motor died this weekend

[mrbrink]

My 1956 35hp johnson just randomly died. Ironically, I was on my way to tow another stranded boater back at a little under full throttle when it just died, acted like someone shut the key off. I walked to the back and there was gas pouring out of the air box. The line going to the carb is fine, along with the pressure line out of the crank case. I'm thinking the float stuck, or something is blocking the needle from seating correctly. I couldn't even get it to pop the rest of the day. Am I on the right track here? I have yet to pull it apart, just wanted to post here first and start narrowing things down

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: motor died this weekend

Float is stuck open, or sunk because it is saturated with gas.
Only thing is, there is not a 1956 35hp Johnson....maybe a 30?

 

[mrbrink]

Re: motor died this weekend

maybe, there aren't any tags on it for hp rating. just seemed weird, it didn't give me a single problem the 3 times I've ran it over the last couple months

 

[jbjennings]

Re: motor died this weekend

It only takes the tiniest piece of grit to stick the float needle open. If you've got old fuel lines........time to replace.
I think you're on the right track with whaler's advice.
BTW, if it's all red, it's a '56 30hp, if red and white--a '57 35hp.
Good luck,
JBJ

 

[mrbrink]

Re: motor died this weekend

Its red and white, but it was re-painted at some point by the previous owner. I really should get the serial numbers and just check it out for my own curiosity.
I'm not sure how old the fuel lines are but they look good...I'll replace them anyway, its a cheap fix. I pulled the glass bowl and it was clean, along with the bag filter. I did a complete carb rebuild 2 years ago but like an idiot I didn't run the gas out of it last year. So I'm thinking a chunk of crud from the carb broke lose and lodged itself in the needle

 

[j_k_bisson]

Re: motor died this weekend

You can't say the motor didn't pay for it's self over it's lifetime. Probably a coil under the flywheel went bad. Normal with these motors. Do you have spark?

 

[mrbrink]

Re: motor died this weekend

would it just instantly die though? I thought it was a slow death on coils...but I'm not the most educated on these engines. More of a diesel guy

 

[levi_tsk]

Re: motor died this weekend

look throught the port on the flywheel for cracks in the coils ...they may have been all along and itsjust now rearing its head
it could also be the carb though if you let it sit over about six months with gas in the carb, its gummed up -rebuild it

 

[j_k_bisson]

Re: motor died this weekend

The coils do goe that quick if they are cracked already. All it takes is a bit of moisture and heat to do it to them. Been there and done thins on a couple of old motors. Just spark on the plugs, if none then it spark.

If not fuel related. Could be a gummed up carb or plugged jet as well.

 

[levi_tsk]

Re: motor died this weekend

oh and one more thing on the coils.... sometimes they crack on the bottowm and its not visible until you remove them from the magneto when in doubt change em theyre only 15 bux each:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EVIN...0652508QQptZBoatQ5fPartsQ5fAccessoriesQ5fGear
i have these on my fastwin and they work awesome