Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

[TravisLG201]

Ok, I just bought a 201 pro xl and it has a Johnson 225 HO. Well I took it out and it started well and idled great out of gear but when I put it in gear it would bog down and die. It almost sounded like a few times some of the cylinders were firing but not all when dying. Well after about 20 tries got it up on plane and at WOT it would only get up to 4800 RPM and sounded like it was cutting out and dropping down to 4400 rpms then back up to 4800. Running slower it had no problems what so ever. So I have a boat that idles out of gear great then dies when put in gear, runs good at medium speed but lacks power and cuts out at WoT. I am hoping you guys can give me a good place to start. Thank you for in advance.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Had it set up before purchase? Is fuel fresh? Is bulb staying up? Could have fuel,carb or fuel pump issues from what you posted so far.....

 

[TravisLG201]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Well Its a 94 201 Pro XL. The person who I got it from said it lost a little from the top end but not much. He had ordered a fuel pump for it saying that was the reason for the lost power and gave it to me when i bought the boat. Well I wanted to take it out before I changed the fuel pump and had all these problems so I went ahead and change the fuel pump. Took it back out and same thing. The bulb is staying up...not as hard as a rock but firm and I put all new fuel in it before I took it out. Thanks for the quick response btw.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Do a compression test before dropping any money into it.
80psi+ within 15% of each other is good.
Anything less do a seafoam decarb (see faq files).

Go to autozone, get a $12 adjustabe gap spark tester,
set gap to 7/16th inch, remove plugs and ground them, test each cyl, should produce a blue spark.

If both the above tests are good then rebuild all carbs with rebuild kits.
I think you'll find dirty carbs.
Change fuel filter
change gear oil, draw some fuel and let settle in a bottle, look for water.
Use new seals on oil drain screws.
You will probably need an impact screwdriver to loosen drain screws.

 

[TravisLG201]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Hey thank you. I will get on it after I get off work tomorrow. It sounds like a good starting point to get my baby running good.

 

[912jonathon]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Im having the same problem also with my 98 225 Johnson. Let me know what you find. I will start checking mine today also.

 

[TravisLG201]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Johnaton I'll let you know everything I find out about mine and you let me know if you get anywhere on yours also. Hopefully we can both get our motors running good.

 

[912jonathon]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

hey, i got home today and found a fuel line off the incoming line disconnected. i put it back on and now the bulb is priming up and getting tight and everything is running good. Check all your lines real good. Check your bulb and all your hose clamps and make sure its not sucking air from anywhere. Good luck.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Cheap fix if that was it.
I'd still do a full health check.

Taking an unknown engine out and trying to run the snot out of it without knowing the condition is ri$ky.

 

[TravisLG201]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Well I did the compression test 120 115 98 125 120 120. Also did a spark test running and not running and no problems there. I guess I'll move on to rebuilding the carbs when i get some rebuild kits.

 

[TravisLG201]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Well I rebuilt the carbs (which they looked spotless like someone had just don them) and took it out to the lake to see if that solved the problem. Well it didn't lol . I am just gonna take it in since I'm out of ideas now and I just really want to get out on the water. I just hope they find out what wrong. I do want to thank everyone that took the time to read and help me out. Take it easy guys.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Suspect a failing coil under load.
One cyl is low on compression but a seafoam decarb might bring it up.

 

[TravisLG201]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Well I will let you know what he finds out. He said he can't get to it until tuesday or wednesday....

 

[TravisLG201]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Well I got a call about the motor today and he said it was the stator. $631 to have him replace it but it needs to be done to get me on the water again.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Your spark test must have been done incorrect or you would have caught that. Did you set the gap to 7/16th inch, you cannot do the test with a sparkplug.

Not that it changes the outcome.

 

[TravisLG201]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

See that's where I went wrong. I didn't set it to 7/16th I need to pay attention a little better from here on out. Hopefully I'll have my boat back tomorrow and let you know how it runs.

 

[TravisLG201]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Ok went and picked up my boat today and the guy said he put a new stator on and it didn't help. So he ended up putting a new power pack on it insteadnand he said it seemed to help some but said the engine was just tired and just didn't have what it used to. I took it out and I'm running 54 mph at 5000 rpm which is slightly faster than before but not much.

Anybody have any ideas on what I should do next or is my engine nearing its end? It still sounds like it is missing somewhere and losing power....Is it possible the timing or something like that is off?

Thanks

 

[jonesg]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Start from the top again.

Compression test.
Seafoam it if that cyl is still low.

Get an adjustable gap spark tester and test for good blue spark on each coil.

Then check link and sync.

Get a timing light and take the boat out, use the timing light to see if its dropping spark under load at WOT, takes 2 people, a bit of a pain but a lot cheaper than paying the mechanoc to do the same thing, timing llghts are cheap by comparison.

If that doesn't improve things its time to check fuel system again.

Hot the choke at 5K WOT see how it responds.
Try pumping the bulb at WOT, see what happens.

Get the service book too.
www.outboardbooks.com

By the way, my compression is around 85psi in all cylinders and runs strong, so yours isn't tired by any means at all. You might simply have a coil failing under load at WOT, thats why the spark test needs to be done properly.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

That boat (201 XL) with a 225 HO should run 70+ easy.. The 2 cylinders at 115 & 98 are you problems, likely scuffed or pin migration...

 

[TravisLG201]

Re: Johnson 225 HO cutting out @ WOT

Ok I maybe have norrowed down the problem. I was trying to get the timing figured out and found out my quick start is not working properly. I did the test and it wasn't affecting the timing like the service manual said it should. So that is what I'm going to work on, getting the quick start issues sloved and if I still have problems go from there.