1985 Johnson 185 Start / Power Problems

[Insanegtp]

Rebuilt past winter, about 20 hours on it since, did do proper re-break in.. Takes a good 5-10 minutes to start, I think choke selenoid (even though it does click when key is pushed) when I manually open the lil red lever she does fire up a little.. once finally started and warmed she will idle and accelerate lightly.. when I goto pull a tuber or skier or wakeboard she dies when punched... a lil more turning the key and messing with throttle gets it fired up again.. boat used to do 45.. now I am lucky to get 32 out of her... I tried different props... 14.8 x 17 15 x 15 and 14 x 19 right now I am running the 15 and well... I want a new boat If anyone has some ideas or maybe you need more info.. All I want is to turn the key, let her warm up, and go do some dang wakeboardin... Thanks in advance -Keith

 

[HighTrim]

Re: 1985 Johnson 185 Start / Power Problems

What is your starting procedure, sometimes the problem is human error in starting. When is the last time you rebuilt the carbs? Have you started at the top and checked compression and spark?

 

[Insanegtp]

Re: 1985 Johnson 185 Start / Power Problems

The way I do now is goto back of boat, squeeze bulb, open cover, flip red choke lever, squeeze one more time. Goto front of boat start motor with throttle about 3/4 she fires up, I run to back of boat unchoke, run to front, lower throttle to just over idle for about 5 minutes.. then drive a way... seems like alot but anything else just doesn't work....

 

[jtexas]

Re: 1985 Johnson 185 Start / Power Problems

What was your normal cold start procedure, before you started taking the cowl off?
Has it been like this ever since the rebuild?
Was it like this before?
Did you do the rebuild yourself?
What was the reason for the rebuild?
Was a carb rebuild/timing/link&sync done at that time?
What else have you done to try & fix the problem?
What's the compression on the motor?

Whichever prop you were using before the rebuild - go back to that one - that's your baseline. Get the engine running right then look at props.

 

[Insanegtp]

Re: 1985 Johnson 185 Start / Power Problems

Cold start before was simply push key in and start, lil throttle, get her revin and back off to idle...

Yes it has been like this since re-build

Not like this before

I had the rebuild done by a "pro" and it was done because of power loss after going to WOT

I know nothing else about carb or timing

I do know that now she is starting fine and when a goto full throttle from a dead stop she bogs down real bad then either goes or dies... how can a check timing on this ??

 

[HighTrim]

Re: 1985 Johnson 185 Start / Power Problems

you will need a timing light, do you have one??

 

[jtexas]

Re: 1985 Johnson 185 Start / Power Problems

You've put 20 hours on it acting up like this after paying for a rebuild? Have you talked to the "pro" about your symptoms? He never should have let it out of his shop like this.

How old is the gas in the tank? Make sure there's no water or other debris in there.

Try lifting the hi-idle lever, turning the key on, pushing in and holding for 5 or 8 seconds, continue pushing in while turning to start.

Make sure the timer base moves smoothly without sticking when you advance the throttle.
Take the airbox cover off and observe whether the throttle plates are parallel, closed at idle and horizontal (but not beyond) at WOT.
Make sure the timer base starts moving before the throttle plates start to open.

 

[mokaction]

Re: 1985 Johnson 185 Start / Power Problems

Had the same problem. Had to replace the stator.. Check the spark, 7/8 gap..

Also make sure the regulator is working correctly, in my case the regulator was messing up the stator.

Larry

 

[Insanegtp]

Re: 1985 Johnson 185 Start / Power Problems

I have gapless plugs.... stator seems fine.. I no longer have the VRO setup, I have been mixing my oil 50:1 I might mixed wrong, mabe thats doing it.. I ran my tank empty last sunbday so tomorrow I am gonna have at it again...