Water in Cowl Area of Older Johnson V-6

[LSaupe]

Has anyone ever seen this? I have been battling a rough running Johnson V-6 and find a large amount of water pumping into my engine cowling when the engine is running. It appears to be coming from the region below the lower carburetor. I am not familiar with the water circuit on these engines, but it seems odd that there would be water there at the front (carb end) of the engine.

I will start digging into it in the next day or two, but before I do any simple explanation for this or thoughts on what might be happening? Hopefully just a missing plug or bad gasket (as opposed to a cracked block or manifold).

Thanks and Regards,

Larry S.

[Forkin' Crazy]

Maybe a base gasket? Have you tried running on the hose so to pin point it?

[LSaupe]

I have tried looking with a mirror while running. It is a large amount of water and also looks like exhaust gases as well. It seems to be puring out from under the shift level mounting area on the intake manifold. Very difficult area to look in. Will need to pull the carbs and possibly the intake manifold to grab a better look.

I assume the base gasket would be between the power head and drive lower drive train (with water and exhaust gases passing through to the lower unit)? Time will tell I guess.

Any thoughts here are greatly appreciated.

Larry S.

[rebible]

once you drop the bottom cowl, things might be easier to see without taking the intake all apart.

[flabum1017]

Sounds like a blown powerhead gasket or a rotted out intermediate housing.

From what you are describing wher it is comming in at, it could also be the shift shaft grommet is missing.

[LSaupe]

Finally got to this project. I pulled the power head and found the base gasket to have been in great condition. No cracks evident in the engine casing or transition piece. Is there any chance this could be coming up the driveshaft area from the water pump? It is a significant amount of water (and even small weeds at times). I really see nothing obvious here.

The shift level grommet that was mentioned by "flabum1017", is this located down near the lower unit or up by the power head? Nothing up at the power head (grommet wise) when it came apart.


Any thoughts here would be greatly appreciated.

Larry

[EMDSAPMGR]

What year engine, what model and hp?

[LSaupe]

It is a 1984 150 HP, J150TLCRD

[iwannagofast]

There should be a rubber disk about 2" diameter, with a hole in the middle and a split from the outer edge to the hole, between the lower engine pan and the upper part of the steering swivel. This part sometimes slips out when removing the lower unit. If it is not there, or not used on your model, find one and put it in. I thnk, sometimes when running, water pressure in front of the lower unit travels up the shift shaft and exits where you are seeing the water. The disk helps to prevent this.

[flabum1017]

That grommet Iwannagofast described should be wraped aroung the shift shaft at the location he described.

Two other things come to mind as well.

1) Some time ago, I had a cutomer with the same complaint. After a lot of head scrating, we ran his motor and another similar motor side by side. We noticed on the good motor, there was water exiting around the lower mount and none on his. Upon removal of the lower mounts, we found holes behind the mounts the allowed water to exit from the exhuast housing. It seems the mounts deformed to the point at which they covered those holes. this allowed the ehaust housing to fill with water and exit up high. His motor had the 1" thick foam gasket between the midsection and bottom of the steering tube where the shift shaft goes up. Because of this foam gasket, the water went straight up the steering tube and exited right below the carbs since his grommet was also missing.
You can pull the cover off one side of the lower mounts and see if they are deformed.

2) The water pump has a grommet on top of it that seals the gap between the water pump and midsection. There is a cast-in tube that runs from the top of the pump all the wat to the top of the midsection with a relief hole near the top. If the top and bottom of the water pump impeller get excessively worn (such as going thru a lot of sand), the seal the impeller makes against the housing at the hub will breach and allow more water to travel up the tube and overflow right where the driveshaft goes into the powerhead. this is further away from the shift shaft but is another possibility. Check the water pump for wear.

[EMDSAPMGR]

Does this water pump when you are at rest, or only when moving? A couple of thing to look at: Your year's engine should have the speedo pickup cast into the front of the lower unit. Possible that if it fractured (froze in the winter) that there could be a direct passageway from the pickup hole direct into the shift rod area. At speed, it could pump a lot of water into the top of the lower unit. If you had something stuck (like a twig) down by the bottom of the swivel bracket, it could be deflecting water up the shift rod tube. Having the engine mounted too low could also contribute to this. The part Gofast mentioned is a good item to check-322302 shift rod seal.