Johnson 88 SPL clogged

[ray0380]

I hope someone can help me out. I did a stupid thing, ran my flats boat across 3 inches of water, didn't work obviously, and now I believe that my water lines are clogged with silt (no water coming out of the vents or pee hole when I tried to run and flush the motor). My question is, is there anyway to backflush the unit without having to disassemble the lower unit, etc. It's a 1996 Johnson 88 SPL. Many thanks for your help.

 

[12Footer]

Re: Johnson 88 SPL clogged

Ray, to tell you the truth, it's probably best tthat you tear-down and install a new impeller. When you drop the lower unit, you'll probably find the housing packed with it. yes, the block should be backflushed, but you would still need to drop the l/u, remove the thermostats, hook a garden hose to the pickup tube, and pray that you don't have to pull the head or exausst manifold.<br /><br />Usually, you can get it with the tstats out, but the impeller housing has to be cleaned too.

 

[bonitoman]

Re: Johnson 88 SPL clogged

Ray, Drop your lower unit and take a hose and blast water up the copper tube that is connected to the water pump. Do this for a minute. Then remove your thermostats and do it again. This is a good time to inspect your thermostats and impellar. It might cost you 40 - 60 bucks for parts. This way you know the engine has been cleaned of most of the silt and you have a new impellar. Check your wear plate to make sure no guages have been taken out by small stones. I use to fish the flats alot by you in edgewater and oakhill. I would change my waterpump and housing twice a year. Even when you know the area it is still easy to run aground and suck up mud and silt cause there is no tidal flow in mosquito lagoon. Good luck.

 

[ray0380]

Re: Johnson 88 SPL clogged

Thanks guys for the replies. I broke down and bought a shop manual, which was very helpful in explaining how to pull the lower unit and replace the water pump. (I work on cars all the time, and figured it was a good time to figure out how to work on outboards.) Anyway, I replaced the water pump with the kit, re-installed the lower unit, and she runs like a champ. The t-stats appear to be functioning correctly. Again, thanks for the advice. Back to some fly-fishing!!