69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

[bobberii]

I am new to this. I have a big boat and figured on fixing up a small boat (1971 14ft Larson Lapline) this winter to occupy my time. I finished the interior felt pretty good and the last thing to do was get the motor running. The charity I bought it from said the water wasn't circulating and it ran rough. Figured impellor and carb work. No biggy. Took it to my local marine outboard guy and he said these engines are unreliable and pretty much sh+#. Told me he would call this week to see if it was fixable. Electric shift or something of that sort. It is a 1969 Johnson 55 hp engine. Anyone have any other opinion or experience with this type of engine, or should I start looking for a repower?

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

Not my favorite engine, by any means. 3 carbs, expensive obsolete ignition, and hydro-electric gearcase to top it all off.

If you have the throttle controls and they work (F-N-R), and you have spark on all cylinders and >100 psi on all 3 cylinders, then maybe...nah I still wouldn't do it....

But really, your marine guy just doesn't want to go to the trouble to work on a 40 year old motor that has that many NLA parts. He also may not have a clue on how to work on it, and it's way too expensive to parts swap on that motor for him to bluff his way through it.

My 2 cents.

 

[bobberii]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

Compression is 130/125/125. Supposedly runs and shifts good. I will have to wait and see what he says. If it flops, what hp in your opinion would pull a tube for my teenagers with my boat. I have a line on a 35hp but am worried it will not be big enough.

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

I like the 40 big twins, 1973 and earlier, manual shift. Simple design and all common parts and most others easily available. I don't know how heavy your boat is; I used to pull skiers with my 13 foot Whaler with a 40 all of the time. I have a couple of props to play with to get the RPM's right for pulling.

Don't get me wrong, the 55 hp was a fine motor in its day with alot of low end grunt: they are just very expensive to maintain now.
Breakers = 65 each
Distributor Cap = Dealer direct
Amplifier = 343
Rectifier = 90
Stator = Dealer Direct
Coil = Dealer Direct
Rotor = Dealer Direct
..and the list goes on.....

Luckily, if your throttle control box is good and the switches work, you could sell it on ebay for maybe what your whole rig cost you!

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

Yea, I'm with tx1961whaler here. If you want to get a 3 cylinder OMC motor, the 70hp's were a lot better motor than the 55's. They had a lot of the bugs worked out of them, by then and were a lot more dependable. If you want a good reliable motor, then get a 40 of the same year. Far easier to work on and maintain and easier to torubleshoot.

The 55's were a good motor, mechanically, but I heard a few horror stories about them, electronically. Even from guys who were a long time in the outboard repair business. There were components that would act up and drive techs nuts trying to find issues and issues couldn't be solved, until things failed completely. So....my advice....leave that motor for someone else.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

personally i would not buy one. mid 80's and never 50hp would be fine, with light load. to me if you want more the same years 70 hp. but i doubt a 14 footer would be rated for a 70 hp.

 

[cougar1985]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

what !am i the only person in the world that had one of those motors and never ever had a issue with it ?lol.

 

[6hpboat]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

Two piston would be cheaper on gas and easyer to tune.

johnson makes a 50hp 2 stroke 2 piston. Not sure if theres bigger.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

If it runs and shifts, I'd do the impeller and carb kits (if they can be had) myself and run it!

Heck even if you just ran it long enough to take a nice video of it pushing your boat around the lake you'd get a heck of a lot more for it on CL.

 

[DJ]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

I wouldn't call that engine junk, especially if it runs and goes. Properly cared for, it may run another 20 years. However, it doesn't OWE you anything.

That vintage was a bit "odd" in that it was a mixture of technologies-as stated previously. Primarily the ignition system.

The base engine design, at that time, (3-cyl. looper) was revolutionary and still exists today. OMC pioneered that technology in massed produced 2-stroke engines.

I owned one for a couple of years back in the mid 1980's. It ran fine when I sold it.

I currently own one 70 looper and have owned several loopers over the past three decades, starting with the 55, then a 65 and the 70's.

IMHO-the 3-cyl. loopers are a far superior engine to any of the higher HP 2-lungers. Smoother, quieter and gobs more torque. They also carry a larger gearcase.

 

[bobberii]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

Well lost cause. It's seized up according to the mechanics. So it looks like I'll be putting a parts motor on ebay or craigslist, and trying to find a replacement. I'm going to research more on assessability of parts before I purchase another engine. Thanks for input.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

Bummer. Look for a post 1978 JohnnyRude.

 

[bill lewinski]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

Hold the fort there pal! Seized up means different things to different people.
Did your mechanic actually disconnect the power head from the lower unit?
My neighbor just got his motor back from a so called experienced mechanic
who said his was seized up also so he started taring it apart to scrap it.
After he got the power head seperated from the lower unit he went to pick
up the powerhead by the flywheel, it spun and he dropped it on his foot.
Come to find out after taking the lower unit apart a couple of the gear teeth
broke off and jammed the gears causing the seized up diagnosis. Went to
the local outboard junk yard, picked up the gears, put it back together and
everything is fine. Dont get me wrong, I'm not saying your mechanic doesnt
know anything but sometimes ya just gotta double check.

 

[trendsetter240]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

Probably for the best. Don't get me wrong, if it was a good runner then sure but those motors are just not worth the time and effort in my mind. I had a 69 40hp for a short time and I could not even get it to run. The electrical was toast and the replacement parts were more than the motor was worth in running shape.

 

[bill lewinski]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

Ok, I'm missing something here. Aside from the opinions everyone has
posted here and I'm in no position to argue or agree with any of them, how in
the world did you get those compression readings if the engine is tied up?

 

[F_R]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

Exactly. Something is smelling rotten here.

 

[pastvic]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

what !am i the only person in the world that had one of those motors and never ever had a issue with it ?lol.

No, I own one that is in mint condition (seriously) on a 1971 Larson. It's been a good motor once you understand the ignition issues. Power packs are still available for about $225 aftermarket and a coil costs $38. The Distributor cap is pricy and will break down just from age, not necessarily from usage, and this confuses many mechanics. Many of the electric shift parts are still available as they were used in a variety of applications for a number of years. The 3cyl was the first of the loop charged engines and was seriously underrated in horsepower.

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: 69 Johnson 55hp Junk?

No, I own one that is in mint condition (seriously) on a 1971 Larson. It's been a good motor once you understand the ignition issues. Power packs are still available for about $225 aftermarket and a coil costs $38. The Distributor cap is pricy and will break down just from age, not necessarily from usage, and this confuses many mechanics. Many of the electric shift parts are still available as they were used in a variety of applications for a number of years. The 3cyl was the first of the loop charged engines and was seriously underrated in horsepower.

2 year old thread guy...
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