Rebuilt Johnson FDE-11 has Milky oil in exhaust?

[jimmy]

Hi,

I recently finished a restore on a 1957 Johnson FDE-11. I’ve got the motor running and I’ve been breaking in the new pistons the last few days with a variety of speeds and not pushing it too hard. When I was putting the boat up on the lift today, I noticed a bit of milky oil around the shift lever, the rubber mount below the shift lever, and around the shift linkage cover plate. The one part I forgot to replace was the gasket on this plate (PN 0304023), which I’ll remedy shortly. I took off the cover plate, and there is milky oil in the exhaust housing walls. It is not a lot, but it looks like snot smeared on the inside of the housing. Is this something to be concerned about?

I’m using pure gasoline, no ethanol, with 1 quart of Penzoil 2-cycle TCW3 oil mixed with 6 gallons of gas (24:1).

The motor is running fine, and idles nicely, and has more power than before the rebuild. I made sure to torque all the bolts and nuts to factory specs. I did replace the head gasket, and had sanded the mating surfaces on the block and head to flatten out some pitting. I got a brand new head gasket from Dan in TN, and used OMC sealant of all gaskets, except on the intake side. I’m getting good water flow from the blubber port and the motor is running cool and nothing looks or feels like it is over heating anywhere. I also checked the lower gear case, and there is no sign of water there.

One other thing, I rebuilt the pressure tank and it is fine with no leaks, but the cork float for the fuel gauge doesn’t float! The float is in good shape, but some of the varnish(?) is flaking off. It has been out of the tank for several months, and I thought is would be pretty dry and would float. Is there a good replacement for these? I’d really like to be able to take a quick look at the tank and know how much is left.

As always, any help is greatly appreciated.

[david-bartlett]

Jimmy,

I have had similar experiences with Pennzoil products, particularly in COLD water. I find with different oil(AMSOIL) for one, causes less of the sludge. I am not advocating AMSOUL, just relaying my experience. Also running slow really causes more of this, and going fast will help reduce it.

[dan-in-tn]

I agree with David. On your shift shaft area, did you replace the o-ring #303191? (Lower unit section) That will keep the sludge from migrating along the shift shaft & leaking on that beautiful paint job you did! The hole has to be in good enough shape, but usually a new o-ring helps.

Dan in TN

[jimmy]

We’ll we did have an ice storm here 6 weeks ago! So the water is still a bit chilli. I did not replace anything along the shifter shaft, since I didn’t take it apart and it didn’t appear to be any seal on it.

If I need to replace it, that means pulling the power head back off, right?

It doesn’t sound like a big concern, I just wanted to make sure it’s not something serious. I bought the Pennzoil since it was what they had when I was getting the gear oil. My friend just runs non-detergent 30 weight from tractor supply. Any other oil or mix ratios I should consider?

[frankr]

Other than making a mess, the leaks you mention are not a concern.

That milk shake is perfectly normal. It is the oil that you put in the gas. It has gone through the engine and done it’s job. From there, it goes out the exhaust and emulsifies with the cooling water that has also done it’s job. If the conditions are favorable (or unfavorable), it forms that foamy goo. Otherwise, it just goes on out unseen (except for a sheen on the water that also drives some people nuts)

[dan-in-tn]

Sorry, I thought you had taken the powerhead back off to look at the exhaust ports. I agree with FrankR no big problem here. Experiment around with a few different oils to see if they make a difference? I am not much on just non detergent 30 wt. Much better stuff than that these days. IMHO
Not worth doing the little o-ring just to stop a water drip. I wouldn’t crack that fine paint job for that.

Dan in TN

[donsmarine]

a typical carb 2stroke, new or old, puts 10-20% unburnt fuel overboard from what I’ve read.

[jerry-ahrens]

I had a Big twin that did that really bad. I think it was a 1955 25 if I remember correctly. I had come to the conclusion (at the time) that it was the oil that the customer was using. I remember changing to a different oil and that helped it clear up some. It was so bad, I was convinced something was wrong, till i tried a different tank with different oil and fuel mix. It did not affect the operation of the motor.

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