Ok guys, please be gentle. I pulled a stupid one and now I gotta pay the piper. I have a 1994 Johnson 50hp with oil injection with an external oil tank.
My boat sat for 2 years in the garage, so I had no idea what to expect. I keep the batteries on charger/maintainers so I wasn't really worried about it turning over. I even actually started it and ran it with the water hose earmuffs for a few minutes in the driveway, but I really wanted to get it out on the lake where I could open it up and at least see if everything still worked before taking it fishing.
So I launch it at the lake, start it, and the oil alarm starts beeping. This has happened occasionally before so I pump the priming bulb on the oil tank and the beeping stops.
I run it down the lake about a mile and back to the ramp. I notice a couple of times during the jaunt that the motor sounds like it kind of flutters slightly at full throttle. I just figure this is because of sitting for 2 years or maybe some gum buildup in the carbs. I hear no other noises during the trip.
When I am idling towards the dock the motor flutters again and dies, and trying to restart it... the motor will not even turn over.
Pop the cover and find that I cannot even turn the flywheel by hand at all. So my first assumption is either the motor seized up from no oil injection (no alarm other than the first one I described when I first started it) or something broke and seized up in the lower unit.
When I get back to the garage I pull the lower unit drain plug and the upper air relief plug to drain lower unit oil and check if I can find evidence of metal on the lower unit drain plug..... no oil comes out of the lower unit.
I'm pretty sure I drained the lower unit oil putting it up for the winter 2 years ago, but because the plugs were actually inserted back into the lower unit I assumed that I had refilled the lower unit with lube. My BAD mistake!! I guess sometime during the 2 years I put the plugs back in the lower unit so as to not lose them, and didn't fill the lower unit with lube.
So, now, I guess my question is... what would be the first things I can check to see if my problem is the powerhead or the lower unit or both? I can afford the lower unit anytime but the cost of a powerhead replacement will take some fancy financial footwork in these tight economic times.
Where do I start...besides kicking myself in the head?
My boat sat for 2 years in the garage, so I had no idea what to expect. I keep the batteries on charger/maintainers so I wasn't really worried about it turning over. I even actually started it and ran it with the water hose earmuffs for a few minutes in the driveway, but I really wanted to get it out on the lake where I could open it up and at least see if everything still worked before taking it fishing.
So I launch it at the lake, start it, and the oil alarm starts beeping. This has happened occasionally before so I pump the priming bulb on the oil tank and the beeping stops.
I run it down the lake about a mile and back to the ramp. I notice a couple of times during the jaunt that the motor sounds like it kind of flutters slightly at full throttle. I just figure this is because of sitting for 2 years or maybe some gum buildup in the carbs. I hear no other noises during the trip.
When I am idling towards the dock the motor flutters again and dies, and trying to restart it... the motor will not even turn over.
Pop the cover and find that I cannot even turn the flywheel by hand at all. So my first assumption is either the motor seized up from no oil injection (no alarm other than the first one I described when I first started it) or something broke and seized up in the lower unit.
When I get back to the garage I pull the lower unit drain plug and the upper air relief plug to drain lower unit oil and check if I can find evidence of metal on the lower unit drain plug..... no oil comes out of the lower unit.
I'm pretty sure I drained the lower unit oil putting it up for the winter 2 years ago, but because the plugs were actually inserted back into the lower unit I assumed that I had refilled the lower unit with lube. My BAD mistake!! I guess sometime during the 2 years I put the plugs back in the lower unit so as to not lose them, and didn't fill the lower unit with lube.
So, now, I guess my question is... what would be the first things I can check to see if my problem is the powerhead or the lower unit or both? I can afford the lower unit anytime but the cost of a powerhead replacement will take some fancy financial footwork in these tight economic times.
Where do I start...besides kicking myself in the head?
