roger3645
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2005
- Messages
- 271
Earlier this year, I purchased a 1988 Stratos 169V, powered by a 1988 120hp loop charged Johnson. At the time of purchase the VRO system had been disconnected. I replaced the impeller, rectifier, cleaned the carbs, and changed the lower unit oil. I found the alarm horn did not sound and the tach did not work. I found the purple wire at the ignition switch had been disconnected and I reattached the purple wire and that got the tach working. Compression in each cylinder is 120psi. I took the boat out a couple of times and it ran great, 5800 rpm at WOT and cruised well at 4200 rpm, no issues with the boat or motor, so I replaced the carpet and gave her a good cleaning and waxing. The boat ran good and looked good. I found the boat to be too big for my driveway which has a retaining wall on each side. Yes, I could get it in and out but it was a real pain. So, I decided to sell the boat.
I sold the boat to a friend who fishes with us during our annual April fishing tournament (bunch of retired Army guys) at Clarks Hill Lake Augusta, GA. He had just returned from Afghanistan and was only going to be back for 2 weeks before he had to return. I assured him the boat ran great and on his way home from buying the boat he stopped at Bass Pro and dropped another $1000 into it, updating the fish finder and trolling motor.
Well he got to the lake a day before I did and the boat ran great. But on the second day the problem started. As he cleared the no wake area he went to throttle up and the boat would not go passed 2500 rpms. The engine missed badly, but he was able to return to the dock and call me. Now I don?t claim to be an outboard mechanic but, I checked the basics. I changed the spark plugs and we took her out and she ran great for a couple of minutes and then the same thing. After we idled back to the dock I checked the motor again, to the touch the motor did not seem to be overheating. I placed my hands on each bank.
He took the boat to a local marina and they first rebuilt the fuel pump. I didn?t believe this was the problem as squeezing the primer ball while the motor was running did not change anything. Back in the water the next day, boat ran great for a while and then the same problem and back to the mechanic. This time they rebuilt carbs and changed power pack, back to the water and same problem. Well $560.00 bucks to the mechanic and during the five days he was at the lake he only got to fish a couple of hours. I felt terrible, and yes the motor is still not working correctly, and yes I am giving a partial refund of the purchase price once the problem has been fixed.
Now my question
Since I reconnected the purple wire back to the tach, could I have reactivated the S.L.O.W mode low oil sensor? I wish I would have thought about it while we were at the lake as it work have been easy just to disconnect the purple wire and then run the boat. I now suspect the motor is going into the S.L.O.W. mode but I don?t know why.
If, not the SLOW mode, what else could it be?
I am sorry for the long story but I just wanted to add some background.
The boat is now at a Johnson outboard mechanics shop in southern GA.
Thanks for any help
I sold the boat to a friend who fishes with us during our annual April fishing tournament (bunch of retired Army guys) at Clarks Hill Lake Augusta, GA. He had just returned from Afghanistan and was only going to be back for 2 weeks before he had to return. I assured him the boat ran great and on his way home from buying the boat he stopped at Bass Pro and dropped another $1000 into it, updating the fish finder and trolling motor.
Well he got to the lake a day before I did and the boat ran great. But on the second day the problem started. As he cleared the no wake area he went to throttle up and the boat would not go passed 2500 rpms. The engine missed badly, but he was able to return to the dock and call me. Now I don?t claim to be an outboard mechanic but, I checked the basics. I changed the spark plugs and we took her out and she ran great for a couple of minutes and then the same thing. After we idled back to the dock I checked the motor again, to the touch the motor did not seem to be overheating. I placed my hands on each bank.
He took the boat to a local marina and they first rebuilt the fuel pump. I didn?t believe this was the problem as squeezing the primer ball while the motor was running did not change anything. Back in the water the next day, boat ran great for a while and then the same problem and back to the mechanic. This time they rebuilt carbs and changed power pack, back to the water and same problem. Well $560.00 bucks to the mechanic and during the five days he was at the lake he only got to fish a couple of hours. I felt terrible, and yes the motor is still not working correctly, and yes I am giving a partial refund of the purchase price once the problem has been fixed.
Now my question
Since I reconnected the purple wire back to the tach, could I have reactivated the S.L.O.W mode low oil sensor? I wish I would have thought about it while we were at the lake as it work have been easy just to disconnect the purple wire and then run the boat. I now suspect the motor is going into the S.L.O.W. mode but I don?t know why.
If, not the SLOW mode, what else could it be?
I am sorry for the long story but I just wanted to add some background.
The boat is now at a Johnson outboard mechanics shop in southern GA.
Thanks for any help