water on spark plugs

[jgaston]

Hey guys! I'm sortta new to working on boat motors and I was wondering if I might could get some help? Here is a little history on the the motor. I bought it in '07 at an auction I was working at for $100. It was dang near mint. The owner used it the previous summer and put in the garage. The following winter he lost one of his legs to diabetes and had no use for it anymore. I took it home, hooked it to a tank and fired up on the third pull. I used it every weekend for four months until the impeller went out. I took it to the mechanic and put in a new impeller and did a carb cleaning. I took it home and stuck it in my garage and it has sat there until now. I decided to get it out and I did a carb rebuild and replaced the plugs. I put it in my water barrel and went to pulling. I thought it was flooding so I pulled the plugs and noticed what looked like water on them. I put them back and started pulling again. The motor will hit a couple of times then nothing. I pulled the plugs again and got the same thing. What can cause water to be on the plugs. By the way the water was on the lower plug. Any help is good help. Thanks in advance.

 

[optsyeagle]

My guess, since you said you ran it until the impeller went out, was that the motor overheated and blew the head gasket. You could do a compression check to verify although I have seen blown head gaskets that will let water into the cylinder, show good compression, although it is rare.

If I was in your shoes I would be replacing that gasket for sure and re-flatten the cylinder head. Did the motor overheat when the impeller died. Also, you never told us what motor you have.

 

[jgaston]

Thanks for the response. Soon after I posted this thread I found a couple of threads with similar problems. The motor is a '69 Johnson 6hp. Awesome little motor and from what I have been hearing this motors are almost bulletproof. Luckily I've into a family of mechanics and will have a few extra hands. This is a great place to get answers and from what I have seen everyone seems cool and respectful. I will be checking back in soon. Thanks again