70 hp johnson stumbles

barroomhero

Seaman
Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Messages
52
Working on a 70 hp johnson that idles and runs fine out of the water but as soon as it goes in the water it stumbles and will not idle with no power..... Any ideas? I'm thinking the carbs need to be adjusted in the water due to influence of backpressure...... timing? Any suggestions would be great, Thanks
 

fireman57

Captain
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Messages
3,811
Re: 70 hp johnson stumbles

You are correct. You need to set your idle while the boat is in the water due to the backpressure. Try that then post back your results.
 

Randybeall

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 2, 2008
Messages
319
Re: 70 hp johnson stumbles

I had that problem. Regapping the spark plugs to .040" solved the problem. Champion chart showed .030" which was wrong. I had a hard time believing the change.
 
D

DJ

Guest
Re: 70 hp johnson stumbles

That .040" gap has come from years of experimentation by many boat owners. It does make a difference, especially at idle.

You are not getting full power from all three cylinders. It is the first sign of carb. troubles: dirty, misadjusted, etc.
 

barroomhero

Seaman
Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Messages
52
Re: 70 hp johnson stumbles

I gaped the plugs to .040" and still had to luck. I do not have much experience with these older carbs, I was looking to fine tune the air/fuel mix. Where are the screws? Put the boat in the water and it starts hard.....once running it will not idle and when you try to accelerate it bogs down, like its getting to much fuel. Then we you try to start it, fuel pours out of the carb.... Improper float height? Cylinder one was not spraying fuel when I cranked it over with the plug out. Any ideas? The model number is J60ELCDS and serial is J7122208


Thanks
 

barroomhero

Seaman
Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Messages
52
Re: 70 hp johnson stumbles

Took apart carbs and found small debris but nothing extreme. I found a bent elmusion tube, is this normal?
 

barroomhero

Seaman
Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Messages
52
Re: 70 hp johnson stumbles

Cleaned all three carbs, inspected fuel pump and check all fuel lines. Cylinders one and two are not getting fuel and I can't figure out why. 120, 110, 120 psi for compression respectively. Any ideas?
 

barroomhero

Seaman
Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Messages
52
Re: 70 hp johnson stumbles

So I took the plugs out and cylinder 3 is getting plenty of fuel but not 1 or 2. I switched carb 3 with one to see if the issue was with the carb and 3 is still putting out good fuel with carb 1. So I am now wondering if it could be the reeds. 1 and 2 spit fuel out the carb when cranking, could the reeds not be closing properly. Any ideas on the specs for the reeds
 

barroomhero

Seaman
Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Messages
52
Re: 70 hp johnson stumbles

Reeds are good, float height is good, no matter what i do #3 has fuel and the other two do not.
 

fireman57

Captain
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Messages
3,811
Re: 70 hp johnson stumbles

Wow, this thread went from setting your idle to no fuel. What a quirky turn of events. I also see that you started a new thread. It's tough for someone to follow if you do that and the people that are trying to help you get confused. If you are sure that this is the problem then you might ask the mods to get rid of this thread.
 
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