Johnson 1989 50 200RPM NO Power?

[DaPenguin]

Hello all,

I have a 1989 Johnson 50 model J50TLCEC. Last weekend i filled the boat up and hit the lake. Got the boat in the water plained out and then lost power. Now i can get 2000 RPM but no more. My first suspision is that i got bad gas, Or some sticky carbs. So i put some seafoam in the tank and ran it in the water for about a hour and half, and all that did was make the idle rough now. I still have no power!! Now i am not so sure what the problem is. I am thinking it might be the Ignition coil but do not know how to troubleshoot this part of the motor. Does anyone know the procedure for this? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Mike

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: Johnson 1989 50 200RPM NO Power?

Remove the spark plugs. What does the top plug look like.... what does the bottom plug look like?

What is the compression of both cylinders? Specify top, bottom.

With the spark plugs removed, the spark should jump a 7/16" gap with a strong blue lightning like flame.... a real SNAP! Does it? Don't check the spark by using the spark plugs as that is just a waste of time, the 7/16" gap is important.

(Spark Tester - Home Made)
(J. Reeves)

A spark tester can be made with a piece of 1x4 or 1x6, drive a few finishing nails through it, then bend the pointed ends at a right angle. You can then adjust the gap by simply twisting the nail(s). Solder a spark plug wire to one which you can connect to the spark plug boots, and a ground wire of some kind to the other to connect to the powerhead somewhere. Use small alligator clips on the other end of the wires to connect to ground and to the spark plug connector that exists inside of the rubber plug boot.

Using the above, one could easily build a spark tester whereas they could connect 2, 4, 6, or 8 cylinders all at one time. The ground nail being straight up, the others being bent, aimed at the ground nail. A typical 4 cylinder tester follows:


..........X1..........X2

.................X..(grd)

..........X3..........X4

You can check the carburtors for debris, water, etc, by removing the carburetor face plate, then removing the screw/bolt that you'll see at the bottom front of the carburetor float chamber. Pumping the fuel primer bulb should have the fuel flowing freely out those holes.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Johnson 1989 50 200RPM NO Power?

yep, start with the basics, as Joe said, then report back your findings.

 

[DaPenguin]

Re: Johnson 1989 50 200RPM NO Power?

Thanks for your willingness to help. Today i got the compression gauge and looked at the plugs and opened the carb screw at the float chamber.
The top compression was 130 and bottom was 125. I did this with the motor cold. Am i supposed to warm it up first? I was reading on how to perform this test after i did it and ran into someone saying warm the motor first. Anyway the top plug was dry and somewhat of a brownish color on it and the bottom was moist and also had the brownish color on it. As for the screw on the float chamber when i removed it a good bit of gas came out as if it was full (is that normal) then it stopped.When i squezzed the bulb fuel began to pour out both carbs.
Also let me give more information that i did not mention last night. The motor runs fine when not in gear it revs good and idles good, but when i put it in the water it goes just for maybe 30 sec then boggs down. Also today i had a friend who had a ignition coil new that i put on and it still did not work. Much to my dissapointment i guess i will not be going to the lake on saturday morning As for checking the spark test i will be building Joe's invention in the morning. I was also reading a forum that mentioned the S.L.O.W i do not know much about this but could someone explain in detail to me this feature and how to diagnose it. Thanks for all you help and please bare with me i am not a mechanic of any sort i just have the will to fix it myself.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Johnson 1989 50 200RPM NO Power?

you do not have SLOW. i'm going to be you end up cleaning and rebuilding you carbs, not hard. see the carb post at the top of this forum. your compression #'s are fine.

 

[DaPenguin]

Re: Johnson 1989 50 200RPM NO Power?

Thanks Tash
Well it's running agian. I pulled the carbs to find the bottom one had a stuck float. Got it all rebuilt and back together and took it down to the lake. Man it is running STRONG, I dont think i remember the last time it ran this good. Pulled some paperwork and it had been four years since last carb rebuild. So i think its been doing pretty good. The only thing i cant seem to get rid of is the sputtering at idle when the motor is cold. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated. I call it a sputter but its kinda almost like a backfire but not as loud as a car just a pop. It will idle smooth then pop then idle smooth. It seems like it tries to die when this hapens too.But when motor warms i dont seem to notice it.

Thanks, Mike