'73 johnson 115 hates the lakes

[mk96]

i got a 115 johnson about a month ago on an old deck boat and have been trying to get it to run...cleaned the carbs, put in new plugs, recleaned the carbs(didnt run still after 1st time..thought i might have missed some crud) did a compression test (105-110 on all 4) put in new plug wires cause the old ones were rusty, new water pump kit, new battery, completely removed and drained out old watery gas...

the thing starts at home on the muffs with the hose attached but it starts hard till it gets running...then it starts right up usually...so we take it to the lake and it dont start, or it only runs for a few seconds after squirting gas in the carbs...

Yesterday i had it running in the driveway and it was ideling high and good so i thought it would be a good day to take it out to the lake(half hour away) and see if we couldnt tune the slow speed screws...get to the lake and no start...gets old fast when its the 3rd time now...

the 2nd time we took it to the lake we managed to get it started with a big shot of gas to the carb and my buddy threw it into gear and mashed the gas and off we went like a bat outa hell...so once it was running it went good. We were having trouble with the slow speed screws ratling loose so we got the recommended upgrade and now the screws stay nice and tight...but still the motor doesnt like to start in the water...

Sorry about the long post, just wanted to give you guys the details on what has all been going on...

Any body have suggestions as to why it will run good sometimes in the yard but not the lake? perhaps carb screw settings that work with the thicker nylon retainer? im at a loss here and have dumped more money into this boat then i should have and if the motor dont start running idk what i will do...

thank you all, mike

 

[Boblester40]

Re: '73 johnson 115 hates the lakes

If your having to dump gas into the carbs its got to be a fuel issue , are the choke plates sealing correctly on the carbs when operated ? the only differance between home and the lake is a bit of backpressure and a journey , so is something external to the enigne being affected, fuel tank and lines etc?

rgds
bob

 

[countvlad]

Re: '73 johnson 115 hates the lakes

have you checked the timing? what are the idle RPMS in gear and in neutral? have you tried to advance, give it some throttle, when starting?

 

[mk96]

Re: '73 johnson 115 hates the lakes

giving throttle when trying to start it gets nowhere when in the lake...unless you open the throttle and squirt in a large shot of gas in then close the throttle and then hit the key to start and it usually idles for a little bit...but if you give it the large squirt of gas and hold the throttle wide open it will sometimes run as long as you hold the throttle open a ways...

it just dont like ideling at all so it makes it hard to adjust anything or check timing when its in the lake...