Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

[alden135]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

Sorry ezeke I'm to slow

 

[alden135]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

Also, Joe Reeves told me about a service bulletin that had something to do with the choke wiring on my '69 85hp, but I don't know if it applies to yours. Maybe ezeke or somebody else knows?

 

[ezeke]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

No way, repetition adds emphasis! Great minds and all that.

 

[ezeke]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

The choke is operated by a solenoid activated by raising the toggle switch under the ignition key switch on the control. It can be manually operated or disabled by a lever on the port side of the carbs, below the fuel pump.

 

[f4igrad]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

thanks for the tips so far. I have a friend here at work that restores old mustangs, so he is giving me some good advice as well. One possible problem is that 2 of the spark plugs were missing from the engine, so the holes were open there. Fortunately the boat has been covered, but I am still afraid there will be some rust in there. I am going to spray some oil in there and let it sit overnight. My friend here said I should spray some of the oil that is intended to dissolve rust, comes in a spray can at autoparts stores. Does this sound right?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

marvel mystery oil works well, put in a squeeze bottle and fill it up. let it sit at least 24 hours.

 

[f4igrad]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

i bought some PB catalyst rust remover at Pep Boys. Is this safe to spray into the cylinders?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

to be honest, i don't know.

 

[f4igrad]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

ok, i sprayed a buttload of PB blaster into the spark plug holes, i will let it sit overnight. This might be a stupid question, but I am a noobie so I will swallow my pride: could the engine be in gear instead of neutral, and if so, wouldn't that keep the flywheel from turning? The reason I ask is because none of the control cables are hooked up so I have no clue what gear the engine is in, and am not sure where I can manually put the engine in neutral (assuming it is not).

 

[f4igrad]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

BTW, the prop turns freely, although there is a faint clicking sound at the top of each revolution.

 

[OBJ]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

If the prop turns freely, it probably in neutral. You can check on the starboard side of the engine where the control cables come in. The shift lever is the one that goes under the carbs and has a channel attached to it the control cable lays in. When the engine is in neutral, the shift lever should be verticle.<br /><br />And don't forget the gear case. Put a pan under it and drain it. The drain and vent plugs are the LARGE slotted screws on the gear case. One at the bottom and one at the top just over the anti-cav plate....that's the fin just over the prop....... See what you get when you drain it and let us know.

 

[f4igrad]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

i just pulled the bottom screw out for a second to check the color, looks like a blackish brown with a medium density to the fluid. saw no metal shavings, although it was slightly watery for the first several drops, then it turned thicker. It is late and I didn't want to drain it yet.

 

[Pony]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

Before you actually drain it, be sure you have fresh lube to replace the stuff you take out. You don't want to leave the gearcase empty of lube.<br /><br />Once you drain it, and are ready to fill it, fill it from the bottom hole until the lube comes out from the top hole. Then replace the top screw, remove the tube of lube from the bottome hole and get the screw back in there as quick as you can.<br /><br /> <br /><br />One of those will help out a lot. The end is threaded and it screws right into the lower hole so that you can pump the lube in from a quart bottle. They are cheap and worth it when you consider that the lube will be changed twice a year or so. New o rings on the drain/fill screws and the vent screw would be a good idea as well.(bottom and top screws respectively)

 

[McGR]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

I don't mean to totally overload you with opinions and information... But, I would advise removing the lower unit at this point. You should do this to make sure the l/u isn't causing the flywheel binding. That motor will need some water pump attention anyway, so it's not like you're wasting time removing it. Once you determine which side (powerhead or l/u) is causing the binding you can proceed accordingly.<br /><br />If you do a search on this site you will find instructions regarding removal of your lower unit. In fact, if you search under my ID you will find a detailed description of how to remove the lower unit on your motor. I have the same motor as you and recall explaining how to remove its lower unit in a previous posting.

 

[flech01]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

You can get a kit from Walmart to fill the lower end. It is just a little pump that screws right onto the bottle of lower end oil. It has a tube running out of it that screws into the bottom drain screw. Keep pumping until you see the oil comeing out of the top drain screw (or plug). <br /><br />When you are emptying the lower end it goes alot faster if you have both plugs out.<br /><br />Remember to fill from the bottom drain plug.

 

[flech01]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

Just another thought. I had my starter rebuilt for under 50 bucks, It is the same one you have on your motor. So if you can't get it free you might try that option.

 

[f4igrad]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

ok, i am going to try to access the pistons tonight to see how gunked up the cylinders are. I will post up some pics when I get it open. I wish I could take the engine off and lay it on the ground where the fluid could really soak the piston heads, but it is too heavy to do myself and my fiancee isn't going to be much help.

 

[john king]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

One thing you need to look at is the starter gear, it should not be engaged in the fly wheel.In the picture you have it is down but if you have tryied to turn it and it is froze up it could be up.

 

[f4igrad]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

well, i took off the cover today to access this pistons, and I think I have figured out why the flywheel is stuck. the previous owner brilliantly elected to remove 2 of the spark plugs, so the humidity has rusted the top of the pistons as well as the cylinder. I have been spraying the hell out of it with the PB catalyst, but I still can't get it to budge. I have tried putting a block of wood on top of the piston and hammering on it, but it still didn't help. The engine is still mounted on the boat, so I can't get the PB stuff to just sit on top of the pistons for a long time, it just runs off. The engine is too heavy for me to remove by myself, and my fiance wouldn't be much help. My neighbors are old and wouldn't be much help either, and I live kind of far from the rest of my friends. <br /><br />Any suggestions on how to unfreeze the pistons?<br /><br />BTW, I drained the fluid from the lower unit today, it looked great. No metal shavings at all.<br /><br />Here is a pic of the cylinders. For some reason they look a lot worse in the photo, but when I examined them today the cylinders didn't look scuffed or pitted at all, just covered in some rust. The other two cylinders are fine and rust free.<br /><br />

 

[f4igrad]

Re: Thinking of buying this boat with an 85 hp Johnson

i used the PB on the starter and it moves up and down pretty easily now. It is not engaged to the flywheel.