91 40HP Johnson Multiple Issues this spring

[shawnswan]

I bought a 91 40HP Johnson in the fall of last year and it ran great. I winterized it by fogging the engine but was unable to change the lower gear oil as I couldn't get the top drain screw out. I did open the bottom one to ensure there was no water in the bottom. I went to launch it yesterday and have 3 issues, not sure if any are related.

1. My tilt trim doesn't work. It just makes a click when I press the button
2. I can get the engine to turn over but it will only run for a few seconds unless I keep pressing the choke intermittently
3. When I pulled the boat out of the water and tried starting on dry land I noticed a grey oily substance slowly coming out from my prop

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated as I am having a hard time finding someone in my area that services Johnson motors.

Thanks.
Shawn

 

[racerone]

Re: 91 40HP Johnson Multiple Issues this spring

The grey oily substance is normal.----------Sounds like you have old fuel in the carburetors .----Drain your tank and put fuel in at 50:1 mix.-----Mark the oil tank for the VRO oil level.------Try running the motor untill the fresh fuel is in the carburetors.---After running the tank empty see how much oil has been used.--------If oil injection is working properly then run with straight gas in your tank.

 

[shawnswan]

Re: 91 40HP Johnson Multiple Issues this spring

Thanks for the fast response! I'll give that a try.
So I should be worried about the grey oily substance coming from the prop? What is it from? It seems like a lot.
Any idea on the tilt trim?

 

[racerone]

Re: 91 40HP Johnson Multiple Issues this spring

Grey oily discharge is from the oil / fuel mixture.--Some of that blows right thruogh the motor and is never compressed / burned in the cylinder.--------Find the wire that goes to the trim tilt unit.----Disconnect the plug.----Put negative to one lead and 12 volts positive to the other and see if it works then.----That test bypasses the relays.