Gelled TCW3 oil in oil tank

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After going out in the boat today, I decided to drain the oil tank on my 115 Johnson outboard. At the bottom of the tank was about a 1/4 inch of gelled oil. The oil in the tank was a mix of Quciksilver Premium Plus and Castrol Super Outboard. Both oils are TCW3 certified, which means they should have been ok to mix. Anyway, what can I use to clean the gel out of the bottom on the oil tank, so that when I put in two gallons of fresh oil, the cleaner or solvent will not contaminate the new oil. Any suggestions??
 
I had some old un-opened tcw2 that had some gell lumps. One of the smarter (chemist) guys here told me I could save it with a little acetone. It worked, but I just ended up using it for bar oil in the saw. The old post is here somewhere.
 
Bob, the oil tank is remote, and has a screw off cap and a siphon that I can remove, so it would be easy to dump the oil and clean out with acetone. I bought a new gasket and filter screen for the siphon, I might as well change those out whil I have the tank off. Another nice thing is the tank is removable, so I now have it in my garage, while the boat sits in the water.
 
Personally like the nonflamable spray brake cleaners for that sort of use. Fairly safe, remove petro products well, and evaporate quickly. Acetone is pretty potent!

Bob
 
I went with some Fuel Power and cleaned out the tank. I placed the siphon back in with a new gasket and filter, filled with two fresh gallons of oil and purged the oil line of air. I ran the boat today and everything is working fine, thanks for the advice, Joe
 
Joe,
Sounds like you cleaned your oil tank great. The gelling probably happened because of mixing the oils. I take my boat over to the bahamas for extended periods and sometimes cannot get a particular TCWIII. The trick is to run the tank almost completely out of oil before switching to another oil brand. I usually run Yamalube in my yamaha engines, but from time to time I end up having to put Merc Premium Plus in her when I'm in the bahamas. For some reason the plugs foul more with the Merc oil, but I've never had problems with gelling. I do have the VRO tank removed every 300 hours to check for junk at the bottom.
 
Joe,
I like your avitar, nice Johnson beauties. I have a vintage '78 model, knock wood still running on original water pump!! It's resting now for the off-season. I also like the little animated sailbot.
 
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Joe,
I like your avitar, nice Johnson beauties. I have a vintage '78 model, knock wood still running on original water pump!! It's resting now for the off-season. I also like the little animated sailbot.




Thanks!! I grew up on V4 Johnson/Evinrude motors, and love them. My current Johnson 115 is a 1999 model and still running strong. Aside from a power pack, I have had no trouble from the motor, it has never left me stranded. I do have to change the water pump impeller every other year due to all the sand I suck up the motor while fishing in shallow water or skimming over a sandbar
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Joe,
My sea Horse is a 115hp also. I do a lot of shallow water and kick up a lot of sand, mud and weeds in salt water. I replaced the 2 coil paks when 2 years old, the rest are fine. I do trailer it, so it's only in the water when I use it, then flush it out with fresh water and squeeze some dish detergent in the flushing tee. Happy Boating
 
detergent? never tried that one. An outside hot water faucet has worked well for me, but I run in salt. Old 90hp V4 'rude still making good power.
 
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Joe,
I like your avitar, nice Johnson beauties. I have a vintage '78 model, knock wood still running on original water pump!! It's resting now for the off-season. I also like the little animated sailbot.




You are kidding, right??????????
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This isn`t something to play around with. When it does go chances are it will totally come apart and parts of the impeller can lodge when you can`t get to them thus rendering your beloved engine usless. Get that old thing out of there before next spring season. They should be changed out every two years or so.
 
Not kidding about the water pump. At this point, 29 years young, do you think the lower unit would come off so easy just to replace something that is not broke? The boat stays on land, and is only in the water when used(Duh). After the salt water dip, it gets immediately flushed, and the boat is hosed down. When I flush I use dish detergent to help slide the flushing tee on, and give a few extrax squirts so the soapy mix gets thru some of the cooling system. I've also heard that the parts for such an aged motor are limited.
 
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