1981 85 Seahorse Water Intrusion

[duhmey]

So Grandpa bought a boat...

More specifically Grandpa bought a pontoon that has a Johnson 1981 Seahorse 85. He has never used the boat in the 5 years that he has owned it but would like to, and so I am getting it all prepped. About 2 years ago he had a mechanic go through the engine for him to get it running and make sure that all was well. By all appearances the mechanic did their job and the motor is in working order; last night I hooked up the garden hose and ran the motor for less than 2 minutes but turned it off quickly as I could see water coming from unexpected places (which will be the topic of this thread).

Ok, to the topic at hand. Before starting the motor I checked the lower unit gear oil, the oil was present and looked brand new. After running the motor VERY briefly and seeing water peeing out the front of the lower unit (picture to follow o the leaking spot) the oil is now "frothy" and what most describe as vanilla milkshake. I intend to go in and change all seals to prevent water intrusion in the future. What I would like to know is, is the motor shot due to damage?

The first two pictures are obviously of the motor to show you what we are dealing with. The third picture is the hole in question at the front of the lower unit where it mates up to the exhaust housing. I attempted to circle in sharpie where the water was coming out. And finally the fourth picture I just want to confirm that this is a factory hole as water was coming out of this as well. In the picture, to the right, you can see the front mounting bolt that attaches the lower unit to the exhaust housing and to the left you can see the bottom of the trim/tilt hydraulic cylinder. This hole would be on the starboard side of the motor.

Thank you for any and all input.

 

[jimmbo]

Water shoots out of many places on these engines, a lot of the locations are in the water. As for the Gear Case. The oil was fine before you ran it, if there had been water, in there, it would have come out the Drain first. However since running water has gotten in. The Seals on the drive shaft under the water pump are likely the Culprits. I doubt there is any damage to any gearcase component. If the Water had sat in there for a very long time, and had separated from the Oil, then yes there could be rusted parts.
Edit: Which Screw did you remove to check the Oil? If you checked the top one, you would have just seen oil as the motor had sat for an long time, and there could have been 1/2 a gearcase of water below it.

 

[racerone]

You are running with a 50:1 gas / oil mixture ?-----You should wait 24 hrs before checking gear oil.----It might just be air making it " frothy " looking.

 

[duhmey]

Jimmbo, Thank you for the reply. I checked the oil using the lower (drain?) screw, no water came out before I ran it and it was immediately the milkshake stuff when I checked it the second time but this was immediately after I had turned off the motor as well. I will double check the oil now that it has been sitting or a day or so.

racerone, 50:1 gas mix, correct. I thought that I would double check the oil before I tore the lower unit off just in case. I am crossing my fingers and hoping you are right!

 

[jimmbo]

If the oil looks like Irish Creme, then it has water in it

 

[racerone]

Air gets / is blended into the oil.-----Check it after it sits for a day or so.

 

[duhmey]

Update: I just rechecked the oil. It has been sitting since Wednesday evening. It would appear that I simply checked it improperly (by checking it immediately after turning off the engine and not letting the gear oil settle) and overreacted...oops. The oil is definitely not milk shake-y or irish creme (I like that one better) but as this engine is new to us I will be checking it again after a few hours of use

racerone - I had read somewhere about the oil/air mix during agitation causing it to "froth" up so thank you for adding that in.

Thank you racerone and jimmbo for the help and advice!

 

[racerone]

It is all simple to me after many year of observation.-----Also understand that there are novices out there.----Many folks have suddenly developed a need to go boating.-----Something to do with Covid 19 apparently.

 

[F_R]

As for the squirting holes, all are normal drain holes.

 

[duhmey]

F_R i am glad to hear that. Someone above made the comment that water drains out of these engines all over the place and that certainly seems to be true.