Correct gear oil for mid 1950’s Johnson

[dshanks]

I was at my local OMC dealer picking up a part and gear oil for my 1954 Johnson QD-15. The motor sat for about 15 years and the oil in the lower unit was thick and dark. No creamy color or water, thank goodness.

I was going to buy Hi-Vis as I’m pretty sure that’s what my dad used when he had this motor. I remember talking with dad about the other stuff being for electric shift motors and this one obviously has no electric shift.

When the parts lady, who’s been helping me find parts for the motor, saw what I was buying she said I had the wrong gear oil for my motor. She said I should be using the Premium Blend. We looked on the tube and sure enough it says "Recommended Usage: Evinrude/Johnson models made in or before 1972 …" It also says it’s "particularly recommended for electric shift lower gearcases …" The Hi-Vis says "Recommended Usage: All Evinrude/Johnson models 1973 and newer …"

Now my motor was certainly made before 1972, but this stuff is a lot thinner than what came out of the gear case. Like I said, I’m pretty sure my dad used the Hi-Vis 90 weight oil, but maybe I’m wrong about that.

So, my question: what’s the correct gear oil for this vintage OMC engine; Hi-Vis or Premium Blend? For what it’s worth, the Premium Blend was a buck cheaper.

[frankr]

Well I’ll be darned, I just looked in an old OMC Accessories catalog (1978) and sure enough, that is what it says. But that isn’t what I remember. I would have thought for sure that we used HiVis in everything except Electric Shift at the dealership where I worked back in those days. But there certainly wouldn’t be anything wrong with using Premium Blend either. After all, that is the only thing OMC made, before introduction of HiVis. But maybe my forgetter works better than my rememberer.

Anyhoo, we all know there is no difference in non-electric gearcases that spanned the period before and after 1972. HiVis was introduced when they started coming out with high horsepower motors and the heavy load they put on gears. To me, that makes it better, and what I would use.

Or, you can do what the manufacturer says.

[pappy]

I use the new version of the Hi-Vis (the HPF version) in all of my 50’s engines. Will maintain optimum protection levels with as much as a 25% solution of water in the oil.

[chris-p]

I think the moral of the story is, use whichever one you want. I don’t think the motor will know the difference!

A lot of us here use hivis, for decades now. So I would say it will be just fine. Same goes for the premium blend. The motor will chug right along.

[Author]

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