New to me johnson 60 horse wont run in the water.

[hk770]

Hey guys. I bought an 89 johnson 60 horse, j60elcea a couple months ago. The engine wouldnt run then. I rebuilt the carbs and diconnected and capped off the vro oil supply and now she runs good in the driveway on the hose. When I take it to the lake it wont start in the water. I checked compression, it is at 103, 106 and 101 across the cylinders. The spark seemed weak, not a real good blue spark on any cylinder so I replaced the power pack with a sierra and put in new plugs for good measure. Still doesnt start in the water. I ordered a manual but it has not showed up yet. The motor has sat for a couple years. What am I missing? I was thinking about pulling the flywheel and making sure there is no rust or dirt under there but the motor is pretty clean. I dont know much about the boat shops in the area so I dont really want to take it in. I am a diesel mechanic and have run dirt bikes for a while too and am pretty decent mechanically but hont have much experiance with boat motors. Thanks guys. Sam

 

[offthehook67]

Re: New to me johnson 60 horse wont run in the water.

Hey guys. I bought an 89 johnson 60 horse, j60elcea a couple months ago. The engine wouldnt run then. I rebuilt the carbs and diconnected and capped off the vro oil supply and now she runs good in the driveway on the hose. When I take it to the lake it wont start in the water. I checked compression, it is at 103, 106 and 101 across the cylinders. The spark seemed weak, not a real good blue spark on any cylinder so I replaced the power pack with a sierra and put in new plugs for good measure. Still doesnt start in the water. I ordered a manual but it has not showed up yet. The motor has sat for a couple years. What am I missing? I was thinking about pulling the flywheel and making sure there is no rust or dirt under there but the motor is pretty clean. I dont know much about the boat shops in the area so I dont really want to take it in. I am a diesel mechanic and have run dirt bikes for a while too and am pretty decent mechanically but hont have much experiance with boat motors. Thanks guys. Sam

When the motor is ran in the drive way with muffs or a tank there is hardly enough exhaust back pressure and most run great or seem to until.....they are put in the lake. Check the exhaust and make sure it is not plugged. I am thinking it is a back pressure issue however, it should atleast start in the lake but maybe not run correctly.

Trying to help

 

[bullcity101]

Re: New to me johnson 60 horse wont run in the water.

If the spark seems weak, it probably is. Get an air gap tester and see if it will gap an open air gap of 7/16th of a inch. If it doesn't I would look into the coil output, stator, powerpack, plugs, plug wires, etc. A spark tester is a handy thing to have around for a DIY boat guy.

 

[hk770]

Re: New to me johnson 60 horse wont run in the water.

I checked the spark at 3/8" and couldnt see it on any cylinder in bright daylight. That is why I guessed and through a module at it. I havent had a chance to recheck it yet. How would I clean the exhuast. Would i have to pull the lower unit off and scape it out? If the spark is still weak how would I check the coils, What would they ohm at? also the stator? If the stator was open the it wouldnt run at all correct? I should have paid the next day shipping on my manual. Thanks guys.

 

[bullcity101]

Re: New to me johnson 60 horse wont run in the water.

The manual will state how to check the stator, you don't even have to pull the flywheel. It will be some wires coming into the harness.

 

[hk770]

Re: New to me johnson 60 horse wont run in the water.

I dont have the manual yet, I ordered one but it has not yet arrived. Anyone know the ohms for the coils or stator? rough guess? Which wire would it be on the stator? Thanks.

 

[hk770]

Re: New to me johnson 60 horse wont run in the water.

Ok, I have good spark on all 3 cylinders now, I had 1 bad plug wire so I replaced all 3. Engine starts and runs in a trash can. A little hard to get started, seems to run and die when the choke comes off, but after a couple tries she will stay running. Even idles pretty smooth. When I rev it in neutral it wont rev past 3k and then it sputters and dies. If I back out of it it will some back to idle and be ok. Any ideas out there? Thanks.

 

[retiredfornow]

Re: New to me johnson 60 horse wont run in the water.

Has your manual came yet? Do the "link and sync", it may be the timing. The manual will walk you thru it. Good luck.
There's also a timing procedure in the "Top Secret" thread at the top of this forum.

 

[hk770]

Re: New to me johnson 60 horse wont run in the water.

Thanks, I will try that.

 

[offthehook67]

Re: New to me johnson 60 horse wont run in the water.

I had what sounds like a very similar issue as you do with my 30 horse. Here is a copy of my post/explanation of my problem. And then at the end the solution that solved my problem.

"Ok so new to me motor 2 weeks ago today seemed to run fine on muffs or in a barrel. Took motor out on lake and it did not idle well back trolling and at the lowest throttle would die unless I kept the throttle up a hair (which was too fast for back trolling) Also, just did not seem to be getting all the way there (speed wise/no RPM's) at full throttle and seemed to slowly reach top throttle. (Still not all the way there) I figured since I was so far away from home I would just deal with it till I got home. Took it out again and then the problem was worse. Gave it throttle and it just bogged out and dies. Only would idle!! Idled back to harbor, took out boat and next morning removed starter and carb. Cleaned carb VERY thoroughly. Put it all back together, put on the muffs, started and ran fantastic on muffs. (thought I had it) HA!!! Not!!!! Put it back in the water and started idling out the harbor, gave it a little throttle and bogged down and died. At the dock sometimes it would get full throttle without dying and sometimes just die out. (Frustrated and disappointed at this point)

It seems to me that it is starving for fuel? Not sure however. I did get a squirt bottle and spray some fuel in the carb when running and sometimes it took off and other times it bogged and died. Hence, scratching my head!!!

I was told that in the water there is a lot more back pressure than on the muffs and to check the exhaust for blockage. Did that seems open. Also it is and was my opinion that the fuel pump is bad. However I was told that if the fuel pump was bad that the ball would not stay pumped up. It stays hard just fine. I did however switch tanks from the one that came with the motor. The ball on the original tank did NOT stay pumped up. I had another tank from a Merc with a fuel gauge on it so I switched the ends and put the Merc tank on and the ball seemed fine. I was thinking at the time maybe just a bad ball but now I am thinking different and back to my original thoughts of a bad fuel pump."

The fix was a bad choke. Turns out the choke whether open or closed was dumping fuel and loading up the motor. I replaced the choke and problem solved.

To identify this as the problem I pulled off the main fuel line for the choke and turned the engine over. It was dumping fuel out the line in the closed position. Replaced it and bam! Problem solved.

Just thought I would add this to your thread as the problem sounds so similar.

Good luck!