I dunno. Yeah, it’s pricey but it beats catching on fire and blowing up…That being said, I like the cork material idea. It seems like a standard o-ring might distort and move out of place over time.
I’m going to agree with Bill. Around ten years ago, I substituted an o-ring for a fuel cap gasket on a Johnson HD-25. The o-ring ended up squashing and slid out of place. While the motor ran in the test tank, fuel leaked out of the cap, down between the starter housing, and the tank, and onto the powerhead. Of course, I didn’t notice this happening.
After finishing with the test tank, I held the motor in my hands and slowly pulled the starter handle to help the motor drain. Then heard a “pop”, looked down, and the motor was on fire in my hands. Now in a panic, I heaved the motor about 20′ off of my deck. The problem was it was only about six feet from the house foundation.
Thank goodness the garden hose was on and between myself and the motor, which at this point, had flames shooting out from under the cowl and also from the fuel cap. Spraying the motor with water did nothing to put out the flames. Finally, I mustered the courage to get close enough to blast the water up and under the lower cowl. At last the fire was out.
So after this very memorable experience, if the application calls for a flat rubber washer, please use the correct flat rubber washer!
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