89 Johnson 110 this is driving me nuts

[lto]

I have a 89 Johnson 110 V4 with VRO connected. I have a noise most noticable at half and WOT sounds like an exhaust leak, not a clicking or a knocking, just of loud. like I have a bad exhaust or blown head gasket. It could idle smother and I am getting some residual oil in the front of cowling. Any ideas were a good place to start is? Compression is great no variation between the any of the 4 cylinders. No manuals or posts have really described this. I was wondering if I had a bad reed? ANY info would be great.

Thanks,. Smitty

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 89 Johnson 110 this is driving me nuts

remove the carb silencer, and run with the cover off. see if it is spitting gas out of the carb.

 

[ezeke]

Re: 89 Johnson 110 this is driving me nuts

Check all of the hoses to make sure that they are tight. Make sure that the pulse fitting for your VRO is clean and functioning properly. While you have the cover off the carburetors, see if you have any blow-back; you could have a reed stuck open.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 89 Johnson 110 this is driving me nuts

These engines have a history of base gasket failures. This is the gasket between the powerhead and the midsection. The failure is evidenced by sooty oil in the lower cowl and exhaust smoke in the cowling when running. They can get noisy.

 

[lto]

Re: 89 Johnson 110 this is driving me nuts

I so appreciate the suggestions. I'll check these tonight if weather permitting. I can see were all these suggestions will cause my residule residue, but will these suggestions also cause the noise?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 89 Johnson 110 this is driving me nuts

yes, probably all of them,, compression blow back thru the reeds, and exhaust noise thru gasket.

 

[lto]

Re: 89 Johnson 110 this is driving me nuts

Sorry it took so long to run these tests, we had alot of rain then 2 snow storms. very unusual for texas. I replaced the base gasket and also the carbs are not spitting anything out. I set the timing. Seems to run stronger. The dealer isn't much help because they can't put it under the same load as out on the lake. Someone suggested the pulse fitting. This is my first boat with VRO and am not sure what this is. I would think if I had a rod or piston problem it would have gotten louder, blown or the compression would show weak on one of the pistons. I had run it @ WOT for several miles.

 

[ezeke]

Re: 89 Johnson 110 this is driving me nuts

The original pulse limiter on the 1989 VRO2 was black, I believe. They were supposed to be replaced by blue and gold pulse limiters.

The VRO2 pump is powered by one piston's movement
The pulse limiter is a check valve that closes if the pressure is too high coming from the engine. It protects the fuel pump. The pulse limiter needs to be cleaned and checked periodically.

 

[mikesea]

Re: 89 Johnson 110 this is driving me nuts

Does the RPM change after the noise?would you describe it like a "sneeze"with RPM lose.It could be the sync and link of the carb.If one throttle plate is out of sync,you could get a sneeze.You might also have a bit of crap in a carb passage,causing it to get a bit lean

 

[lto]

Re: 89 Johnson 110 this is driving me nuts

are you saying saying the limiter was upgarded or the OEM made a design change to it for some reason?

As for power the engine runs strong no complaints about performance.