I am trying to revive a 2002 15hp johnson (9J15REIA) that has been sitting in my brothers garage for 4 years. The motor has very low hours and apears to be in good shape. I have changed the lower unit oil (very dark but no water), replaced the plugs and cranked the motor at my house with muffs on with water. Engine purred like a new one. That evening I noticed some grease coming from the under side of the prop area. Thinking it may be a bad seal I removed the propeller shaft to see if I could see the problem. Realizing that this might be over my head I reinstalled the shaft and propeller. After two days of sitting noticed that the grease was not leaking any more. Yesterday I decieded to put in at a local lake to test it out. Forward & reverse worked properly, engine again purred and off I went. After aprox 5 min. stopped and had no reverse seemed to be shifting differently. Made it back to the dock and now the engine didn't want to idle properly. Almost like it was bogging down. Any thoughts? Or do I just need to take it into a repair facility. Thanks DJ
