1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

[Daviet]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

How are you going to reattach the magnets in the case?

 

[jwracca]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

I don't think i am, i am frustrated with it right now. I guess i am going to have to wait until Monday, and go by a starter shop and have them repair both of them, and test them so that i know i have good starters. Not sure what else i can do.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

Why don't you return that new starter??

 

[jwracca]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

I went back out to the shop with a rested mind, and tried jumping a different way.

First i connected the red jumper from booster battery, and the other end on boat battery + side. Then took the black jumper and connected it to - on booster battery and the other end on the back of the motor on a bolt that has paint chipped.

Well, it surely has the power like this. But not if i go from booster battery straight to starter. So its either taking 2 batteries to spin it. Or my new marine battery is deader than i thought.

 

[nwcove]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

very odd that it works that way, but not so well connecting directly to the starter. but charge the marine battery and take it to the local auto parts place for a proper test. not uncommon to get a battery with a bad cell.

 

[jwracca]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

Mr Reeves, I was able to take the two starters and make a good one. The problem wasnt the original starter, wasn't the fuel leaking in the carbs and it wasn't the battery. But, I am not saying all those issues didn't need to be fixed anyways.

Here is what my next steps I performed.

I kept thinking everyone kept telling me it's a connection issue. Clean this and clean that. Well, from my previous post I cleaned all the bolting connections on the starter mounting plates, so I would have metal to metal. No good, same issue.

So I tried to jump the connection at the selanoid with a screwdriver and I guess I wasn't paying attention and sparks flew... Thought I just got shot, I just didn't hear the bang. But the bad thing is the key wouldn't hit the starter. Hmmmm I got the volt meter out. Well to make a long story short, when I took the selanoid off the black wire that goes from post on selanoid to the engine block was broken. Changed that wire and mounted it back up.

I have tested it every 30 mins in disballeif that a black wire 2 inches long would cause me that much heartache and pain.

I am very interested in your thoughts on this fix. Soo weird.

Joey

 

[Blacksting]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

Mr Reeves, I was able to take the two starters and make a good one. The problem wasnt the original starter, wasn't the fuel leaking in the carbs and it wasn't the battery. But, I am not saying all those issues didn't need to be fixed anyways.

Here is what my next steps I performed.

I kept thinking everyone kept telling me it's a connection issue. Clean this and clean that. Well, from my previous post I cleaned all the bolting connections on the starter mounting plates, so I would have metal to metal. No good, same issue.

So I tried to jump the connection at the selanoid with a screwdriver and I guess I wasn't paying attention and sparks flew... Thought I just got shot, I just didn't hear the bang. But the bad thing is the key wouldn't hit the starter. Hmmmm I got the volt meter out. Well to make a long story short, when I took the selanoid off the black wire that goes from post on selanoid to the engine block was broken. Changed that wire and mounted it back up.

I have tested it every 30 mins in disballeif that a black wire 2 inches long would cause me that much heartache and pain.

I am very interested in your thoughts on this fix. Soo weird.

Joey

,.............let us know , i'm tagging along as well .

 

[jwracca]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

Limit of redfish and two happy kids.

Got up at 6am with a confident mind that i would have no problems today. Started the coffee, walked outside and hit the key, spun perfect.

Yay, my daughter is 13 and son is 6. We put the boat in the water and it started right up. After about a 10-15 min boat ride, we stopped the motor and fished. I didn't do much fishing as i was baiting and being a dad. I was just thrilled to be able to go out in my boat again.

So we fish for 2-3 hrs, then its time to head in. Grabbed the key, turned it.... Turned it... Oh gosh..

Took the cover off motor, and noticed the heavy duty copper connector i bought had come off the new wire i had just ran. It's hard to crimp thos bugers on there. Anyways, it was the power from battery that connects to bottom of selanoid. Oh man that could have been bad.

I recrimped it out on the water, hit the key, and back to acting like i have a dead battery. Lucky me, i always have my pull Rope with me.

Now its back in my shop, awaiting more sweat and tears....

I will eventually find the problem.

 

[nwcove]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

sounds like you found your problem, but the repair didnt hold up. ( is it just me?....i never shut a motor off while on the water. if i stop to fish for a couple of hours....the motor idles and gets a rev up now and then?)

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

Here's the special tool needed to crimp those large copper terminals. Nothing else will do. Any automotive parts store would have it.

 

[jwracca]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

Depends on what I am doing. When I pull my 16 ft trawl I keep it running.
But trolling motor makes fishing nice. So I always shut it off.

Thanks for the pic mr reeves, I will pick one up and fix all 4 of them.

 

[fireman57]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

You can also crimp the best you can and solder it. don't have to worry about connection at that point.

 

[tunnelman]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

Cleaning the terminals isn't always enough as the corrosion travels up into the cable itself. This was a problem we found quite often especialy in damp climates.

 

[jwracca]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

Thanks for sticking with me guys. I spent the last two days changing every wire and connector on the boat and motor. (when i do something, i seem to go overboard.

Put my battery charger on 10a fastcharge, and the ammeter shows i have no amps on the battery, which needs a full charge. Hmmm, i haven't even really used this battery at all. Anyways, i let it charge which took 6.5hrs. I was happy as a seagul in a pile of fish... If i just looked at my key, that baby would start. I just knew all this hard work has paid off this time.

So i wake up today, first pay my respects to or men, women and children we lost on this day.

Walk over to the boat, turn the key and the starter just spins. I put my volt meter on the battery, 12.15v, turning key drops it to 9.6v. Huff and i puff. Go to the shop and get my new charger. Hooked it all up, and the ammeter shows no amps and starts charging all over again.

So now i am on my way to walmart to exchange the battery. Its 625 crank amp battery. Maybe i will upgrade it.

Post back soon

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: 1978 Johnson 70hp seahorse help needed

Invest in a cheap hydrometer to test the solution of each individual cell. This will tell you if a cell is weak, dead, etc. Those so called state of the art battery testers that you'll find the guys using in Wal*Mart, Advance Auto, Pep Boys, and other auto supply stores will not do this test..... and the result is that they'll tell you that the battery is okay, just needs charging and they'll send you out the door with it.

And what happens then?..... The battery goes dead again just as soon as you get into the worse spot imaginable.... (Boat) ten miles from shore and a storm coming up.... (Auto) on the interstate in rush hour traffic.

I've had those fellows do their damnest to try to convince me that a battery was just fine, that is until I tell them to get me a hydrometer and show them a cell is indeed bad.... then they studder a lot.