willys_wonka
Member
Hey all, I was recently gifted a sailboat with a long neglected 97 Honda BF8A outboard. I took the motor home, cleaned the carb, replaced the coil and it ran really well. Took it back to the boat and got nothing from the telltale. Pulled the lower unit and while the pump impeller was distorted it wasn't broken, although the pump intake had an incredible amount of corrosion and junk in it.
Cleaned it all up, replaced the impeller and fired it up again. Still no water out the telltale. Assuming junk in the cooling lines I sucked on the telltale hose and sure enough got a mouthful of sediment and it started flowing warm water. Popped the telltale back into it's place and it quickly stopped flowing again.
Suddenly the cowl bowl started filling up with oil and we shut down the motor. Called it a day.
Hauled motor back to my shop, started it again, no oil leakage and although we were running it temporarily dry I could feel the pump pulsing air out the telltale.
Took off the intake manifold and cleaned a pile of sediment out of the coolant galleries and thermostat, removed the lower gearbox and shot compressed air through the now-open cooling system. I'm going to replace thermostat tomorrow and I think I've got all the junk out of the cooling system, but I'm really puzzled by that sudden appearance of all that oil. I visually checked the pressure switch, dipstick plate and hoses to the breather, and eyeballed the oil pump and couldn't see any leaks or signs of leaks the few moments I ran it on the bench.
Bear in mind this was a LOT of oil - most of what was in the sump quickly got pumped out. And now doesn't seem to be doing it. I was thinking head gasket, but there's no water getting into the oil sump. I can't visually see signs of oil leakage anywhere. I'm scratching my head to see the relationship between plugged cooling system and sudden appearance of oil.
FYI it seems that only the intake manifold coolant circuit was plugged and cooling water was still making it's way around the cylinders. This engine probably sat for at least 2-3 years, with very intermittent use before that. Salt water.
Any suggestions regarding the oil leak?
Cleaned it all up, replaced the impeller and fired it up again. Still no water out the telltale. Assuming junk in the cooling lines I sucked on the telltale hose and sure enough got a mouthful of sediment and it started flowing warm water. Popped the telltale back into it's place and it quickly stopped flowing again.
Suddenly the cowl bowl started filling up with oil and we shut down the motor. Called it a day.
Hauled motor back to my shop, started it again, no oil leakage and although we were running it temporarily dry I could feel the pump pulsing air out the telltale.
Took off the intake manifold and cleaned a pile of sediment out of the coolant galleries and thermostat, removed the lower gearbox and shot compressed air through the now-open cooling system. I'm going to replace thermostat tomorrow and I think I've got all the junk out of the cooling system, but I'm really puzzled by that sudden appearance of all that oil. I visually checked the pressure switch, dipstick plate and hoses to the breather, and eyeballed the oil pump and couldn't see any leaks or signs of leaks the few moments I ran it on the bench.
Bear in mind this was a LOT of oil - most of what was in the sump quickly got pumped out. And now doesn't seem to be doing it. I was thinking head gasket, but there's no water getting into the oil sump. I can't visually see signs of oil leakage anywhere. I'm scratching my head to see the relationship between plugged cooling system and sudden appearance of oil.
FYI it seems that only the intake manifold coolant circuit was plugged and cooling water was still making it's way around the cylinders. This engine probably sat for at least 2-3 years, with very intermittent use before that. Salt water.
Any suggestions regarding the oil leak?