Hi all, I am a Norwegian guy trying to revive a 1987 120 looper(120LCUR) that has been sitting (outside) for eight years. The last time it was used the owner experienced some difficulties; it would idle roughly but fine, both in neutral and in gear, but would bog down at wot after a few minutes. Sometimes it would die completely, sometimes it would run as if the throttle was moved quickly and repeatedly up and down. After 15-20 minutes it would start up again, but the same problems persisted.
2 things apply to relevant answers to my post: 1) I live in Norway, so prices on parts bought from a local dealer are insane. Example: Thermostat kit (2 stats and gaskets) would set me back $180.... 2) I can buy parts on Ebay, but international shipping is also quite expensive and may take anywhere between 2 - 4 weeks. This why I am posting; I would like to pinpoint possible solutions as accurately as possible before I go ordering parts online.
Here is where I am:
1) I performed all the normal "revival tasks"; like changing waterpump / impeller, plugs, cleaning out (not rebuilding) the carbs, checking torque on nuts & bolts on carbs, checking for air leaks, cleaning filters, new fuel, lubed everything that needs to be lubed. Dismantled the powertrim, fixed the 12V motor (the springs on the brushes where stuck). Powertrim now working fine. Inspected thermostats, they look fine but I am not sure how they look if they are NOT fine... VRO is NOT disconnected.
2) Took the boat on the water, and at the first startup it would rev way to high, forcing me to turn the ignition off 10-15 times. After a while it settled down, gradually reducing rpm to 1000-1200. Let it run like that for a while, tell tale looked fine, so I waited for the right moment when the rpm dropped below 1000 for a second, put it in i gear and trolled arround for a while. Everything seemed fine, except the idle speed was still way to high. After about 10 minutes at low speed, I gradually increased throttle, and everything was going great until the overheat alarm sounded, the engine bogged, and I had to shut it down. I waited for 20 - 30 minutes, but it would not start and run properly, so I evntually called my backup and was towed back into the marina. I let the boat sit for 2 days and went back for a second try.
3) On the second try the engine fired up like a dream. It purred like a kitten at idle, or at least like an angry cougar, lying steady at arround 650 rpms. Took it out in the bay, drove arround at trolling speed for a good 15 minutes, then gradually picked up speed. 2 things occured: a) when trying to reduce speed back to trolling speed, it would only reduce down to 2500 rpms, no matter what I did to the throttle. I didn't want to enter the marina at that speed, nor did I want to put it in neutral with the rpm that high,so I cut the power, took off the engine cover and checked if any of the levers were stuck. No promblems there.
b) Tried to start it up again, it would start fine but rpm went through the roof. Did this 7-8 times, but decided to wait 30 minutes and do some fishing instead. After 30 minutes it would not fire up at all, but after some extensive priming it would fire on what seems to be a) either on one side only, or b) the engine is skipping one complete firing sequence, making it sound like somone is turing the ignition on/off/on/off. This was yesterday.
So, after this rather lenghty story, I would appreciate some advice on what to check for... I know there could be several different issues at play at the same time, like clogged cooling, stats stuck in closed position, compression, timing, powerpack etc, but I am hoping anyone would point me in the (most likely) right direction..
Thanks, and best wishes from Norway.
Paul
2 things apply to relevant answers to my post: 1) I live in Norway, so prices on parts bought from a local dealer are insane. Example: Thermostat kit (2 stats and gaskets) would set me back $180.... 2) I can buy parts on Ebay, but international shipping is also quite expensive and may take anywhere between 2 - 4 weeks. This why I am posting; I would like to pinpoint possible solutions as accurately as possible before I go ordering parts online.
Here is where I am:
1) I performed all the normal "revival tasks"; like changing waterpump / impeller, plugs, cleaning out (not rebuilding) the carbs, checking torque on nuts & bolts on carbs, checking for air leaks, cleaning filters, new fuel, lubed everything that needs to be lubed. Dismantled the powertrim, fixed the 12V motor (the springs on the brushes where stuck). Powertrim now working fine. Inspected thermostats, they look fine but I am not sure how they look if they are NOT fine... VRO is NOT disconnected.
2) Took the boat on the water, and at the first startup it would rev way to high, forcing me to turn the ignition off 10-15 times. After a while it settled down, gradually reducing rpm to 1000-1200. Let it run like that for a while, tell tale looked fine, so I waited for the right moment when the rpm dropped below 1000 for a second, put it in i gear and trolled arround for a while. Everything seemed fine, except the idle speed was still way to high. After about 10 minutes at low speed, I gradually increased throttle, and everything was going great until the overheat alarm sounded, the engine bogged, and I had to shut it down. I waited for 20 - 30 minutes, but it would not start and run properly, so I evntually called my backup and was towed back into the marina. I let the boat sit for 2 days and went back for a second try.
3) On the second try the engine fired up like a dream. It purred like a kitten at idle, or at least like an angry cougar, lying steady at arround 650 rpms. Took it out in the bay, drove arround at trolling speed for a good 15 minutes, then gradually picked up speed. 2 things occured: a) when trying to reduce speed back to trolling speed, it would only reduce down to 2500 rpms, no matter what I did to the throttle. I didn't want to enter the marina at that speed, nor did I want to put it in neutral with the rpm that high,so I cut the power, took off the engine cover and checked if any of the levers were stuck. No promblems there.
b) Tried to start it up again, it would start fine but rpm went through the roof. Did this 7-8 times, but decided to wait 30 minutes and do some fishing instead. After 30 minutes it would not fire up at all, but after some extensive priming it would fire on what seems to be a) either on one side only, or b) the engine is skipping one complete firing sequence, making it sound like somone is turing the ignition on/off/on/off. This was yesterday.
So, after this rather lenghty story, I would appreciate some advice on what to check for... I know there could be several different issues at play at the same time, like clogged cooling, stats stuck in closed position, compression, timing, powerpack etc, but I am hoping anyone would point me in the (most likely) right direction..
Thanks, and best wishes from Norway.
Paul
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