People often run motors till they go boom.-----The lessons are only taken to heart after the wallet is empty.----And what is the model # of this --" Johnson " ---outboard.-----Johnson is easy to repair.---Other brands may not be.
I started working on outboards in 1968.---Some issues are easy to solve on older motors.----Do yourself a favor and do a compression test on this motor.---Keep the actual values for future reference and post them here.
The hole to the right of the word ---STOP----Is for the electric start plug.-----To me it appears that work has been done and motor is not factory original.-----Model # on the plate is ?----Picture of the plate ?