1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

[Bret L]

Morning gents,
I am in the process of rebuilding my 1975 Johnson 135 model #135esl75e First time tearing into a boat engine. I've rebuilt 100s of auto engines so it was pretty straight forward. Blew a head gasket and found one cylinder with a piece of the top ring broke and bounced around damage. The top cylinder same side has damage from water. Anyway down to the block and its all honed and cleaned(still within specs) Have all my parts on order and everything was well until I couldnt find a head. Could be used but Id rather replace it then worry about it. Has damage from the piece of ring. Local shop says take down the high spots and the dimples shouldnt matter, but im leary on that. Question is anyone know what other heads are usable on this v4 crossflow? 85? 115? Before I order something I was hoping someone could help. Thanks guys.

 

[ezeke]

Re: 1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

You should buy a matched set of cylinder heads. There are high compression ones which are preferred. The heads from any of the V4 crossflow motors from 1975 up will work, but only certain ones will give top performance.

Your motor started life with #319943 starboard and #319942 port. Most of the heads have the part number in a small circle near the top, or on the side midway.

 

[Bret L]

Re: 1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

Yes sir you are correct. 319942 is the victim and im just not comfortable reusing it after all the money I spent on the rebuild parts.

 

[Bret L]

Re: 1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

Thanks for the help. Ill be looking for a set of heads. E bay here I come.

 

[tmt]

Re: 1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

I just had my Johnson 115 rebuilt with the same thing, a broke ring. The shop did grind the high spots down inside the head from the ring. It worked fine have about 15 hours on motor now with no problem.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

Try here as well:

Salvage yards:
sea-way.com
outboard-parts.com
laingsoutboards.com
tcoutboard.com
fairwindsmarina.com
salvagemarine.com
marinepartsoutlet.com
Superior Marine (800-338-9281)
trixieslanding.com Trixie?s Landing, Bayville, NJ 732-269-5838
americanoutboard.com
piratemarinesalvage.com/

 

[Bret L]

Re: 1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

Well, found a set of heads from a 83 140hp rude. Hopefully everything will work out. Thanks for the advice guys, Ill let you know how she runs after all the parts are in.

 

[bdarville]

Re: 1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

Bret, what did it cost you for the rebuild kit for your 135? I just aquired a 1975 Johnson 135 and it has low compression on all cylinders. I may have to go the rebuild route and just curious on what I'm going to need to spend. Thanks!

 

[Bret L]

Re: 1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

Well, I'm about done with my 8 hours of break in and she runs sweet. I opened her up toward the end and was still only getting 4k rpm out of it, same as before the rebuild. Carbs are fresh and clean, compression is great and spark is strong on all 4. I had a 19p prop on it (17 ft open bow larson) and just picked up a 15p so we"ll try that. Also I did a timing test on it and it showed 20 degrees which is factory recomendation. But according to reeves it should be 16degrees as the ignition makes up for 4degrees. I backed her off to 16 and was wondering if it was overadvanced would that cause the low WOT rpms?

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

The damage you describe is from coking. The motor was lugging which causes higher than normal combustion temps which creates the sticky carbon-like substance (coking) that stops the rings from moving and they stick in the groove. As more and more of the ring sticks in the groove the piston looses support. Eventually the piston will rock enough that it'll shear off the ring, usually at the gap end.

Unless you get the rpm up where it belongs it'll happen again over time. It's very rare that the cylinders measured in spec after such a scenario. You were very lucky.

 

[Bret L]

Re: 1975 135 johnson timing still over?

Re: 1975 135 johnson timing still over?

Well, went to camp lake (WI) to fish sunday and tried the 15p prop. (77 Larson 17ft open bow) She dropped down to about 33mph at W.O.T The 19p prop pulled 40. The RPM jumped a little with the 15p to about 4400 which is still low. I backed the timing back to 16 which is 4 degrees under the factory recommended 20 using reeves method. While on the lake at WOT the engine reved higher for a couple seconds then lost power. Nuetral ran fine, shifted and hit it, no power.##$$^& something happened to the new motor! Pulled all the plugs on the lake and they look great. Looked around and found the timing advance rod had come unclipped. Phwew-- felt releived. Ran fine rest of the day. But got to thinking when the rod popped out she reved higher before it lost power. So Im thinking it hit the sweet spot when it was backing off the WOT stop. I checked reeves method and I followed it with the exception of not grounding out the other three coils. Would this cause a false reading and leave it overadvanced? Hopefully I'll get out by the boat this weekend to check, but looking for advice. Thanks guys.

 

[Fisherball]

Re: 1975 135 johnson rebuild first time help parts

Dhadley,

What causes the motor to lug? I just had a ring snap & a piston started slapping & would prefer for that to never happen again. I will be rebuilding the motor over winter.

Thanks,

Fisherball