I bought a used classic about 3-4 weeks ago and when the seller demo'd the motor in a tank it started fine and had a good water stream. It did smoke quite a bit at first and he said his mix was a bit rich. I have had a 4 stroke for a while now and always heard you guys call them 2 smokes so I didn't think anything of it. I finally had a chance to start the motor this weekend in a tank and it smoked from the lower unit and I noticed no water stream. I shut it down right away. Residual smoke kept coming out of the lower unit and a bit of black residue from the prop. I drained the lower unit oil to replace it and it was a good color. I am assuming I need a new water pump. Can anyone tell me what else I might check and if the smoke from the lower unit can be a sign of something major? Thanks
Sometimes it takes a few seconds for the water pressure to build. I would let it run 20 seconds or so before I got too worried. One major exhaust point is from the prop/lower unit area, smoke from that area and some residue is normal for 2 smokes.
You have to submerge the lower unit enough for the water level to reach the water pump otherwise it won't pick up the water. Smoke is okay from the lower unit if it is coming from the exhaust port that could be under the cavitation plate or the propeller hub depending on the motor.
Thanks for the replies. I am going to try again tomorrow and let it run longer and see if it will pee.
The black oil from the exhaust can be a couple things. Too rich on the oil/fuel mixture, or cheap oil. Lubrimatic and other cheap oils do smoke a lot more and don't burn as thoroughly as better oils or synthetics. The cheaper oils still work, just dirtier inside your engine.
I changed the lower unit oil this morning with Pennzoil marine. I have Quicksilver Premium Plus 2 cycle oil for the gas. Do you mix yours 50:1
