What do I have?

[niedermee]

First of all, thanks for the great notes.

I got some gear lube for the bottom end of both motors and will put that in this weekend. I am replacing the water pump impellers and will test the compression in all cylinders. The starter was installed and does work, as does the spare that’s shown in the photos. I did check the bottom of all three fuel tanks that came with the motors (two pressure tanks, both connections for the Johnson motors, and one single line tank with a connector for the Merc). All were clean and had a bit of fuel in them. I rinsed all three tanks out before I added new fuel and mixed the oil at 40:1. There was part of the old water pump impeller in the Merc’s influent water line that I was able to clear. I’ll fill the water level much higher when I test run them again.

Again, thanks for all your help.

[fleetwin]

Remember to use 24:1 fuel/oil mix for the johnsons.

[niedermee]

quote fleetwin:

Remember to use 24:1 fuel/oil mix for the johnsons.

Ok. Are we sure that the Mercury should be 40:1?

[fleetwin]

24:1/ 1 qt TCW3 outboard oil to six gallons of regular fuel for the johnsons.
You are playing with fire trying to use the leaner mix, don’t listen to all the hype about "todays improved oils", use the richer mix, spark plugs are cheap, rebuild jobs are not.

[niedermee]

By the way, what are the pros/cons between setting the Johnson up as a short shaft vs. a long shaft? I believe I have the parts for both setups.

[niedermee]

Just picked up the impellers today at a local shop. But the Merc 60 is giving me a rough time. How do I insert all the fins into the pump and still align the key? I’m envisioning something like the tool you use to compress all the rings on a piston before inserting it into the cylnder.

[wyo307]

quote niedermee:

Just picked up the impellers today at a local shop. But the Merc 60 is giving me a rough time. How do I insert all the fins into the pump and still align the key? I’m envisioning something like the tool you use to compress all the rings on a piston before inserting it into the cylnder.

Use a zip tie to wrap around it and compress them down. once you get it started into the pump housing simply cut the zip tie off and push it in the rest of the way. Can be a bit of a pain but its worked for me on multiple occasions.

[niedermee]

Well, that sucked. Back to the parts store on Monday for another impeller in the Merc and some gasket in the Johnson that I shredded trying to put the motors back together.

What are the tricks to getting the water pipe to line up with the water pump while at the same time getting the drive shaft and other bar to synch?

[fleetwin]

Well, reinstalling the gearcase is definitely easier with an assistant. I would sand off the end of that water tube so it won’t bind going into the grommet. Add some grease to the end of the water tube as well. Be sure the upper driveshaft oring is in place and grease the splines (not on top of the driveshaft) with the OMC moly lube. Did the shift rod brass connector come down with the gearcase, or is it still inside mounted to the upper shift rod. If the connector came down with the gearcase, take the time to spread it open a bit so it will slide over the upper shift rod easily. Be sure the threads on the clamp screw are in good shape, these are easily damaged.
Next, slide the gearcase assembly back up inside the exhaust housing, peak inside the housing with a light to make sure the tube has found its way into the grommet while your assistant rotates the flywheel (plug wires off) to line up the splines, the gearcase should slip most of the way up into the housing easily if/when everything is lined up. You needn’t worry about the shift linkage at this point.
Once you have two of the gearcase screws snugged up you can connect the shift linkage. Pushing the shift lever into reverse will push the shift rod down, you can pull the lower shift rod upward and slip the brass connector over the upper shift rod using needle nose under the brass connector. The tough and important part is getting the groove in the upper shift rod properly located in the brass connector. Misalignment will make it tough to install the connector screw/washer, throw the shift linkage out of adjustment, damage the screw threads and probably cause the connector to be loose on the shift rod. It is also extremely frustrating when you drop the screw/washer down inside the exhaust housing while trying to install it.

[niedermee]

Thanks, I’ll be picking up a set of complete seals for both bottom units (behind the prop, around the shift shaft, where the water tube enters the top of the water pump, behind the drain and fill screws, and finally, where the drive shaft splines slides into the power head. Are there others that I’m not thinking about that I should be? Geez, these should be ready for some use after this work (fingers crossed!).

[Author]

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