My Johnson is working again, yahoo!

[Steve_Kiesel]

Greg (slo-mo), get your mind out of the gutter, I'm referring to my motor.

TimM, thanks a million for taking on the project and sticking with it to the end. I'll spare everyone the details. But I do have to say you really have to be careful buying old motors. This one had several hidden defects that Tim was able to uncover and straighten out. :doublethumbsup:

Tim and I did a test run on the Duwamish this afternoon for a final check out. Wow, when you mash the throttle down now, the old Seafair just about jumps out of the water. I like it. :D

We clocked it at 30mph (GPS) going up river with the two of us on board. 30 won't win any races with Gordon. But it beats the 20mph I was getting at the Mason Lake outing. The Seafair is happiest at around 23 to 25, which is fine with me.

[slo-mo]

Damn Steve, I had three one liners ready to go before opening your thread.:Shocked:

Anyway, keep up the good work.

[Tim McCrain]

Having a slow day?

:smilielol5:

Glad you got her worked out Steve, I hear it's nice to have a little extra power when you need it. I wonder what that's like?

[chuckcarey]

Tim, I have a nice Merc with extra power for and THEN you will be able to keep up. It's a Dr Frankenmerc motor ! Chuck

[Seakaye12]

Steve; why spare us the details? I bet a lot of folks would enjoy hearing of every detail of what was wrong with your motor...and what steps were taken to fix it....

I learn so much from these forums...lets hear the details!

Chuck in Santa Barbara

[Tim McCrain]

I don't know Chuck, that motor looks a little fuzzy ...

OK, sorry, I won't tease you about your camera anymore. As much as I'd love to have that much horsepower on the back of the Sabrecraft, my boat budget is focused on getting the shop set up to start the two Bell Boys.

No Frankenmerc for me. :(

[Tim_Mattson]

Chuck in Cal. sounds really curious.
Well a slow tunring starter isn`t always a bad starter....or solenoid, or keyswitch , and more......
BUT ,when the wiring at the motor cover outlet is rubbed until bare wires show ,wrapped with one wrap of tape and called good ,things go crazy.
We had a melted Tach lead from control box to motor harness to start.
Then noticed shifting was barely into forward when in gear ,shift rod adjustment was farther away from right than I`ve ever seen,which causes all the throttle settings to be out of whack....no WOT at any handle position.
Throttle stop was swapped for a weird non-adj bolt......
Timing set up for a pontoon boat with 15`` pitch......
Melted Regulator /Rectifier......
Broken Throttle advance link fitting.......
Missing harness Clips......
Then a new power pack that didn`t like something in the above mix.....
Was never so happy to see and feel a motor finally come around to it`s proper senses.
With a higher pitch and some Salt water ,Steve will be up in the
mid 30`s for those brief moments of needing some speed.
We almost took a swim when Steve finally mashed it down hard.
Though Steve pointed out the summer was over,we had the Bluest skies you`d ever seen......in Seattle.....:p
There was more but we`ll save you the time....
TM

[Steve_Kiesel]

Santa Barbara Chuck. Tim pretty much covered it. What would I do different with the next used motor I purchase? Remember I'm not a mechanic.

First of all, make sure it starts and runs, which this one did. I would definetly inspect all the wiring carefully. Looking for discolored wires, cracked insulation. Looking for electrical tape were it shouldn't be.

If it came with a control box, I would open it up for inspection. When this one was opened up the first time, there was a wire pinched on the cover clear down to the copper. Then Tim discovered the other burnt wires after he dug into it further.

Also look for other mis-matched parts. Like Tim mentioned, he found a throttle adjustment bolt did not match the proper one. One of the plastic wiring covers was missing. There were a lot of little things that were not right. Which Tim corrected as he found them.

The other electrical parts that were bad, Tim figured I probably fried those when I cranked the engine to death at the Mayfield outing. It strarted right up in the driveway before I went down. Plus I really wanted to make that outing. With all the bad wiring, the extended cranking probably over heated the other parts, and they finally failed.

I probably still would have bought this motor even if I seen these things, but I would have asked for a price that reflected the problems. Live and learn.

[Seakaye12]

Thanks for the details. I currently have two outboards; one Johnson 15 and a Mercury 850. Both are "factory originals" (The Merc still has it's original spark-plugs!).....SO I don't have to concern myself with stuff that a passel of previous owners might have done.

That's always a challenge; isn't it...delving into all the nooks and crannies to find things that were done wrong...or were done for un-known reasons....

Kind of fun though....a lot like buying an old car and checking under the seats to see what treasures lurk within....

Thanks, Chuck in Santa Barbara