1979 25 HP Johnson Outboard Help

[Lakeside_Cruise]

hey guys,

Please help me out a bit here, I'm about to purchase my first outboard motor. It's a 1979 25hp Johnson Outboard.

Info I have is (as I was told)
*2nd Owner
*Have low hours on it (but how do I tell if this is the case)
*Have original paint
*95% of the time use in fresh water
*When used is salt water, it was run in fresh water right after to clean it out.
*Guy also said there's not rust on it, inside or out.
*Also the thing is coated in anticorrosion stuff
*He said it works absolutely great (and can demo it for me)
*Starts first pull everytime, dont even need to pull the choke out
*You can leave it idling in neutral all day, which is a good sign

My questions are?

Is there any common issue with these 1979 motor?
Would this be able to get up on plane with 4 people in a 12' inflatable boat?
And will it be able to get up to about 20MPH, with 4 or at least 3 people on the boat?
What are thing's I should look for?

Thanks guys.

 

[Fishinmagician]

Re: 1979 25 HP Johnson Outboard Help

Take him up on it,Have him demo it for you, Have him start it for you. Ask him to pull the plug(s) after he has ran it, look at the condition of the plug(s),wires, etc... is the motor wet anywhere that type of thing, I dont think you can verify hours ran on a Outboard, You can usually tell if soemone has taken care of a an outboard motor.

IMO- 25 horses on an inflatable should be enough to plane ,depends on the weight your moving.

my 2 cents....

 

[Lakeside_Cruise]

Re: 1979 25 HP Johnson Outboard Help

Thanks, he said it's orignal paint and it's look good, not a even a tiny rust on the motor. He's upgrade to a 50 HP. He's asking $800, but he's neg, what should I offer him, he want's to get raid of it quick, because he's getting the 50hp today.

 

[Whoopbass]

Re: 1979 25 HP Johnson Outboard Help

If it's as described it sounds like a good motor.

You could check the compression. My well used 1980 25 hp Johnson had 120 psi even on both cylinders.

Look for any salt water oxidation around nuts and bolts. You can also remove some of the bolts holding the lower unit and see how easily the come out and if there is oxidation on the threads. If it was a neglected salt water motor there will be oxidation on the threads.

My motor would push my heavily loaded 15' aluminum boat about 20 mph. My boat was converted into a bass boat so it was heavy.

$800 is a fair price although I would offer him $650 cash.