Should I jump on this?

[BWR1953]

Or is the motor one of those "no parts available" jobbies?

Craigslist ad - "50 hp johnson with trim and tilt - $150"

Thanks!

http://tampa.craigslist.org/hdo/boa/1187129803.html

 

[junior1113]

Re: Should I jump on this?

Better Before I Do

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Should I jump on this?

Better Before I Do

Do you live near the seller?

 

[11rufus11]

Re: Should I jump on this?

Offer him $125 and if he says no, buy it anyway. Check compression first though.

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Should I jump on this?

I just called and spoke with the guy. I'm going over tomorrow morning early for a compression test and a look-see. He's not sure if he has the controls for it or not.

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Should I jump on this?

I bought it. Gonna consult with my knowledgeable neighbor about getting it going.

Got over to the sellers house early this morning and met the nice folks selling the motor. Twenty-something kid and his dad, about my age.

Motor was on a homebuilt stand. They had all kinds of neat toys there. Kid couldn't find his screw-in compression gauge, but had a push-in type. He brought over a cranking battery, attached some cables, but the starter didn't move. He and his dad thumped the starter, messed around a bit and determined that the starter brushes were likely corroded. So, I'd need a new starter.

While they were messing with the starter, I looked at the aftermarket add-on tilt 'n' trim unit. Seemed offcenter a bit. Asked how it secured to the boat and they said it screws to the transom. However, when I rotated it up next to the mounting bracket, it bumped against the engine mount. Hmmm... They then connected the battery to the tilt control wires and only one ram dropped down. The other was stuck. That was causing the offcenter condition.

Without the spark plugs installed, the engine turned over freely. Sooo... the kid used a rope to turn the motor over while the dad held the compression gauge against the plug hole. Crank... the needle jumped but didn't stay in place. Tried again several times on both cylinders... same results. Now they were trying to figure out what was going on with the compression gauge. Turned out that the checkvalve ball was stuck open, allowing the air to leak out immediately. I was able to see during the cranking that the needle was jumping to about 100-110psi for each cylinder.

After all that, I said "it's gonna need a couple hundred dollars to get it going... what will you take for it?" The dad put his hand to his chin and began cogitating. After about 30 seconds I said "I'll give ya fittybux for it as is." The dad replied "make it $75 and you've got a deal." Done!

Got the motor, the steering and throttle cable group, including the power trim and tilt switch and two aluminum props for $75.

I dunno... maybe I got ripped off?

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Should I jump on this?

You stole it...

Send the starter in for a rebuild,get some carb kits and i bet it runs...

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Should I jump on this?

Called my neighbor friend, Justin, and he came over. Kid's a farm boy who knows a LOT about rebuilding motors and all that kinda stuff. He and his family live on 10 acres across the road from me and they have a lift and a 5-bay workshop, along with all the tools and equipment a lad of 19 could want.

He took a look at the motor and agreed to help me out. We took it over to his place and got it out of the back of my Jeep by using his long reach shop crane. I didn't even know he had one!

Justin spun the starter and pointed out that we could hear the brushes grinding. He wanted to do a compression check, but no longer had a gauge. I immediately offered to go buy him one, along with a couple spark plugs and some penetrating liquid. He agreed and off I went.

Got the stuff to him and he's working on the motor now.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Should I jump on this?

OK...OFF TOPIC! No threats or bashing guys...
Negative post deleted....

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Should I jump on this?

Well, there was a solder joint that came loose inside the starter. Nothing like an open circuit to prevent the starter from turning.

My little 25 watt pencil iron wasn't enough to reattach it, so I went up to Radio Shack and bought a 150 watt soldering gun. That little job is now finished and the part is back with the guys.

They did a quickie compression check with just one pull of the starter rope. Measured 90psi on both cylinders. I won't be surprised if that number increases once they get the starter back together and cranking.

The fellas said they'd have it running soon. I replied "yeah, right just tell me what parts I need to buy" but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they did get it going. LOL

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Should I jump on this?

Well it has compression,so if it has spark and they clean the carb up it may fire right up.
75 bucks was a heck of a deal...

 

[rentprop1]

Re: Should I jump on this?

Ross, I saw that ad and was gonna sent it to you, but I had e-mail troubles last night ...it was a 1973 right ??

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Should I jump on this?

Ross, I saw that ad and was gonna sent it to you, but I had e-mail troubles last night ...it was a 1973 right ??

Yup, that's the one all right. I talked with the guy last night and made arrangements to get there EARLY this morning. Didn't want to miss out like I did a couple weeks ago with that Mariner.

Here's the latest...

The starter is working now, but probably needs a new Bendix. Compression on first pull for both cylinders is 90psi. After cranking a bit, the top cylinder gets to 120psi and the bottom one gets to 130psi. Or is it vice versa? (Senior moment on my part.)

There is NO spark. Both coil packs are apparently dead, so I'll be going in search of those tomorrow.

The boys disassembled the hydraulic units for the tilt and trim. A couple blown seals there. Gonna look for those tomorrow too.

Now for the quandary...

Jackson (Justin's buddy) offered to make a trade for me. He has a running 25hp Johnson of the same vintage as mine. He ALSO has a 2006 Mercury 6hp 4-stroke kicker. Both engines run well and he offered to trade me both of his engines even up for my 50hp.

QUESTION: I know it sounds like a fair deal, but I'm very concerned that the 25hp doesn't have enough "oomph" to move my boat the way I want. The little 6hp 4-stroke would be nice for tooling around the flats and up the river.

Dunno... at this point, I'm still leaning more toward keeping my 50.

What do ya'll think?

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Should I jump on this?

I would keep the 50....

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Should I jump on this?

Had an interesting morning doing some parts chasing. Went to one dealer, which didn't have what I wanted, but he referred me to another place.

So, I get to the second place and gave the nice lady behind the counter a list of what I wanted and she set about looking things up. Just about a minute later, the SELLER of my motor walked in the door to the dealer! The man lives 30 miles away from that dealer and happened to walk in at the same time I was there looking for parts to the motor he sold me! Wowsers!

Anyway, we shook hands and greeted and I told him about the no spark issue and that I was pricing coil packs. He said "Oh yeah, I had problems with the ground wire on those packs getting corroded." "Try removing them and scrubbing the ground down to shiny metal and try again, I bet they work." Yowza! Will do! If they DO work, it'll save me $90 in parts!

He also was handy to have standing there when the clerk asked me about the add-on tilt and trim. It turned out that he'd taken the TNT unit off a 1960 two-cylinder motor and put it on my 50hp unit. The clerk then looked up the correct rebuild parts kit. I paid her for that and left. Got to get with the boys and let them know what I learned today!

Serendipity or Twilight Zone?

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Should I jump on this?

Today I had to go purchase a rectifier. The one on the motor was burned out. While I was gone, Justin found another electronic part that may be bad. I'll wait till I get the repair manual before making any decisions though.

The good news is that the lower unit is in good shape.