What Gave??

[SM1]

I have a 115 Johnson carb motor. My low oil light came on just as I was leaving the lake-- time to add some oil. So hearing how good the Amsoil is I put in a gallon of the hp injecter outboard oil in. There was about 1/5 tank of the old oil, im guessing it was a OMC non-synthetic oil.

Put it back in the water yesterday and got up on plane & ran about 5 miles (ran great), idled around for a short while and then it sounded like I may have fouled a plug. Replaced all 4 plugs, got up on plane again ran good for a short bit and then back to maybe a fouled plug?

Does mixing the new amsoil with a small bit of old oil mess somthing up?

Do I need to run a different spark plug with this?? I was running champion plugs, should I go NGK.

Not sure what to do, thanks.

[marine_man]

I'd send an e-mail to the oilman, sponsor of the automotive forum.

You can use his form here: Oilman

marine_man

[fishin58]

I read either on the bottle or FM, NOT to mix the 2 together. I put Amsoil in last summer and I drained out my old stuff completely on my 89 100hp Rude. Good Luck!

[Jaspernuts]

I have the exact same motor and was thinking of switching to the amsoil. I would also like to know the proper process of switching injector oil.

[SM1]

Im thinking the small amt of the old oil might have ruined the fresh gallon of amsoil? That sounds like a $28 mistake?

I know is says "keep the mixing to a minimum" so I thought it would be fine.

I'll try to get theoilman on for more input.

[SM1]

I talked to a dealer and I don’t think I can believe much of what he said. First off, he made it sound like I have done significant damage to the motor and was all dramatic about it. He must really need to sell me a new motor or something. I wish they could be more honest with me.

Even though I don’t believe that for a second, he did say mixing the two oils is not good. He didn’t recommend amsoil for my motor. From all the good things I have heard about amsoil, I would like to use it.

Has anyone not had a good experience with amsoil? I would be running it in a Johnson 115 carbureted oil injected motor.

[theoilman]

You did what is recommended for changing to AMSOIL - run until you get to the low oil warning then fill it with the AMSOIL. You absolutely do not want to risk running out of oil by running it too low, and on many boats it is either nearly impossible to drain the tank or at best a very sloppy job. The AMSOIL is a di-ester base lubricant which is compatable to mix with any petroleum based lube.

Do you know how old the AMSOIL is? Most of the bottles have a batch number printed right on the bottle (quarts and gallons) - a 4 or 5 digit number followed by a 3 digit number usually on the plastic bottle below the label, can be front or back side. The 3 digit is a day of year, the first group is a long term sequential number series. Under 9000 you may have some old inventory. AMSOIL 2-cycle oils recommend a max shelf life of 2 years. Under high or low temp. storage the dye can separate and give problems.

[SM1]

The batch # on the the bottle is 11261 093. Based on your description, the amsoil I got should not have exceeded the shelf life yet.?.?

If I followed the recommened method for changing to amsoil, then is there something I could change with the spark plugs? Maybe a change in the type or brand of spark plugs could make a difference?

[SM1]

Still trying to get this one figured out..

[Jaspernuts]

Let me know - I'm thinking that maybe switching is not a good idea, but man that johnson oil is smoky!

[SM1]

Jasper-

Are you running the champion spark plugs or a different brand like NGK?

[Jaspernuts]

Im running champion.

[spudhauler]

Maybe the switch to amsoil has nothing to do with your issues. Sounds like it could be a carb related issue also.

[theoilman]

Sorry to take so long to get back - I am generally online here only once a day for a little while.

That batch number is this year, day number 093 was April 2 that the bottle was filled - definitely new stock!

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Interesting. Was thinking about switching myself, but I think I'll let the dust settle a bit on this first.

There are lots of old motors out there that have run nothing but petro based oil. Pretty good track record.

[ChuckN]

I once owned a '99 Johnny 115 and when I switched to Amsoil I did the same thing. Ran the oil level down and filled up. No problems with spark plugs fouling. However, I would go NGK plugs myself. I've always had much better performance from NGK.

With synthetics you will notice that motor will smoke/stink a lot less and it won't "load up" when idling for extended periods. Well worth the switch.

[SM1]

I dropped the boat off at the shop to have a mechanic look at it.

I really like the idea of less smoke/stink by using the amsoil. Im starting to think the problem has nothing to do with the oil switch, maybe a bad coil or something (I hope).

I'll post when I hear back from the shop.

[fishin58]

jasper, I have had a positive experience with amsoil since I put it in last year, it idled down better then b4, I spose the loading up was cut down, also starting up, it does not blow blue, if it blows at all it is greyish. I checked my plugs this preseason and they looked good. My oil tank was removable, so that is what I did, just drained it into a jug.

[SM1]

Here's the latest:

They told me- mechanically everything is working fine and everything checks out.

Now they are looking into the "powerpack" or the electrical brain of the motor thinking it is stuck in protection mode.?

we'll see what they say next.

[SM1]

Looks like the oil had nothing to do with the problem.

I piece of one of the gears in the lower unit broke off and pulverized everything inside and that’s what made the motor run "rough". So I am getting the lower unit replaced.

I even changed the oil back to Johnson oil and the only it did was smoke more. I plan on putting amsoil back in after this tank. There was a noticeably less smoke with the amsoil. So if anyone was not sure about making the switch to synthetic, I would say go for it.

[Jaspernuts]

Thanks for the update! I'am going to make the switch.

[marine_man]

Thanks for the follow up!

marine_man

[theoilman]

Glad to hear you got it settled, sorry you had lower unit problems though.