1974 Johnson 85 hp Power head will one from a 69 work?

[TheOrigionalSteve-O]

I have a 1974 Johnson 85 hp motor. I posted previously about it loosing power. Was stored 2yrs boat transom was bad. I fixed the transom, changed the oil in the lower unit and ran the motor using water ears, water was pumping fine. We went to the lake, used it for several hours. went out the next day used it a while then it lost power. The feed back I got was that the pump may be bad and could have damaged the power head. Therefore I'm curious if one from a 69 work? Model# is the same except for the numbers on the end 85ESL74 vs 85ESL69 thanks for any help.

 

[ledgefinder]

Re: 1974 Johnson 85 hp Power head will one from a 69 work?

No, the 1969 won't work. 1973-1977 V4s will work, except the 1977 135hp. It's possible that later-model powerheads will fit your midsection - I've never tried to swap that way. <br /><br />How about checking the compression before pronouncing it dead?

 

[TheOrigionalSteve-O]

Re: 1974 Johnson 85 hp Power head will one from a 69 work?

I plan to check the compression this week hopefully. Just noticed a 1969 power head on ebay thought I would bid on it if it would fit.