1995 Johnson 115 died; won't crank

[rjbaiad]

I have a 1995 Johnson 115 V4. Unfortunately I don't know much about boat motors so maybe someone can help me. We were going along when the engine started making a clicking or tapping sound. We pulled the throttle back to neutral and then the engine died. We tried and tried to start it but all we could hear is a click, like the starter wasn't engaging. One time we did get the motor to turn over once but that was it. Once we got it docked, we tried several times again to start it but all we got was the click. After several attempts to start the motor, I looked down and seen one of the battery terminals start glowing red and noticed a little smoke coming out of the engine. After that we quit trying to start the motor. The battery terminal eventually melted off the battery. Can anybody tell me what happened here? What I'd really like to hear is that my engine didn't burn up and it's just something simple or an electrical problem. Can someone please help?!?!?!

 

[NitroBoy543]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115 died; won't crank

sounds like your ignition wires got crossed on the starter motor and maybe caused the spark to go early( detonation) and caused the click and shorted the battery system out..? im tired and not thinking straight correct me if i said anything wrong...

 

[ob]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115 died; won't crank

I am by no means positive,but it sounds from your initial description as if one or more of your flywheel magnets may have come loose causing stator to short out.

 

[rjbaiad]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115 died; won't crank

Ok, I tried something today. I took out the spark plugs, put the motor in reverse, and turn backed the prop as far as it would go. I would go and turn the key to the start position and it would turn over three times and then lock up again. It's almost like something is in a bind under there. I had a friend stand and he said all the pistons would move freely, so I'm inclined to think it's not the engine. Any thoughts????

 

[Walker]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115 died; won't crank

Sounds to me like you blew out a rod bearing. Try turning the motor without the plugs in by the flywheel. Then turn the flywheel just a little back and forth and listen and feel for slack and a knock.

 

[BClark]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115 died; won't crank

Hey rjbaiad, when you figure yours out please post it back here. I had a 2000 model Johnson 115 do the same exact thing yesterday. It did not run hot or anything, just clicking or tapping and then dead and now will not rollover at all.<br />If i figure mine out before you I will come back and let you know.

 

[ICEMAN]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115 died; won't crank

Hi; First, I want to mention to Nitroboy, the start circuit and ignition circuit don't effect each other, they are seperate circuits. Now let's find the problem. It sounds mechanical to me. Look at the bottom of the flywheel, you should see the magnets, do they all look the same, location, broken corners, dropped down? If all look OK. Can you turn the flywheel clockwise looking from the top? Will it rotate continously? If you can not rotate around numerous times, something happened inside the motor. Next you could remove the lower unit and try turning the flywheel. If it moves now, the problem is in the lower unit. If it still won't turn, the problem is in the powerhead. Then you should know which section needs to be disassembled to find problem.

 

[rjbaiad]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115 died; won't crank

Hey BClark,<br /><br />I found out what it was. I had a friend of mine that works on outboard motors look at it. The engine somehow ran hot and the pistons on the bottom two cylinders galded to the cylinder walls. In essence, the two bottom cylinders are shot. I'm not sure yet if a new powerhead is going to have to be installed or what. He also did a compression check and it was only at 75 on the bottom cylinders when it should have been at about 110 per cylinder. He said the most likely scenario would be to put new sleeves in the cylinders and replace the pistons and rods. He said if a rod had come loose from the piston then it could have ruined the crankshaft, but he said in my case it doesn't look likely. He said it's possible the water pump went out, was stopped up, or the fuel jets could have gotten some trash in it and clogged them up and the fuel mixture may have been too lean because of it. One thing you also might want to do is take out your spark plugs and see if you had bits of metal on them like I did. Your spark plug might also be a white color if something really bad happened. Also, did you have a problem with your motor misfiring when you ran your motor at high rpm's for say 10 minutes or more?

 

[BClark]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115 died; won't crank

Thanks for the info, I did not have any problems with misfiring at high speeds but did notice that it missed early that morning coming out of the hole. I don't think that mine ran hot because I have a alarm for that also have a alarm for water, oil, low oil. After my motor stopped I took the cover off and could actually touch the motor and it did not feel hot because I had only ran about a half to three quarters of a mile.<br />I keep hearing that Johnson's are notorious for some type of magnet problem and I am hoping that may be it. Thanks again