# Oil dripping out of exhaust. excessive smoke. whats it mean?



## like2spd (Nov 7, 2007)

Just picked up a new boat with rebuilt 93 Johnson 200 with supposedly 30hours since work was done. It has through hub exhaust w. two ports under the cowling also releasing exhaust. The exhaust through the prop is clear and usual, but the two ports under the cowling sure do blow alot more than usual smoke. I noticed this while flushing it in the driveway. I took it out the for the first time and started the motor in the water it ran for 30 seconds then died. Started it again ran 1 min. died. started it again waited 5 minutes and took out to the water without it dieing again. After cruising for about 10 minutes at around 30mph i put it in nuetral to ancor and checked the exhaust again. It wasnt smoking. left it running then slowly it started smoking again and i noticed a drip of oil coming from one of the ports at a rate of about one drip every 5 seconds. When i took the boat out the next day i started the motor (took too tries to keep it running) and immediatley checked for the drip. it was dripping at about the same rate as the day before. I have a few more minor problems, but this is the biggest one of the all (im leaning as I go). I am a pensacola local who joined the Navy and now I am in Corpus Christi, TX. I havent met a machanic here that i can afford and I am trying my best to diagnose this without the 90buck an hour rate. Any ideas are welcomed, especially if youve seen this before. Oh and if you happen to know anyone in the area of Corpus Christi who is handy and affordable that would be awesome. Thanks -David King


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## lastcast (Oct 12, 2007)

like2spd, most of the Johnson/Evinrude's of that age seem to smoke more than most. I'm no pro so maybe this will get you a reply from someone who is. I would pull your plugs to see what they look like. If your plugs look okay, I wouldn't sweat it. If not, the VRO is your likely candidate. My 95 225 Johnson is also a COLD motor, but once it gets warmed up she's fine. Good Luck, and hope you get more reply's.



Skip


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## DOUBLE "D" & LV (Oct 2, 2007)

Lastcast is correct. I would be willing to bet that the VRO was not replaced when the engine was rebuilt. It should be replaced anytime a rebuild is done. They fail and cause the engine to smoke more and build up oily residue in the exhuast system. If you notice thick black ooz from around the prop, then the Vro is the most likely. Carbs, linkages, timing, plugs can cause similar results. Start with plugs, then pull the front cover off of the carbs and see if one of them is dumping fuel more than the others while running on the flusher to about 1800 rpm. Squeeze the primer bulb and see if the engine dies down. After that, if you have no luck and do not want to spend about $340 on a VRO pump, then you may have to let your guy at least diagnose it. He may tell you the same thing. Good luck.


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## splitshot (Mar 14, 2008)

cant he just bypass the pump and premix his fuelinstead of buying the pump ?? whole lot cheaper and less to worry about


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## DOUBLE "D" & LV (Oct 2, 2007)

Yes, he can if he would like to mix that much gas. I see who you are now....hi David King it's Dave, give me a call.


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## DOUBLE "D" & LV (Oct 2, 2007)

I also see you have a leaning problem. Does it do it all the time even when the motor is trimmed up? Do you have trim tabs that may not be working or one is stuck? There could be a hook in the hull causing a lean or there could be a water system on board that is empty and need to be filled.


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## GatorBait (May 14, 2008)

This may or may not help. My buddy had a 200 Saltwater Edition Mercury that was no more than a year or so old. Somehow, i don't know exactly why, but the engine failed. With it being under warranty he took it up to Bass Pro in Destin and they went through and pretty much put a new motor in it. Here's the kicker. After the engine work, they filled his tank up and dumped another big bottle of oil in with his gas. This caused it to smoke more than normal. Also, when it was cold, if it did not fire up the first turn or two, he would have to pull the spark plugs out and wipe the oil off them, put them back in and continue untill it fired up. The first tank was a complete newsance until he was able to fill it again and put the proper amount of oil in. They said it was to help lubricate the new parts. I would check with the old owner. Who knows, you might just have an excessive amout of oil running through your engine.

I also had the same problem with my 25 horse 81' Evinrude. Oil would drip slowly out the muffler and it would also smoke horribly.I was able to adjust by hand a knob and correct it. It was just running too rich. It had too much oil running into it and it all wasn't getting burned properly so the excess dripped out. Like I said, this may or may not help.


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