Reply To: Timing a 6HP Johnson 1989

[Don]

Well, hard to say…Doesn’t really make sense, cuz nothing was leaking out between the exhaust housing and powerhead….But, “never say never” is what I have learned over the years…
Now, if the bolts that hold the inner exhaust housing to the powerhead were loose, then that could easily explain a water leak into the powerhead. I know it is hard to tell, but does it look like the powerhead has been off before? At this point, I would pull the powerhead and gearcase….The upper water tube grommets on these engines are always suspect, and perhaps the inner exhaust housing bolts are loose. That overboard spray doesn’t look real strong, and this is a salt water motor, so it is time to do the grommet job…This is a great opportunity to lube up all the fasteners so they will never get stuck/seized also. Once you have the inner exhaust housing off, we can discuss how to trim the grommet to make sure it doesn’t get crushed in the future….
I’m glad there is no horrible defect causing the water leak…