1979 Johnson 115 carb rebuild and water pump question

[papachaz]

I picked up the parts to rebuild my carbs, and the water pump. 2 quick questions please for those of you 'in the know' on Johnson motors:

1. float adjustments on the carbs? The manual shows a gauge and says 'it must be between the notches' on the gauge, which I don't have. Is there a measurement, or eyeball them level or even with the carb body? or am I going to have to find one of those gauges.

2. before I put the carbs back on, I'm going to drop the lower unit and rebuild the water pump. Remembering that my last 3 engines were mercs, I didn't have to fool with the shift linkage. what gear do I want this in before I disconnect? I'm thinking it needs to be in neutral to spin the drive shaft when I put the housing on, right?

was planning on working on this today, but it's raining. I do intend on getting the carbs blown out good and reassembled, so any help much appreciated! Thanks Chaz

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 1979 Johnson 155 carb rebuid and water pump question

Re: 1979 Johnson 155 carb rebuid and water pump question

Ive ever come across a 155 before but ive never had a problem with doing other Johnsons of that age in neutral
Cant help you regarding the carbs sorry.
I look as to where they are currently (if they arent giving problems) and put them back to that height. So long as i can turn them upside down and blow in the intake and the valve is shut i normally find that works for me, i did have the exception to that on a merc 500 before

 

[papachaz]

Re: 1979 Johnson 155 carb rebuid and water pump question

Re: 1979 Johnson 155 carb rebuid and water pump question

well i'll be. That is supposed to be 115, not 155. I didn't realize what i'd done until you pointed that out. is there a way I can edit the title?

ok figured it out, duh to me, LOL. thanks for the help. Also, I've read through the secret files stickies and realized I can eyeball the float level compared to the carb body and go from there!

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1979 Johnson 115 carb rebuild and water pump question

You'll have to disconnect the shift rod at the clevis/swivel, just under the bottom carb. Port side. Once you have the lower unit off, make sure you do not turn the shift rod. That screws the shift rod higher/lower and adjusts the specific height. You will need a 1/4" drive socket set with a swivel knuckle.

 

[papachaz]

Re: 1979 Johnson 115 carb rebuild and water pump question

thanks emd! I'm going to do this before I put the carbs back on so it will be a bit easier to get to. I can see that shift linkage being a bugger to get back in place, going to make for a fun afternoon, LOL thanks again for the help! I didn't know that about the shift rod.

 

[papachaz]

Re: 1979 Johnson 115 carb rebuild and water pump question

I got it all put back together today. Carbs were sparkly, LOL floats set, all back together. got the water pump impeller changed, the shift rod wasn't as hard as I was expecting after reading here, thank goodness. I will say the LU on this johnson is sure lighter to deal with than the Merc 200 I had last! The impeller that came out, didn't look right at all. If it wasn't about dark I'd go get it. It didn't have the same type key, it had a pin looking thing and just a narrow slot in the impeller. Not at all what all the pictures look like or what the new one looked like at all. And the cup had spun in the housing a bit, so I just went to the stickie secret files and followed kenmyfam's instructions on how he fixed his. I will be ordering the kit with the housing just to have on hand...

got it put back together, the biggest problem I had was the shift rod turned just a bit and wouldn't go in, I had to do some magic, but got it back in. All back together, pumped the fuel up tight, and turned it over.....and it wouldn't hit at all. My first thought was OMG what did I do to the carbs...... I know no one else has EVER done this before (HAHA), but after walking back to the engine with my hands on my hips to check things out, I found I hadn't hooked the fuel line back up. No wonder it didn't take as much pumping the ball for it to get tight as I thought it should......

Still have to link and sync, started to get dark and the wife called supper. It did start BTW, didn't want to idle, I know I have to get some adjustments done, hopefully I'll get a chance to go put her in the water tomorrow afternoon and she'll run!