used motor

[scott68]

last year i blew a small hole thru the cylinder wall so my 70 was done at that point. i have just found a 1976 johnson 115 on craigslist for a good price but the seller specifies the motor has no spark. i may go look at it, what should i look for or is it not wise to buy something not running ? my last boat was my intro to the outboard so my experience other than working on mine is limited and don't want to waste time or money. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thnx, scott

 

[HybridMX6]

Re: used motor

I'd say depends on the price of it. A couple things I'd check are lower unit oil, make sure it's not milky at all. Compression check also, make sure they are all within 10% of each other. After that, others on here are going to be more help for diagnosing the electrical problem. I'd say if you can get it really cheap, and the LU and comp. check out ok, it could be worth it.

 

[scott68]

Re: used motor

$200 is cheap to me !! I didn't even think about the gear case oil, thanks! what should the compression be at and what is the lowest it could be to be worth it?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: used motor

is it persently mounted on a boat? Take a good battery, connect it, unplug the Big RED harness plug, jump the solenoid and check spark, this takes a bad ignition switch and harness out of the picture. if it still does not have any spark on any cylinders, could be power pack or stator, or as simple as a shorted Black w yellow trace kill wire.

you still need good, fully charged the battery, to check the compression properly.

you can look up prices of parts here http://shop2.evinrude.com/ext/index.aspx?s1=bf6ad09c53cead335fcfd8a6471c0f7f

Get the controls with the motor.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: used motor

also that is a hydro mechanical shift motor, lower units only exchange with 73-76 motors. they have a different shift linkage on the motor.

 

[steelespike]

Re: used motor

As I understand it those type shifts can be a problem if they haven't been maintained correctly and some parts are no longer available.

 

[ezeke]

Re: used motor

The good news on the lower units is that they were very good. Because of that there are a lot of them around in good shape, including three in my shed, one brand new. Call some salvage yards.

The motor itself is probably worth around $500 in good shape and running, with PT&T.

 

[scott68]

Re: used motor

the pic of the motor shows off the boat. it has the controls included. i was going to bring my battery and a fresh tank of gas also. now my present motor is a 1984 70 johnson, would the controls and tilt/trim work for something this old ?

 

[scott68]

Re: used motor

i'm even thinking now of just getting it to play with it, price is right and may turn out to be a good learning tool.

 

[HybridMX6]

Re: used motor

Not sure if you'r trim n tilt will work with it or not, or the controls for that matter. I'd still fully charge your battery and take it with you. Is the motor on a stand or what? You need it standing up to check LU fluid, and I'd assume to check comp as well, or at least make it a hell of a lot easier.
Compression #'s aren't that important, as long as it's not 0, but they need to be within 10% of each other. If it's just slightly off of that 10% a simple decarb could fix it, but if you have 1 or 2 cylinders that are way low, it is a problem and could be signs of an abused motor that was not taken care of and maintained...like the one I'm working on. It's up to you and how much you want to spend on this engine. FYI: I'm at $1500 on a 3 cyl. engine so far, and it's still in pieces in my garage, so it can get costly depending on how bad it is.
I'd say check it out, and go from there. It could be as simple as TD said and be a shorted wire. $200 for a motor and a $1 fix would work for me.