[northoceanbeach]

Hi. I recently bought a dinghy that came with a 2001 6hp mercury four stroke. I brought it from LA to eugene. I stored it for transport with the "this side up" up always. That was the side with the gear shift. The throttle handle was facing down.

I placed it on a piece of cardboard in my garage and when I looked at it today after a month there is a pool of probably oil soaked into the cardboard. What happened and what do I do?

I called the local marine store. In eugene. So not a big marine center and they said bring it in $410+. That seems steep. That's more than I paid for it.

DIY. Please say I can DIY. So....what do I do? The marina said that oil leaked from maybe altitude change and it may be in everything and they have to clean it out. Then again, not knowing much about outboards myself I still can't imagine $190 for just the oil change part of it is a good deal so while I may be wrong, I have my doubts about this shop. Based mostly on my cars' last oil change was $29. So $190 for an outboard that uses less than a quart?

Anyways. I'll stop with the "I'm a cheap ass stuff" and let you guys do what you do best. Advise.

 

[christian.hess]

410 or 190 and for what? to bring it in?

oil are you sure?

you usually get fuel spills through the intake and combsution chamber depending on what stroke it is...

can you take out the plug? do so..is it full of oil? .drain fuel if any from carb and report back

 

[christian.hess]

if the cylinder is full of oil then I would first dump what oil it still has, take plug out...drain upside down...

then you can if carefully pour some gas in there and "wash" out the oil...then let evaporate again...cycle through a couple more times to expell as much residue as possible

the same applies to the carb...iuf unfamiliar with carbs then it might be a bit more of a challenge for you but its not rocket science basically a good clean and wash of the jets and floats and all and your good to go

get some good new gas in her and try to fire it up...with a new plug or plugs

good luck

 

[christian.hess]

oh forgot your intake is probably soaked...if it has an element takle it out...rinse in your favourite solvent or air cleaner spray...air dry

then do the same to the intake clean off all residue...dry as much as possible

the try spraying some wd40 or carb cleaner in intake while cranking over(wuthout plug)

what you are trying to do is eliminate all traces of oil and sludge from both the intale and combustion chamber as well as the piston top, rings etc...

you dont want to start the engine with a lot of oil inside as its possible to do damage this way and if it starts and runs you will smoke badly and soot up and carbon up your piston leading to sever pinging...which is bad.

after it starts and runs fine...you can mist the intake a bit or better yet run some strong mix of seafoam in your first tank of new gas

this will clean up crap from the valves, piston, and combbustion chamber without having to tear it down

peace

 

[CalebD]

A 4 stroke requires no oil in the gas so whatever leaked out was either:
gas, engine oil or lower unit oil
Lower unit oil is like a 90W oil, more like maple syrup like in consistency.

 

[northoceanbeach]

410 for clean out and oil change and impeller and fuel filter.

190 for oil change and a look over.

I'll take a good look tonight and see what's going on. I hope I didn't get any oil in the engine. I suppose its possible it was just that the filler cap isn't on all the way or the oil filter was loose.

 

[killarney_sailor]

I started out as a mechanical klutz and afraid of wrecking something if I touched an outboard or the main engine. Over the years I have found that if you are careful, take your time, in some cases take some pictures, it all pretty much makes sense. Now I can take the carb apart (Merc 6 - 4stroke) and clean the jets and get back together in about 10 min (lots and lots of practice). Bleeding the diesel system is ok to do, change an impeller. It is not rocket science. $400+ borders on pure theft.

 

[capta]

I have a 4 stroke and have not had that problem and I see no way oil could have leaked out if stored properly. Is it possible what you think is oil could be lubrication from the mount bracket and tilt joints? Gas could have leaked out of the hose connection, but that should not be oily.
I would find another shop; an oil change should be no more than 1 hour's labor and a qt of 4 stroke oil. A fair price for the oil change will lead you to a fair shop. Good luck.

 

[northoceanbeach]

Ok. I'll put pictures tomorrow and see what I can figure out. It got a little late in the day today to really look into it.

I touched the oil and it had no smell and did feel and look like maple syrup.

 

[christian.hess]

oil can definetly come out guys...usually through the "vents"

motorcycles suffer from this if spilled for a lomg time same thing with the fuel it will spill into the intake and flood the engine

easy enough to pull the plug and see if there is oil...same for the carb

good luck

 

[christian.hess]

btw if its real thick oil from lower unit thats not possible unless you have a bad filler or lose plug at the bottom it would be easy to see if its that as it would be visible no?

cheers

 

[christian.hess]

couple links to help you out with similar if not the same issues

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/outboards/new-mercury-6hp-leaking-oil-36285.html

4 Stroke Outboard Oil Pressure Problem in Outboard Motors Forum

in this link they are talking about what Im talking abot and basically on how 4 strokes benefit from storing certain ways...one being on the compression stroke so oil doesnt leak don the valves into the cylinder

the other on how oil will pull in the valvetrain and trickle down...

the other on how 4 strokes will have vents you need to find where those are...they cant work unless the pressure inside the "crankcase" is ot released some way

on motorcylces I benefitted from always leaving the kicker at btdc...valves closed so no oil would pool down

you would sometimes get no compression cause the valves would stick open too cause of rust forming on the seats...a whole nother issue btw...but applicable

anyways check the prop EXHAUST PORT that maybe the source of your oil leak

cheers

 

[blutoyz]

Hey North...
If you can mount the outboard on your dinghy you can handle this. Don't you dare pay someone to pull the plug, expell any oil, check then add crankcase oil, and start the motor (it may smoke for a bit when first started...don't sweat it)

 

[christian.hess]

190 for an oil change! the face some people have these days

id put in new plugs after burning off any residual oil

but thats just me

 

[northoceanbeach]

I'm beginning the inspection. Here are pictures of what I found after a month pf storage.

 

[northoceanbeach]

One more

 

[northoceanbeach]

I can't tell where it's coming from. Since I removed from the vertical position on the dinghy it has always been stored this side up. But the up side also has oil in it. I'm going to have to watch a video on out oars so I know the parts. It's also not helping I don't have a stand. I'll have to make one.

 

[northoceanbeach]

Pic

 

[northoceanbeach]

Another.

I don't know where it's from. I need to build a stand so I can work on this. It's definitely in the carberator. It looks like it's coming from the carberator. Though that doesn't make sense.

I wonder if it got tipped upside down. I'm not sure if it's lower unit oil or engine oil. When I pulled the dipstick. The engine says it has a lot of oil. When I lifted the motor upright, oil started coming out of the propeller.

 

[northoceanbeach]

Prop leak.

Also note the zincs eaten away and electrolysis going on.