Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

[WTL]

I guess this is the right board for this question. Of course all old outboards are notorious for wasting a lot of fuel/oil and polluting, but I was wondering what could be done to try and limit this as much as possible. I have a 4 cylinder 64 'rude and I feel a little bad about the oil slicks it leaves around. Has this question been asked? Is there anything that can be done, a strainer or something?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

Probably the best you can do is to make sure the engine is tuned properly and the carbs are set to spec.

My '58 V4 Johnny had a "feature" whereby all unburned fuel in the intake manifold would get dumped overboard. More modern outboards have a fuel recirculation ability,to reburn this stuff. If your motor does not have a fuel recirculation circuit, you can find where it is dumped overboard and capture it and return it to the fuel tank. I did this on my '58 V4.

BTW - are you running a 50::1 mix? You can do that on a '64

 

[HighTrim]

Re: Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

There are also many synthetic biodegradable oils on the market now that are more eco friendly.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

Use synthetic oil and keep it tuned properly.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

proper tuning, idle as little as possible, synthetic oil.

 

[ezeke]

Re: Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

All of the above plus good thermostats.

 

[F_R]

Re: Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

Look for a horizontally running piece of hose at the base of the powerhead, starboard side. That is the hose through which it dumps raw fuel into the lake. Remove it from the fitting in the powerhead adapter and plug that fitting. Now run the hose (a new longer one) to a collection can. It will dump the fuel into the can instead of the lake. Pour the can back into the fuel tank and run it through again. Warning!!! whatever you do, make sure everything is secure and be mindful of fire danger.

Of course, you will still have a rather inefficient 2-stroke engine that dumps a lot of crud out the exhaust. Use 100% synthetic bio-degradeable oil. Or a new motor.

 

[flabum]

Re: Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

Take the power head off, dig a hole about a foot deep by your curb, set the motor standing up in the hole and fill the hole with concrete. You now have a new mailbox so go and buy a new eco-friendly motor -OR- use synthetic oils and ignore the cries of your fellow boaters.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

I use Penzoil tcw3 fully synthetic oil from Wal Mart for $23 a gallon. It says it's fully biodegradable,

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

What about limiting the tilt-up of the engine.? Seems to me, back in those days the carbs leaked fuel out the carb from the venturi fuel port and it collected in the bottom of the cowl and then ran out all over your boat and the water.

When I say limit it, I mean don't leave it up when you don't have to; keep it vertical.

Mark

 

[WTL]

Re: Enviromental Friendliness of an old outboard

I appreciate the replies. As soon as I find out how to keep the motor from bogging down at full throttle I will take a look at running that line to a collection can. And I will start with the synthetic oil.

This motor is just to get me through the next couple years anyways while I catch up on student loans and such. So it wont be a long term natural disaster.