1999 johnson 115

[Riatvriderwd]

I have a 99 j115pleem. I just bought it in March. Outboards are completely new to me. I have a few questions. One i would like to know, the pervious owner started the engine to show me it would run. Ran it About 5 secs. From what i have read, is it bad to do this? It still gets pretty cold here, should i have the lower unit covered in case water gets in it? I want to run the motor on ear muffs but am worried the water will freeze if i don't get it all out.
How do you ensure your getting proper oil mixture in the engine? And that there is no issues with oil delivery.
i have xd50 2cycle oil. Is stabil marine 360 the only additive needed?
where is the fuell water separator usually located?
another issue...
i need a cowling seal and the part number i need is no longer available. Its omc# 0335843. What can i do?
sorry for so many questions

[boats.net]

You shouldn't run motor without a water supply for any length of time, the rubber water pump impeller will become damage if run dry. You can run on ear muffs then leave motor tilted down to allow all water to drain out of engine and gearcase, if storing boat outside and can store with motor tilted down then that will prevent water from getting in lower unit housing and won't have to worry about freeze damage.
The oil pump does have an alarm that will sound buzzer if oil pump fails, you can monitor how much oil is being used it is a variable ratio oil system but should about 1 gallon of oil to 50 gallons of gas. If any doubt with oil system then add oil in gas tank until you have verify VRO is working properly.
Yes fuel stabilizer is only fuel additive needed. Water separator will be mounted in boat between gas tank and outboard.
You might search internet for the cowl seal, it is now obsolete and will be hard to find.

[Riatvriderwd]

Thank you very much. As far as the seal., is there anyway to cross reference to other engines. Or is there a larger seal of the same style i can just cut down. There is only one company with them available and they want $200

[boats.net]

The ones for a 2002 model(0344387) are available but I have no way of knowing if it could be made to work on yours or not.