flushing bucket, very oily

bluerocketboy · 14 January 2009, 15:15

hi,
i've been flushing my old 2 stroke mariner 40 on muffs for a while and it seems to be fine but damn noisy for my neibours, so i put a small bucket of water over the bottom of the outboard, covering the prop, then put on muffs as normal and flushed engine.

the water made it much much quieter (and kept topped up by excess water coming out of muffs)

my question is that when i'd finished the water was quite oily and therefore so was the prop/muffs etc, is this normal and will it damage the engine at all?

the good thing about this method is with the reduced noise i can flush for alot longer and at less social hours.

thanks for any advice

p.s as the water is coming into the engine from the muffs (which are also partially covered by the water in the bucket) i am guessing not much of this oily water is going into the intake

PeterM · 14 January 2009, 15:27

Sounds like you are just seeing the unburnt 2 stroke oil coming out of the exhaust and sitting in the water ( thats why the environmentalist lot dont like them) . I can't think it will do any damage to any of the water system even if it gets sucked back round.

I'd expect if you revved it the amount of oil would reduce slighlty( or maybe not ! ) but the neighbours will shout at you before you can really tell.

From what you say the muffs are supplying pretty much all the cooling water ? Or have I mis-understood ?

bluerocketboy · 14 January 2009, 15:36

ah good stuff,
yeah pretty much all the cooling water is coming from the muffs, the buckets just there to slience the exhaust. i just didn't know if a fair bit of oil was normal but it sounds like it is.
thanks for clearing that up for me

9D280 · 15 January 2009, 11:43

Hi, Welcome to Ribnet!

I guess you have a premix engine there? Oil is inevitable - the mix is designed to keep things lubricated when it's running flat out, lots more heat etc etc. Thats's why they invented the variable automixing systems - at idle they run nearer the 200:1 mark, and as Blackroady says, makes them a touch more environmentally friendly. (also saves you a fair bit of oil if you do a lot of low speed work). I bet you also get clouds of blue smoke when you start it from cold?

Oil in the cooling system not a problem. What little amount gets ingested by the pump will help to preserve the surface of the passages, and will get washed straight back out on your next trip.

Locozodiac · 15 January 2009, 13:01

You probably are flushing inside a big plastic barrel, how to get rid fast of the after work oily water, a simple solution...

http://www.pbase.com/locozodiac/image/15570019

just connect a hose and dispose straight to drainage, if this isue is not ilegal where you are located. The mery go round issue, will still need to clean barrel , muffs a bit, that's the big issue with standard 2 strokes engines. Anyway...

Happy Boating

bluerocketboy · 15 January 2009, 13:07

cheers for the welcome!
yep its a premix and i do get a nice big cloud of blue smoke when i start it.
i'm glad its normal because i like to give the engine a really good flush after using, i also start it once a week if i'm not using it much and before i head out to the slip to make sure alls good.
can't wait to get out on the sea again, so much fun

Anthony22 · 22 January 2009, 13:13

I do the same with my 2-stroke... or rather I use a massive water-butt (have a Prop Guard attached) so I can run the engine without a hosepipe nearby. After the first time I did it the inside turned distinctly black.