1983 115 Johnson Seahorse

[antdog]

Ok, I need the sage advice of the guys here.

Here's the story. I found a guy to work on my 115. He says that he rebuilt my carbs, put new rings in one of the cylinders and got my motor running for me. Now he had mentioned that I needed cables for the motor. Well anyway, long story short. Got this rebuilt motor that I thought would be good to go out on the lake. Not only did it NOT run 50mph like he said it would, it seemed not to be fully opening up (only ran about 10 or 15). AND on top of that. the motor conked out on me TWICE! Once while I was out on the lake it just conked out me. After about sitting an HOUR I was finally able to get the motor running again. I make it back to the dock (thank God) but there it conks out on me AGAIN. I call him and he says its the cables??? Is it possible that the cables are the cause of these problems?? Or should I proceed to go and choke the mechanic??? (kidding....maybe)

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: 1983 115 Johnson Seahorse

Does it "conk" out gradually like it was slowly running out of fuel, OR does it "conk" out suddenly like you turned the key off?

Slowly = Fuel
Suddenly = Ignition

What are the compression readings on all cylinders?
When the engine "conks" out, be ready so that you can quickly remove the spark plugs to check for spark. The spark should jump a 7/16" gap..... a very strong wide blue spark!

Let us know what you find.

 

[72SideWinderSS]

Re: 1983 115 Johnson Seahorse

I would like to know Which "Cables", Throttle or Battery.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: 1983 115 Johnson Seahorse

Frankly I have no idea why a mechanic would say that either set of cables would be responsible for the engine to "conk" out. If the throttle/shift cables were adjusted properly in the first and the engine was running fine for some length of time, they aren't going to change adjustment by themselves, then change back for the next run....... and the battery cables would have no relation to that "conking" out problem as the fuel system is a separate system and the ignition is self contained.

The only exception being that the ignition switch may have developed a intermittent short. To check, remove the black/yellow wire from that switch and test run. If the problem ceases to exist, replace the ignition switch.

Note that with that wire disconnected, it will be impossible to shut down the engine with the key.

 

[antdog]

Re: 1983 115 Johnson Seahorse

Thanks for your replies guys.

It conked out kinda slowly like I ran out of gas. I'm thinking throttle cable, because the motor seemed like it wanted to open up a little more but just couldn't, it wasn't doing the "50 mph" the mechanic said it should, or anything close to it.

The compression readings, ran from 118 to 122, with all the readings within 2 or 3 of the other cylinders.

I will try to check the spark, but right now I'm thinking this so called mechanic is full of it!