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1968 Chrysler 35 Short shaft HELP!

NEdwards87

New member
I recently bought a single owner 1968 Boston Whaler 13 with the 35 horse Chrysler on it. To my amazement, after sitting for seven years, with some fresh gas it fired right up and ran perfectly. He told me that the last time it was out it was leaving an oil slick on the water. The lower unit oil was changed every fall even if it wasnt used because he was afraid the condensation would freeze and crack the lower unit. He never saw any water in the gear oil at all at any time. If you remove the motor from the boat and lay it prop side down and carb side up, and looking at the upper left hand bolt that holds the lower unit on, there is a small diameter hole there. It looks to be a factory hole. It is very close to the upper (vent) screw on the lower unit. There is oil and exhaust coming from here and that is what is causing the oil slick on the water. After running it in a bucket for approx 30 mins, the water in the bucket was milky and when the motor was tilted to transport, oily water came from this hole. I started it (5 seconds max) and found that exhaust is also coming from the hole. I drained the lower unit oil and found no trace of water. HELP!! Is this normal? Just needs to be ran possibly? I don't want to take it apart if I don't have to
 
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that hole is normal and the ''oil'' is actually unburned gas/oil mix from the motor...make sure you are using a good outboard motor oil and the proper amount of it..make sure the plugs have a good fire and will jump a 7/16 gap...then run the engine at a hi rpm and come back to an idle...see how long it takes before you see the exhaust starting to put out oil spots....it may be happening at idle or low rpms only because you are not burning all the gas/oil mix..this is a 46 year old motor and you may still have the problem to some extent..run it and enjoy it while it lasts......
i stand to be corrected by racer or some of the guys that are more experienced than i on old motors...
 
that hole is normal and the ''oil'' is actually unburned gas/oil mix from the motor...make sure you are using a good outboard motor oil and the proper amount of it..make sure the plugs have a good fire and will jump a 7/16 gap...then run the engine at a hi rpm and come back to an idle...see how long it takes before you see the exhaust starting to put out oil spots....it may be happening at idle or low rpms only because you are not burning all the gas/oil mix..this is a 46 year old motor and you may still have the problem to some extent..run it and enjoy it while it lasts......
i stand to be corrected by racer or some of the guys that are more experienced than i on old motors...

THANK YOU!!! Of 3 forums you are the first person to give me a definitive answer!! I actually have the original book that came with the motor in 1968. The book says 50:1 mixture. That seems a bit lean to me for an engine of that age that is supposed to run at higher rpm's for longer durations of time. Is there a ratio that you might recommend? 40:1 or maybe even 32:1? I intend on using the outboard strictly for "transport" so to speak. I will be using electric trolling motors for fishing (I live in upstate NY, I fish a lot of docks on the finger lakes).
 
run 50-1 if that is what the book says...just make sure its a good outboard motor oil..running anything less than recommended mix will just add to your problem...i would check the compression and spark on it before i ran it...2 cycle engines are designed to run at peak rpms...but i would run it a little slower for half a tank of gas..just get on a plane and take a ride...then i would slowly increase rpms to max for a bit...listen to it closely..if all is ok then use it as you wish... that little whaler is a fine boat....it was my dream boat but by the time i could afford it i needed a larger boat...
 
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