2001 F9.9 smoking

[chriscritchett]

I have a 2001 F9.9 MSHZ that's been idle for a long time (couple yrs) and I've got it mostly freshened up - new impeller, oil change, filters cleaned, new starter rope, disassembled the carb and cleaned it all out & replaced all the rubber bits - and it's starting easily now and peeing lots of water, but smoky as hell. It's at least as bad as running a 2-stroke, with mostly white, maybe bluish smoke. It doesn't stink like an oil-burning car would and it's not that blue, but it's definitely not steam.
I was hoping maybe letting it run for a bit would clear it out, but I've probably got a solid 20-30 minutes or more on it at high idle and it's not any better.
I checked the oil separator box today and cleaned some watery oil mixture out of there, and ran it again: still smoky, and the inside of the separator had traces of milky oil in it again after 5-10 minutes. The oil on the dipstick looks fine, and there's no trace of 'milkshake' foam on the fill cap.
Any expert opinions / advice would be most welcome. My novice guess would be leaky head gasket, but I don't want to dive into that if I don't have to, and can't really afford to just drop it off somewhere and hope for the best. Thanks very much.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 2001 F9.9 smoking

before tearing into it do a leakdown test.
then a good decarb and repeat the leakdown test.

 

[chriscritchett]

Re: 2001 F9.9 smoking

Thanks. By 'decarb' you mean take it off and clean it out again?

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 2001 F9.9 smoking

no, I mean running a decarb solution through it as per the instructions on whatever decarb brand you use.
could be the rings are sticking, a leakdown test will confirm or eliminate it in 2 minutes.could be valvestem seals leaking.

 

[chriscritchett]

Re: 2001 F9.9 smoking

Thanks again.
One more thing: the motor has leaked oil the last 2 times I laid it down to transport it in my car. Both times I laid it down per the instructions on the motor - once on the tiller (non-carb) side and once on its back, and each time there was oil in the car after a 1-hour trip. No obvious leaks up in the cowling, and it seems to have stopped now with the motor on the boat. The oil seemed to be coming from down on the leg, and / or out the exhaust at the prop. Does that narrow it down at all?
Only other thing I didn't mention was that I was running it without a thermostat in place, thinking this let more water through to clean things out better. I've read that's not a good thing to do, but doubt it has anything to do with the smoke.

 

[99yam40]

Re: 2001 F9.9 smoking

without the thermostat it will not get hot enough to burn all of the fuel properly causing build up in motor and may even end up with hot spots in motor because the water is not circulating to all parts without the restriction the thermostat provides. install a new one and see if that will eventually help clean it up

 

[chriscritchett]

Re: 2001 F9.9 smoking

Thanks, 99yam. I have a new T-stat, will put it in there and run for a while to see if things get any better. Motor & 'pee' water seemed to be getting pretty hot on Saturday. I poured some vinegar through and let it sit overnight, ran it again on Sunday and pee stream seemed more powerful and was definitely cooler, although the block was still pretty hot.
Compression test (don't have the tools for leakdown handy, so trying comp. first) next weekend, maybe find out how much trouble I'm really in.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 2001 F9.9 smoking

compression test is a waste of time in this case.
why bother?