TriadSteeler
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2006
- Messages
- 237
1974 Merc 500
I have researched the brown sludge on this forum and responses seem split between un-combusted fuel/oil/water and gear oil/water.
This motor has been dormant for 10 years. I have rebuilt the carbs, fuel pump, new fuel lines, wiring, and water pump & impeller. Note: I was running a rich mixture 24:1 since the engine sat so long
The sludge issue is really prevalent when running in the barrel. It comes out of the prop and exhaust ports and collects within 2-3 minutes on the surface of the water in the barrel. When running on the muffs there is only a little coming out of the prop. It also smells like gas, but is also oily to the touch.
After running it, I drained the lower unit and there was absolutely no water in the the LU lube. I'm guessing due to the rich mixture and running at idle, that it is uncombusted fuel/oil.
Also, can one of those cheapo vacuum pumps from Harbor Freight be adequate to perform a vac test on the lower unit, or would it be a waste of money provided I made a fitting to screw into the fill hole.
I have researched the brown sludge on this forum and responses seem split between un-combusted fuel/oil/water and gear oil/water.
This motor has been dormant for 10 years. I have rebuilt the carbs, fuel pump, new fuel lines, wiring, and water pump & impeller. Note: I was running a rich mixture 24:1 since the engine sat so long
The sludge issue is really prevalent when running in the barrel. It comes out of the prop and exhaust ports and collects within 2-3 minutes on the surface of the water in the barrel. When running on the muffs there is only a little coming out of the prop. It also smells like gas, but is also oily to the touch.
After running it, I drained the lower unit and there was absolutely no water in the the LU lube. I'm guessing due to the rich mixture and running at idle, that it is uncombusted fuel/oil.
Also, can one of those cheapo vacuum pumps from Harbor Freight be adequate to perform a vac test on the lower unit, or would it be a waste of money provided I made a fitting to screw into the fill hole.