1976 johnson 35 hp

[pequod]

I hear this mod is prone to overheating and is generaly a all round poor motor ? can any other members shed light on this. thanks Phil

 

[HybridMX6]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

I had a 1978 35hp that was a great motor, never had a problem with it at all. I know it's 2 years newer than yours, but still. I had it on a 15' jon boat with no problems, loved it.

 

[G DANE]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

They were fine motors. There is an issue after many years of excessive salt water use, the bore around the rubber gasket for the upper end of cooling water tube corrodes, making the gasket collapse and restrict the cooling water flow, but thats an easy fix. Lots of people ignore the need for change of impeller and thermostat periodicly, with same result. I do not recall the motor itself having any known weaknesses, except the age of 30 years. Its a stump puller with a good hole shot, and lots of power. The 1976 has traditional points and condenser ignition, which works fine when serviced now and then.

 

[F_R]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

In my humble opinion the '76 35hp should have been painted lemon yellow. We had to stop selling them because they would not run in Florida waters. The ones we did sell all came back with all the paint burned off the powerhead. They would overheat if they got to within 10 feet of a water weed. Florida water weeds are inches apart.

After they put the water inlet on the sides of the gearcase and went to CD ignition, they are fine motors. My '84 is one of the best motors I've ever owned.

 

[HybridMX6]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

In my humble opinion the '76 35hp should have been painted lemon yellow. We had to stop selling them because they would not run in Florida waters. The ones we did sell all came back with all the paint burned off the powerhead. They would overheat if they got to within 10 feet of a water weed. Florida water weeds are inches apart.

After they put the water inlet on the sides of the gearcase and went to CD ignition, they are fine motors. My '84 is one of the best motors I've ever owned.

Ah, that's the difference I guess. Mine had the water pickup on the side of the lower unit instead of the other style behind the prop. I didn't realize it was changed right before the year I had.

 

[steelespike]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

The old style water pickup on a 25 dates back to the early 50s and if my manual is right ran to 84.Side pick up in 85. what caused it not to work in 76 ??

 

[HybridMX6]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

I don't know what caused it, but I had a 1971 20hp that had that old style. Couldn't get that thing to go over 3/4 throttle without it cavitating. Ended up selling it going with the 1978 35hp I mentioned earlier. Heck, even my friend 1974 (he says it was, I don't really know) 9.9hp had the side water pickups. I am surprised they used that old style for so long.

 

[G DANE]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

The 1976 35 HP actually had the water intakes on sides of lower unit, the one piece gearcase came out in 1976, just not the plactic intake screens, but intake exactly as on the 40 - 50 HP all the way up. Never experienced problems with that. Fine motors i.m.h.o.

 

[F_R]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

That is just plain incorrect. The '76 one piece gearcase had the 10 little holes water intake on the leading edge sides of the gearcase. Anything like weeds would block them off. Later models moved the intake to the sides, midway back. There is confusion here. I am not talking about the old motors with the intake behind the prop. I was there in the pits when they were all coming back burnt up.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

I bought a '81 J35hp in Florida this past Feb and it showed signs of overheating on it. The water pump housing and the plastic extension above it were physically melted! After I fixed it all up, it runs at a nice temp... In cool Canadian waters!

 

[G DANE]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

F R that WAS the lower unit I was thinking about, we just never had that much probelms with it here, guess it is because of the colder weather. I stand corrected here. Besides from the more sensible ignition, thats the only weaknesses I know of, and as long as you use as a boatmotor and not a wet-weedeater you should be fine, dont know where you are located. That lower unit design went from 1976 to 1979 and i guess there must be a reasom for changing casting that soon. I have a fine 1978 lower unit lying b.t.w.

 

[Rosco 11]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

Funny, I have one of these motors and it has the water screen intake on the side of the lower unit. That's not to say someone along the ownership line didn't update the lower unit sometime.
I have found this motor prone to run a little hot, but regular maintenance of impellers and T'stats ( be sure to change these once a year ) keeps that under control.
The shift rod connector can be a pain in the arse.
But they are tough old beasts. I have blown 2 headgaskets on the water, and after a simple home-repair both times, the old girl has come back to life with no real loss of power
Dane is a genius at diagnosing faults on this engine, as well !!

But, it is still a 32 year old outboard motor. That poor old things have seen a hell of a lot of salt water, poor maintenance, too much oil in the pre-mix / not enough oil in it, cross-threaded plugs, gunked up carbies, run on the muffs at 3000rpm, run at 3000rpm on the trailer but forgot the muffs, and God knows what else.
The fact that ANY of them still run today is testament to just how well made they are.

After a bit of general maintenace , I had my engine running perfectly. Once you've ironed out the niggly problems, they are a reliable and powerful old thing.
A 32 year old thing, mind you . . . .

... . . . . GDANE, it was no surprise to see a thread dedicated to my old motor with your name in reply !. Good to see you still have the time to help out.
Take care my friend, I wish a merry Christmas to you and yours. Cheers !

 

[F_R]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

F R that WAS the lower unit I was thinking about, we just never had that much probelms with it here, guess it is because of the colder weather. I stand corrected here. Besides from the more sensible ignition, thats the only weaknesses I know of, and as long as you use as a boatmotor and not a wet-weedeater you should be fine, dont know where you are located. That lower unit design went from 1976 to 1979 and i guess there must be a reasom for changing casting that soon. I have a fine 1978 lower unit lying b.t.w.

Yeah, I am amazed when I travel "up north" and see lakes with no weeds in them. Actually, I don't understand how fish can live in such places. The tiny creatures live in the weeds and the minnows eat the tiny creatures and the bluegills eat the minnows and the bass eat the bluegills and the alligators eat the bass and the people eat the alligators...or is it the other way around, alligators eat the people? Anyway, here in Florida, all of our lakes and rivers are full of weeds. May I add that Florida is one of the biggest boating markets in USA?

We knew we had a serious problem within days of selling the first '76 35hp and it came back burnt up. As a "fishing motor", they were useless because they wouldn't go where the fish are. It took OMC 3 years to re-engineer the lower unit and in the meantime Mercury was killing us because their motors would run in weeds just fine.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

Yeah, I am amazed when I travel "up north" and see lakes with no weeds in them. Actually, I don't understand how fish can live in such places. The tiny creatures live in the weeds and the minnows eat the tiny creatures and the bluegills eat the minnows and the bass eat the bluegills and the alligators eat the bass and the people eat the alligators...or is it the other way around, alligators eat the people?

Our bass waters are not as productive, but then again we don't have alligators to feed.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1976 johnson 35 hp

F_R that would definately make sense in the Florida inland waters. Lake Loch Lousa (sp) near Cross Creek, Fl was known to the a MOTOR KILLER. it was one of the worst to have Hydrilla.