Got me a free Johnson 115

[jdp8488]

A guy gave me a 17' center console, trailer, and a 76 johnson 115 for free.. Well everything looks good, the boat needs a lot of work, but I am not too concerned about the boat. The guy said the power head on the 115 is good, all that was wrong that he knew about was a leak in the lower unit. I have some questions about these two bolts right behind the fly wheel.. what are they for? And one of the spark plug wires is cut in half. Can I get new wires or do I need a whole new coil? I know the force motors you couldnt just buy wires. Its actually the wire on the coil that is different from the rest, and I do not know which are old or new. I guess I need to check spark, compression, and what else should I check? And how? Thanks for any help. Here are some pics..

 

[tomynoks]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

According to the BRP website, http://epc.brp.com/login.aspx they didn't make a 115 hp in 1976. They did in '75 and '77. This is a great site for diagrams for all OMC (Johnson,Evinrude) motors from '68 to present. You can still get plug wires and coils. I've had good luck on ebay for old OMC parts. There are some great posts on awakening sleeping outboards here, look around and in the meantime one of the experts will probably give a better answer than I.

Thanks,

Tom Smith

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

Start with a compression check after you have "woken it up" to see if it is worth investing in or not. Then move to spark from there.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

The Bomardier website may be missing the parts lists for the 76 Johnson 115 and 135 engines. Check out the comparable Evinrude lists for 1976 for the correct parts for your engine. I'm a little rusty on your year, but I think if it has original coils, that the coil wire is part of the coil. If you have later coils (as replacements,) the wire is a plug-in type and is sold separately.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

jdp8488, you must be from the Jacksonville area, and the one that beat me to that boat, i saw it on craigslist, and emailed the guy several times.

 

[crb478]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

You will need a new coil as the spark plug wire is built into the coil. After testing you may need more than one. Start with a compression test, it it is good go the the awakening a sleeping out board under the frequently asked questions section. After that several people will be glad to help you with specific questions

 

[iwombat]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

I've managed to slide new plug wires into those coils before. Yank the old ones out and lubricate the outside of the new wires with some brake cleaner just before you slide them in. Works fine.

Those two bolts are for the lifting eye.

 

[ezeke]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

Just for the record, the 1976 Johnon 115HP motors were very much in evidence everywhere but in the BRP parts sites.

http://web.archive.org/web/20011223003437/www.evinrude.com/docktalk/modref/jomodyr/JHP115.html


You will find the owner's manual, parts manual and factory service manual available here: http://www.outboardbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.search.

It is relatively easy to add a new wire to the old ignition coil, just be sure that you use solid core. If the coils have cracks, discoloration or melted potting material they should be replaced.

 

[jdp8488]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

appreciate the info fellas. ill check the compression when i get off work. tashasdaddy, guess it was first come first serve, i emailed that guy about a minute after he posted. didnt call me till sunday. not a bad little boat, trailer is a lot better than expected, same with motor, that is unless compression doesnt check out. cant believe he just gave it away.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

Man, there must be too many boats in Florida if folks are giving them away for free!!! I think I'll look for them when I'm down there next month!

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

Man, there must be too many boats in Florida if folks are giving them away for free!!! I think I'll look for them when I'm down there next month!

Get me one while you are there !!!!

 

[jdp8488]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

compression is good, 122-125psi all cylinders. how do i check the spark without getting shocked or messing up the coils? thanks for any info.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

Spark tester. Cheap item for the amount of info it gives.

 

[jdp8488]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

appreciate it

 

[jdp8488]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

I just drained the lower unit, looked like about 80% water, 20% oil... The guy said there was a leak in the lower unit, the drain plug screws didnt have orings or any kind of seal. The lower end will still engage into forward and reverse, I guess anyway, the prop shaft locks up when I move the shift on the motor. I have not started the motor yet, do I still have a chance of a good lower unit if I go ahead and put in a water pump kit and some new oil? And some new seals of course..? Can anything go wrong that would destroy the engine? Thanks for any help.

 

[carpenterken]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

If it was full of water, especially salt water, the bearings very well could be rusted beyond repair.

 

[iwombat]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

I'd put in new oil and skip the water pump kit until you can shift in and out of reverse and forward gears with the motor running on the muffs. Once you do that, a new pump kit right away. You don't want to install a new pump only to have to remove the LU again for a rebuild.

 

[jdp8488]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

sounds good to me. thanks for the info.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

remove the spark plugs, put it in gear and see if you can turn the flywheel. this will tell you if the lower is siezed.

 

[jdp8488]

Re: Got me a free Johnson 115

lower unit is not seized, shaft turned in forward and reverse when i turned the flywheel. i am guessing the leak came from the drain plugs which has no seals on them. there was some pieces of metal that was stuck to the magnet on the bottom drain plug, but i couldnt find any pieces of metal in the oil itself. the oil was dark black, showing it overheated pretty bad? im going to replace the one coil and see how she sounds on the muffs.