I just bought a used 2013 Tohatsu 4hp 4-stroke boat motor and on Saturday evening I wanted to start the motor so that it was ready for Sunday morning. I built a mount for it and placed the lower unit in a large container of water, filled gas and tried to start it. After choking it and pulling the crank pull several times, without it starting, I questioned if I had flooded it so I removed the top to check the plug.
Since I was in the engine compartment I checked the oil and I was surprised to see just a sign of oil at the bottom of the casing, it was empty. The person I purchased it from told me that he just changed the oil so I assumed, at that time, that he had just drained the oil and was glad that the motor didn't start right up, which would have caused me to take it out on the water, without oil in the crank case.
I looked at the manual to see what oil to use and also read that you shouldn't add oil of a different type. Not knowing what was in there, no matter how little, I drained the old oil into a Gatorade bottle and filled with new oil. The reason it wasn't getting gas is I had the gas valve turned off.
I took it out the next morning and at lower RPM's driving there was a screeching noise. At higher RPM's the noise would go away. I drove it very little and took it in. I then looked at the oil that I had drained and it was really dark brown/black.
I contacted the person I bought it from and he says, to store it, he ran it until the the gas was burned out of the system and then changed the oil. I think he drained the oil and then ran the gas out, but I don't know. The motor only has 10 hours on it.
Do you guys think the screeching noise is a bearing? Could running the motor,with only an ounce of oil, with no load, ruin more than the bearings? I looked into the cylinder with a bore-scope and the top of the piston had a lot of carbon.
Since I was in the engine compartment I checked the oil and I was surprised to see just a sign of oil at the bottom of the casing, it was empty. The person I purchased it from told me that he just changed the oil so I assumed, at that time, that he had just drained the oil and was glad that the motor didn't start right up, which would have caused me to take it out on the water, without oil in the crank case.
I looked at the manual to see what oil to use and also read that you shouldn't add oil of a different type. Not knowing what was in there, no matter how little, I drained the old oil into a Gatorade bottle and filled with new oil. The reason it wasn't getting gas is I had the gas valve turned off.
I took it out the next morning and at lower RPM's driving there was a screeching noise. At higher RPM's the noise would go away. I drove it very little and took it in. I then looked at the oil that I had drained and it was really dark brown/black.
I contacted the person I bought it from and he says, to store it, he ran it until the the gas was burned out of the system and then changed the oil. I think he drained the oil and then ran the gas out, but I don't know. The motor only has 10 hours on it.
Do you guys think the screeching noise is a bearing? Could running the motor,with only an ounce of oil, with no load, ruin more than the bearings? I looked into the cylinder with a bore-scope and the top of the piston had a lot of carbon.
