posted 07-24-2012 07:08 PM ET (US)        

I pulled off the lower rear cowling and am working on bolts on thermostat housing. There was some serious looking gunk in the Starboard-side hose connect[or] that looked like red leafy membranes about the size of a quarter.

Suggestions? Ideas? I suppose the logical question is what to do if one side of a four-cylinder Johnson 115 runs obviously hotter than the other.

Standing by.

posted 07-25-2012 09:52 AM ET (US)            

The water deflectors are actually 3/8" rubber tubing (fuel line), so they should be almost perfectly round. There are slightly raised portions of the aluminum casting that surround the cylinder sleeves that keep the deflectors from moving out of line.

(Water Deflectors)
(J. Reeves)

Water deflectors are actually lengths of 3/8" outside diameter rubber hose, installed between the top cylinder and any cylinder beneath it, and also between the bottom cylinder and the block. The purpose of the deflectors is to have the water follow a definite path around the cylinder walls. Unfortunately the deflectors between the cylinders will at times swell sideways due to either a previous bad overheating problem, or simply due to age and salt corrosion. This causes a water flow restriction which usually allows the water to cool sufficently at low rpms but not at the higher rpms.

This hose material can be purchased reasonably at any automotive parts type store if you care to make your own, or you can purchase individual deflectors at any Evinrude/Johnson dealership at a somewhat higher cost.

Removing and installing them can be a hassle at times, but not always. I use a sharply pointed scribe with about 1/4" of the tip bent at a right angle whereas I can reach in, jab the tip sideways into the rubber, then yank it out. It's necessary to clean the seating surfaces where the ruber contacts the block with a small rat tail file to eliminate salt deposits etc. When installing the new rubber deflector, coat the deflector and the metal surfaces with WD40 which will act as lubrication to allow it to go in as easily as possible.

Make sure that you insert something into that deflector area before cutting and installing the deflectors if you make your own so that you will be certain that they are the right length and also that they will be seated properly. Usually a very small amount will be left extending about the block sealing area..... simply cut the excess off with a single edge razor blade.

posted 07-26-2012 09:00 AM ET (US)            

Replacing the thermostats is going to be a challenge. The housing is at the bottom of the block, back end of the motor, with lower cowling obstructing wrenching. I pulled a plastic shroud off exposing the bolts a little better and can access the two outer bolts pretty well but the middle one is almost impossible. I read somewhere where an owner drilled a hole into the case to access the middle bolt and plugged it with something like a rubber plug ..

I'm going to do the compression test sometime today - I guess the next question is how difficult to remove heads assuming clean up, new gaskets and probably the water flow deflectors. I also checked my Snap On click type torque wrench and it does not dial down enough to torque those head bolts and I do not want to use a junk torque wrench. Time to get the book but any more help would be appreciated.

posted 07-26-2012 09:18 AM ET (US)            

The interesting thing was, on his 18 Outrage that he uses as his main Whaler he had a very interesting Cylinder Temperature Monitoring System. It was a rather simple electronic monitoring system that used easily installed bolt on thermal-couples to head cylinder. He also had installed a simple read out to give either individual cylinder temps or all the cylinders at once. It was a very nice set up.

I recently saw he is starting to produce this and sell them. It seems his business is in it's infancy but he said he is planning to start developing a mass market product. None the less he is selling kits now using his current design.

It may be worth while Pete to install one of these systems if you can really concerned with Block Temps.

posted 07-26-2012 09:09 PM ET (US)            

So tomorrow I get a flex socket and grind down a box wrench and see what we come up with.

posted 07-31-2012 10:22 PM ET (US)            

After dinner last night I went back out with an array of lights and enthusiasm (love working the night shift) about 11 PM and tried but big thunderstorm blew in over the big lake and shut thigns down. We just got the cover on the boat, tools in the garage and top on the motor then Kaboom.

Had to Work today, meetings, project delayed and I hope to get to in in the morning.

Thanks for asking - I will file report.

posted 08-02-2012 12:18 PM ET (US)            

For you hard cores this is probably funny. I've wrenched on lots of stuff, bikes, cars, dialysis machines and the actual assembly is simple to put together but access sucks unless lower cover removed and there was no clear method there.

Here's what went down sharing a few details for those of you who might do this sometime.

Tool list -
- real long needle nose pliers (saved the day)
- 1/4 drive 6 pt socket and flex extension
- 3/8 drive 6 pt flex socket (sourced at NAPA)
- one paint stir stick
- one 1x2" board ~ one foot long, ( should have cut a wedge on the end - would have worked better
- Official Evinrude OMC gasket goo - non hardening, stays sticky. Worth it.

1) There is no question manipulating all components into a subassembly around and under the "bubble back" casting, lining up two thermostats, two poppet valves, two gaskets, three bolt holes all while compressing two poppet springs requires either some weird tool or four hands and two sets of eyes. To that end, while solo I tried tie wrapping things together and wooden wedges per suggestions from the crew out there. Thanks!

2) So, still solo, I practiced dry fitting the assembly a half dozen or more times until I determined best line, left to right, to insert, tip, twist and slide the parts into place.

3) After the first beer, my neighbor (now everyone needs a neighbor like Gary), a retired tool and die man, rolls in to talk Pesto making with Ellen. He moseyed on over and said "you havent' got that thing put together yet?". At which point he said "if this was my boat I'd get my die grinder out and run a simple hole in the center to access that bolt and modify that lower cover so you can get a freakin' wrench in there..." and I said "lets do that right now." and he said - "let's give it a try first, your compressor probably doesn't have enough air to run the die grinder." I said - "okay"

4) I show him what I rehearsed and positioned the bolts, gunked up gaskets and all the parts and were ready to give it a try. I put a chair next to the motor for one of us to have good access and view from below and the other from the top.

5) I had a wooden paint stirrer and a 1X2" board about a foot long to wedge the parts in place once springs were compressed as we inserted the bolts. Thanks Larry - but it would have been even better if we cut a wedge into it per tool maker.

6) So we positioned the springs into the block and used the paint stick inserted from right side to compress and hold the springs in place. We had to use a big screw driver (real big - or socket extension would work) to put pressure on the middle of the stick.

7) We used some Phil Wood bike grease (any grease would work) to make the plastic poppets sticky enough to stay in place and the thermostats seemed fine probably because of some of the gasket compound.

8) Garry held the springs down while I inserted the assembly from the left hand side. This was tricky but going slow it worked fine removing the paint stick a few centimeters at a time. to the right.

9) Once in place (magic) Garry took the 1/2 and wedged the cover in place so we could insert the bolts.

10) using the modified 7/16" wrench (ground down for easier access - I did that with Larry's advice) I slowly turned the RHS bolt by hex head until it was close to the cover.

11) While attempting the same on LHS, Gary grabbed the extremely long needle nose pliers and began turning the RHS bolt a little more by the shaft instead of the hex - that was genius. He did the same on the LHS bolt and a hell of a lot faster than millimeters by the box or open end wrench.

12) once the side bolts were clearly in place (being careful not to tighten at all) I inserted the center bolt and with flex socket, got it in place

13) I went through tightening sequence and after looking around for any parts we forgot to put in - we were done!

14) TRIAL - I hooked up the muffs and fired up the motor, inspected for leaks (had to tighten one clamp) and let her run. Tell Tale was strong ( yep, like pissing over a six foot fence).

As the motor warmed up I used the digital thermometer (just picked up from Harbor Freight for about $38 bucks) and took readings. After about 10 minutes or more the RHS was running around 128-130 F and the LHS was around 122 - 124 F. I let it run probably 15-20 minutes and the readings were about the same.

15) today - heading to the lake a little later .

Thanks so much for all your help. And yes - I'm gonna let Gary loose with his die grinder to modify that bottom cowl. Why not?? There is no structural risk and it makes sense.

posted 08-02-2012 08:32 PM ET (US)            

Coast Guard Festival in full throttle in Grand Haven - and blue berries are about over here from what I've been told so get to the beach!!

posted 08-02-2012 10:41 PM ET (US)            

I think there's got to be a way to at least partially remove
the lower cowling. I thought it was impossible on mine
until I noticed that the parts book said there were FOUR
bolts and found #4 under a bunch of grease. After than I
sort remove each side. They both had cables running through
holes but I could get starboard half forward of the engine
and the port half at least part of the way out of the way.

Check the online Evinrude parts site. They have a nice parts
book, but you have to click the + a bunch of times to make
the picture reasonable big. Then if you click the number
on the picture, it will scroll the text to that part.