Johnson 40hp 40R746

[Lurcher]

Purchased this engine couple weeks ago from untruthfull gentelman on an auction site? was sold as running engine in good order which had just had head gasket replaced, it arrived seized, took several hours with 2 stroke oil/ WD40 moving it 1 tooth at a time on flywheel, I freed it off but it binds at one particular spot, so tight that with the plugs out and a rag in each hand I can just manage to turn it through 360 with difficulty, when it is jammed I can rock the flywheel back and forth by 1 tooth on the flywheel, which to me might indicate wear on big ends? should I put hand grenade under hood and call it a day? or as someone once told me here Run and run quick! Lurcher

 

[F_R]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

So, have you contacted the seller? Any offers of settlement?

 

[Lurcher]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Thanks FR, well called the guy and he said matter was not open for discussion, said he had ran engine before he posted, I arranged to send it back at my expense to let him run it again? heated discussion took place but he called me back several days later quite subdued and I came to agreement of accepting half amount,with hopefully getting remainder back on spares? Lurcher

 

[HighTrim]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

On line auctions are still legally binding contracts. I would give him a little scare, Im sure you did not get a good enough deal on the motor to warrant a complete rebuild worse case scenario. Sites like ebay where a seller with 100 000 sales and a 99.9 % great feedback scenario is usually pretty safe. They obviously do it for a living and dont want negative feedback on their record. Those are the ppl that I look to buy from, if I first cant look at the motor personally.

 

[Lurcher]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Was going to post picture can only get as far as bringing my pictures up? Lurcher

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

pics: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=224951

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Hate to say it but it sounds like it's a boat anchor now unless it gets a rebuild.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

This story is why I don't buy complete outboards on EBay unless they are billed as parts motors and I paid an amount that reflects that, or I am close enough to drive to the seller to pick the motor up in person. While I have never had to do it, when I go the pickup route, I am fully prepared to walk away from the deal if the seller has lied to me. "Binding auction" or not, if the motor is not as billed, I reserve the right to either take it at a price that reflects the true value, or to reject the purchase - I'll fight about it later if the seller wants to make a stink.

I'd have to say, however, that my experience with EBay has been pretty good overall. I just do what someone else mentioned - I pay very close attention to the number of sales that the person has had and what the feedback has been. Its also worth mentioning that what happens to some EBay sellers is that they sometimes get sloppy and start making bad deals as their business takes off. For that reason, a couple of negative feedbacks, even when there have been hundreds of good ones, can be a flag to watch for, especially if they are recent.

 

[Lurcher]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Thanks Jay, It was the way he described the motor to me on telephone that sold it describing it had only ran yesterday and was run once a week, infact after I took issue with him I find out that he sent emails to other interested parties describing it differently in 3 seperate emails, (which were forwarded to me) clearly blatent lies, I would never again buy a motor from ebay without actually seeing it, I thought I had jumped through the burning hoop often enough but just goes to show you these kind of people are out there! Lurcher.

 

[F_R]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Lurcher, and anyone else, lemme tell you a little story. When I was working at the Evinrude shop a guy brought in a boat with a 135hp motor which was less than a year old. The complaint was that it was running rough. Since I was very busy, the boat sat for several days till I got to it. But when I did get to it, I found that it was frozen up. Pulling the spark plugs, I found them full of rust. So, I tossed the plugs into the splashwell, put the hood back on, and shoved the boat back out into the yard, and went in and called the owner to tell him what I found.

Well, the next day I got a phone call from the owner and he was furious! He had came prowling around that night to look at the motor himself. He asserted that the reason that it was frozen was because I left the spark plugs out and moisture got in there. Of course he pointed out that it was running the day before he brought it in.

I wasn't too calm either, with this guy calling me everything in the book.

After my best peacemaking efforts I got him calmed down enough to get permission to tear into the motor to see what I could find. Turned out there was a big leak in the exhaust cover area, which allowed (salt) water to squirt into the cylinders.

So, once the truth was known, yes it was running the day before he brought it in. But it was ingesting salt water and that's why it was running rough, and why he brought it in.

I called the factory and got permission to replace the powerhead under warranty. Funny how the owner's attitude changed when he got a new motor, free. All of a sudden I was the greatest outboard mechanic in town.

IT IS possible that the motor you bought was running just before he listed it. Stuff happens. I'd say his offer to settle was reasonable.

 

[Lurcher]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Thanks FR very good, I thing what also swayed him was me being in possesion of the emails he sent describing it differently, like, engine has been on it's side for over 12 months, but pulls over, with good spark and compression, then cylinder head gasket replaced engine was started after replacing, came with no clamp screws on mount it also was seized solid still is! inside of cover had lots of dry sawdust inside and carb butterfly was seized, never seen petrol for a long long time, I would say not months! maybe years, thanks all Deerhound/Lurcher

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Wow. The picture is becoming to get clearer.

 

[F_R]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Yeah, that's a sort of different ballgame isn't it?

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Given what you now know about this seller, I would definately report him to EBay. You can go beyond negative feedback.

I hear you FR - my local OMC dealer gets that sort of stuff a lot too. A friend of mine was whining about how his buddy bought a brand new Evinrude and paid 16 or 17 thousand for it, only to have it "blow up" not long after. As the story went, he took the boat to the dealer, who examined it but refused to honor the warranty. That dealer happened the guy that I deal with he told me what really happened - the memory chip in the motor indicated several periods of overheat. It seems that the buyer had been out in the bayou running in shallow areas, sucking mud into the motor. As Forest Gump would say - stupid is as stupid does.

 

[spy1309]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Well in my experience is a gamble even if you see the motor visualy, past summer I bought a 1960 Cutter Jet deVille with a 1960 Johnson 40hp, the motor was stored in a garage so the boat, I checked the compression, motor was turning well when I got the boat home different story it would not idle, coils cracked and so on even by this time I couldn t make it run right hope this spring, also the wood at the back of the boat is rotten from inside and I couldn t see when I bought the boat, by accident I hit it and my finger went thru it.
Bottom line if you don t have experience anything can go wrong and as Murphy law sais ,, If something can go wrong it will go wrong".

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Johnson 40hp 40R746

Yup, experience is the name of the game. A transom that is that rotten usually fails the "tap test." All you have to do is take a small tack hammer and tap lightly all over the transom. The solid areas will make a sharp sound and the bad areas will give a dead sounding thud.