New to me, older Johnson 15hp

[Busbey]

picked this up yesterday for $200. initially it was to be $300 and "ran like a champ". so i get there (guy off craigslist) and the motor has been sitting in the garage for a year, but ran good before hand. get it cranked up, sounds good. he is messing with the idle and it keeps dying. so i wanted to do a compression check. all went well and then then bendix broke, kinda. also a clip kept sliding off that holds the bendix on / or retracts the rope or something. again, sorry i dont have proper names. there was also a plate in the back that goes where the thermostat goes, it was leaking a drip drip drip of water when idling.

i am no good with these motors as you can tell, but i have a good idea. anyways, i am taking this to a good friend of mine this saturday morning and hope he can figure out whats going on with everything. he used to own a small engine repair shop, so i have faith in him. i probably wouldnt have bought this without having a friend like this, who will work on it for free.

i measured the extension i see on there and is between 5-6". i measured the transom on the boat and is perfect from where the motor mounts to where the first fin is. which from what i gathered, is where you need to measure to in order to figure out if you need a short or long shaft. i would assume since i am down here in south Florida and all lakes are extremely low right now, i should take this extension off. probably would better fit the boat anyways.

would this be a huge deal or is it pretty much just a few bolts type thing???

any comments are appreciated.

 

[Busbey]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

also, i need to figure out where the model and year of this is in order to find a manual for it. im sure this would help out my buddy thats going to be working on it ya know?

where is this imprinted in the motor bay?

 

[mrcrabs]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

you stole that thing for 2 hundred. Good luck getting back in shape
where in south Florida? I have a place on walk in water near lake wales about 6 mile south of kissimmee, It might as well be someone elses place I don;'t know when I will ever get back...

 

[Busbey]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

im actually just north of ft. lauderdale - south of west palm beach.. a place called boca raton. 33428

nice area, very close to the everglades. actually about a 15 min drive to the closest ramp there.

by the way, since your so good at identifying these, with the updated pics, you have a better idea of what year this may be for? i will look for the model number tonight, found this post on where to look..

 

[Rick.]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

It appears it started life as a short shaft and someone added an extension off an Evinrude according to the color of the extension. It can be shortened but you would need to get a short drive shaft, water tube (or cut the tube that you have). The model # is key to the year and should be on a tag on the transom mount. Here are a couple of sites that you need to look at and send to your friend. Best of luck. Rick.
http://www.sschapterpsa.com/ramblings/Ramblings.html
http://epc.brp.com/Index.aspx?lang=E&s1=86e517f4-7794-453a-a9e5-e239ebceb500

 

[Busbey]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

until i get the model number and such, in order to find exact parts... whats a good guess on the price of the short drive shaft? i wouldnt mind cutting the tube since i would probably never use the extention again (but would be good to keep just in case).

$30? $200?

 

[bob johnson]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

new $140

save everything and sell it.

many people want to go to the long shafts


bob

 

[Busbey]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

heck, maybe i should stay. in your own words, why would i stay and not get the short DS? the depth of my boat in the back from the top of transom is about 16" fyi...

 

[jrs_diesel]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

I have a short shaft 9.9 Johnson. I just measured it, and from the transom clamps to the cavitation plate is 17? inches.

Sounds like yours would be a too deep in the water. I don't think you measured your motor correctly. You have to measure from the transom clamps, down to the cavitation plate.

Here's a handy guide on how to measure motor lengths:

http://www.sschapterpsa.com/ramblings/OB_shaft_length.htm

 

[Busbey]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

Thats what i am thinking too. crap. what happens when i run it like this?

 

[jrs_diesel]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

I did it once with my sailboat motor (a 2007 Mercury 6 HP longshaft), on my 9 ft inflatable dinghy. It ran fast, but I could feel the drag of the entra length, especially in turns. The other bad thing is that the deeper shaft and lower unit sent a plume of water up each side of the motor, and sometimes into the boat.

The other bad thing is your motor is 5 inches deeper than it should be, and if catching a rock or stump with a short shaft was bad enough, worse with a longshaft.

 

[Busbey]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

Unfortunately there is no numbers I can see anywhere, other than 332162. here are a few pics to better help the ID process.. i need to figure it out so i can order some parts!!

 

[Rick.]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

I had a problem with no tag on my 1995 40HP. I called the customer service number off the Evinrude site and they could tell me everything I needed from the welsh plug number. Give it a try. Rick.

 

[Busbey]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

There is no numbers I can see on the plug though.

 

[Rick.]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

There is no numbers I can see on the plug though.

Where did this number come from? "other than 332162"

 

[Busbey]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

On the motor mount. But I looked up that number and someone else has the same and wast the right one.

Your saying this is what I need???

 

[Busbey]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

Those are casting numbers. Dang, this isn't looking good.

 

[jrs_diesel]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

We can help nail down the model year. It's at least a 77 or newer (white paint).

Look closely at your tiller handle and underneath it.

Is the throttle linkage have a shaft with 2 gears at the hinge? That would indicate an early 86 and older to 1977.

Is it a cable type throttle linkage? This means late 86 and newer.

Is the stop button on the cowling by the choke knob? If so, early 86 and older.

Is the stop button on the end of the tiller and black in color? If so it's the late 86 model.

Is the stop button on the end of the tiller and red in color (holds a kill switch lanyard too)? 87-90

Is the stop button on the side of the tiller handle? 91 or newer.

Check out this website for more info on the 9.9/15 HP engines. It was made by a member here on iBoats (the machinist). Great info on these engines.

http://www.sschapterpsa.com/ramblings/Johnson 9.9_15.htm

 

[Busbey]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

I'll do my best here.

Throttle is cable.
Handle has a bunch of squares like a grenade.
From left to right is choke, idle (missing knob) pull start and then a toggle kill switch. Looking inside the cover I see it was what I think factory made for a maybe 1" circle though. This could be the kill button? The handle is missing it's end cap.
White shift lever

Does this help?

 

[jrs_diesel]

Re: New to me, older Johnson 15hp

So, definitely a late 86 (like mine) or newer. Sounds like it in the range of late 86 to 89. 90 is about when they changed the kill switch to the side of the tiller handle instead of the very end.

That 1 inch circle is where the kill switch used to be on motors early 86 and older. Mine has the hole too, just with a factory plug closing it off.

I'd get a new knob for your low speed mixture and soon. Otherwise the only way to adjust the idle mixture is to remove the top of the air box (silencer) and adjust the screw either by hand or with a set of pliers.

Seems like someone installed an aftermarket kill switch on yours.