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I'm hoping OMC TurboJet 115 questions apply to this forum section. Needing help with initial starting/troubleshooting of this new-to-me engine.

J

JamesDTaylorSTL

New member
Hello all!

I was SO glad to find a forum with some pretty current posts that may apply to my Sea Swirl, Sea Squirt 115 OMC TufboJet engine jet boat. So hoping somebody sees this and replies soon!

I took a chance and bought it for $1000w/trailer. I have a TurboJet Service and parts manual.

What I know:

All cylinders have spark but haven't tested did a spark-distant test yet as I was just using a Harbor Freight tester. (which btw can be really hard to see the light in the daytime)

All cylinders have about 100psi compression which I know is probably pretty low but it hadn't been run in a couple of years and it was obviously cold. At least they we even. Turning the flywheel by hand felt like I think it should. I do not have the time to do a teardown/rebuild this year (or even next but I have rebuilt many 2-stroke motorcycles) So if I can just get it running pretty good (I will not be pulling skiers/tubes etc) but also reliable, I'll be VERY happy. Basically, I'm just missing out on a lot of river sandbar parties I want to go to and we're half-way through the boating season here in St. Louis, MO!

Carbs could probably use a rebuild but right now I'd like to see if I can just get it running at all on the trailer/out of water without doing any damage. It has a VRO pump hooked up but I don't know if it's working, especially as many of the test call for the engine to be running. There's oil in the oil tank and also oil in the gas tank but I don't know the age of the gas. (so see my last question).

The priming solenoid works and gas/oil did squirt out. I could blow through the upper carb tube but the lower was clogged. Carb cleaner spray opened them up. So I decided to put the tubes back on and start it up only to find afterward that the VRO wiring harness was still disconnected. So not sure where the (residual?) fuel/oil pressure came from... (damn was hoping it meant my VRO was working!) It did nothing but barely hit on a cylinder or two and then the starter bendix dropped out as I guess it should.

BTW having not really got it to run at all I haven't yet hooked up the cool water-line to a hose. (maybe I should to see if there's a bad crack somewhere? But I'm not sure what proper water drainage should even look like..) I understand the start it 1st, water second, etc and to watch the water pressure which since it is city pressure of about 50 PSI. But I guess someone on here meant reducing pressure by reducing the volume as even a drip leak can have 50psi behind it. But to what level of water flow level I don't know... But I'd really like to see it run for 5-10 seconds before worrying about this right now!

Soooo.... I'm thinking of getting new spark plugs and hooking up a boat gas can I have and running a 25:1 premix directly through the fuel line that leaves the VRO. Will I still need some type of pressure pump? Maybe I should just hook the gas line to the input of the VRO and hope for the best..? I'm also worried that this basic gas/oil method might not get oil to all of the places it needs to go such as the main bearing? Or would this be ok for initial testing?

Well really hope I can get some help on here fairly soon or maybe someone tell me where I might also try.

Thanks!!!!

Jim
 
racerone said:
???----How would you hook up a 25:1 mix to the fuel line that leaves the VRO ?
Click to expand...
Through the input line (with the fuel filter and bulb) but I guess that could be a problem with secondary oil injection if the VRO is in fact working? Yeah, I'm not really wanting to keep the VRO on line right now.

I'm just mainly trying to figure out how I can hook up a temporary known clean fuel/oil source to the engine to take much of the existing /complex/old/dirty system out of the loop (if it's possible) to keep it simple as I try to diagnose engine/carb problems. But I have to say this whole TurboJet 2-stroke fuel and oil system is MUCH different than anything I've previously worked on including RZ350/Banshee 350 twins.
 
Be careful if you make changes to the fuel system.----It is an outboard powerhead.-----But Coast Guard regulations apply to the fuel system as per inboard set-ups.-----Or carry a parachute.
 
racerone said:
Be careful if you make changes to the fuel system.----It is an outboard powerhead.-----But Coast Guard regulations apply to the fuel system as per inboard set-ups.-----Or carry a parachute.
Click to expand...
Yup. I have an old Carver 3607 with two 454's so all marine grade engine bay components. - Thanks!
 
The manual says anytime the VRO is disconnected/replaced, etc, and therefore not primed to run 25:1 in the fuel tank. Then once it's confirmed that oil is flowing from the oil tank via the VRO I can switch to plain gas. But the engine will need to be running to check this.

So I guess running 25:1 in the fuel tank AND oil coming from the VRO should be fine for a while as long as it doesn't foul the plugs. Maybe I'll run some slightly hotter pugs as I imagine it's probably not going to be running too clean for a while.

So as long the spare gas tank premix is getting to all the needed areas (like the main bearings - see pic) then I guess I'm good to go with premix and the VRO (which I don't yet know is working) hooked up?
 
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