Outboard Smoke

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oceanpearl

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Hello All,
I recently purchased a grady white adventure 208 and when i start it up it smokes a lot. The only way to get it to quit smoking is to drive it. I was wondering if maybe i am starting it up wrong or something? Are outboards supposed to keep blowing smoke until they are driven? It's a 96 evinrude

Thanks
 
2 stroke of the older design will smoke fairly heavily at start up and while at low rpm and the motor is not up to proper operating temperature. It shows that the automatic oilier is working and protecting the motor.
Keep track of your fuel to oil burning ratio. It probably should be 50 to 1. If its not have it checked. This should have been addressed by a marine surveyor if you had one.
 
I have a 94 208 with a Johnson motor and had the same problem several years ago. If I ran it every few days it was okay but the longer I let it sit, the worse it would smoke on startup. It was so bad that I was embarrassed to start it with anyone around because it would smoke out the whole ramp area. It finally got so bad that the motor wouldn't run. My mechanic diagnosed it as a bad VRO pump, the oil side was leaking by when the motor wasn't running and instead of a 50/1 ratio, it was more like 1/1. He replaced the pump and it has been fine ever since with just a small amount of smoke on startup that clears right up.
 
Have you ever decarboned the engine? 2 strokes build up deposits in the upper cylinder and ring areas that cause combustion problems that are most apparent while the engine is idling. The rings tend to stick in the piston lands, which lowers the compression and reduces performance.

The standard way to decarbon older 2 strokes is to use a Seafoam treatment. You either introduce the stuff directly through the carburetors, or else use a small detachable gas can to introduce a highly concentrated dose of Seafoam mixed with a small amount of gas and oil. I like to remove the spark plugs and spray Seafoam into the cylinders, turn the engine over a few times with the plugs out, and let it sit overnight. The I use the tank method to finish the job.

If you Google Dunk's decarb method, you'll see how to do it.

Using Seafoam as a regular fuel additive won't do you any good. But once you have removed the carbon, you can keep the engine running smokeless by using Yamaha Ringfree (or Mercury Quickleen) in you gas on a regular basis.
 
Marty grady 272 said:
2 stroke of the older design will smoke fairly heavily at start up and while at low rpm and the motor is not up to proper operating temperature. It shows that the automatic oilier is working and protecting the motor.
Keep track of your fuel to oil burning ratio. It probably should be 50 to 1. If its not have it checked. This should have been addressed by a marine surveyor if you had one.
Click to expand...

I didn't feel the need for a surveyor the boat has been very well maintained with all maintenance records.

ryoung said:
I have a 94 208 with a Johnson motor and had the same problem several years ago. If I ran it every few days it was okay but the longer I let it sit, the worse it would smoke on startup. It was so bad that I was embarrassed to start it with anyone around because it would smoke out the whole ramp area. It finally got so bad that the motor wouldn't run. My mechanic diagnosed it as a bad VRO pump, the oil side was leaking by when the motor wasn't running and instead of a 50/1 ratio, it was more like 1/1. He replaced the pump and it has been fine ever since with just a small amount of smoke on startup that clears right up.
Click to expand...

YES that is why i posted this. Its so bad to go to the ramp and its all smoked up and stuff, i feel bad for the people fishing off the dock. I will have to have the motor checked out then because this motor lays down MAD smoke and it defiantly seems like oil is burning pretty quick. Thanks ryoung i am glad i am not the only one who has been embarrassed at the dock.

Update: Just watched a youtube video about a bad VRO pump, my engine does the same thing. The guy deleted the VRO pump and had zero smoke i believe you are onto something ryoung and i will have someone check it out.
 
Running a quality oil will also help. Merc's Premium Plus, Pennzoil synthetic and Amsoil HP Injector Oil have all worked well for me.
 
Can you share the link for that video. Would like to watch it. Thanks,
 
you should def not have that much smoke. I would suspect it is a mixture problem. Check vro as a start or even a fuel restriction. Many time the vro gets the blame and replacment does not work and fuel restriction is usually the cause.

Run engine off a external fuel tank, by-pass everything on the boats fuel system even the filter. See what it looks like then. If it still smokes likek crazy goto vro.
 
I had the same problem on a 1987 Evinrude 140 I use to have. Once it got to the embarassing point, I changed the VRO pump and that fixed it. It really was pretty easy to change, so may want to consider DIY.
 
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