latter (not climb the worn gear), the starter will spin,but not crank the engine.<br />Clean it using WD40,and see if the noise goes away.<br />If it don't, run a compression test.<br />Also check the flywheel for any play at all.<br />Finally, check the sound proofing material in the cover, to make sure it isn't rubbing on the flywheel.

Re: Bearing whine?/old outboard

Thanks 12footer, I will check all those items!!