Need help understanding adjustments b89 30hp

"Alright, I'm gonna do my

"Alright, I'm gonna do my best here and hopefully someone out there will know what the heck I'm talking about!

I have a 1989 30hp Johnson. I've been working on getting it running better. I purchased the Seloc online manual and have been trying to give it a "tune up".

The manual seems to be a bit disconnected or maybe I'm just not getting it.

Here's what I'm trying to figure out... I guess really it boils down to understanding the relationships between all of the adjustments, or rather what order they should be adjusted in.

For example... In the manual speaking of syncronization it tells me to change the adjustment on the carb arm so that the cam follower is exactly between the two marks at the exact moment the throttle arm starts to move.

That's easy enough and I understand. But there was also another adjustment that is basically a "set coller" on the wire that connects the cam follower mechanism back to the throttle itself. Let me try to explain that better. The throttle (on the tiller) is connected via cable back to a shaft. On the opposite side of that shaft is the mechanism that advances the timing. That same mechanism is connected via a wire back to the cam follower. There is a coller on that wire that sets "where" the cam follower actually starts to move.

Anyway, this "coller" was loose and was moving free at one point. It seems to me that it serves almost the same purpose as the adjustment on the carb arm. But I know there's something I'm missing there. I've set it where I think it's right, but I really have no clue...

All I really know is that when the the throttle shaft starts to move the follower is right between the marks... Is there something else I should be checking or doing? What is the relationship between the two above mentioned adjustments?

Here's another example. The section on setting the low-speed needle says to start at 1 1/2 turns out, lean it 1/8th of a turn at a time until the motor spits or cuts out, then back up 1/4 turn. It also mentions the idle at that adjustment should be around 950rpm.

Two problems... First, with my idle trim (on the tiller) turned as low as it can go the lowest I can get it to idle (in a "barrel 'o water", not muffs) is about 1400 rpm (drops to about 1100 in forward gear). I'm assuming there is a way to adjust or change this.... I'm not sure how or what and rather it has any effect on the above sync settings... which should be adjusted first?

Second, starting at 1 1/2 turns out the motor is already spitting and sputtering. I have to back the needle out about 2 turns for it to run good and then do the above adjustment procedure. Doing so yields it's best "setting" to be about 1 3/4 turn out. Is this normal? Does it have anything to do with the sync and / or idle speed?

Next is timing... The book says to get the RPM's above 3500 and then set to 30 degrees. Several problems... First and foremost I can't really do this cause I don't have a dock to tie off to. My "bucket 'o water" would never hold up (or rather keep in) in forward gear at that high of an RPM.

Besides that though, it doesn't quit make any sense. I see the point where it says I would "adjust" the timing.. The "stop"... But the "timing advance mechanism" (the part that turns as the throttle is advanced) doesn't even HIT that stop until EXACTLY full throttle. Is that normal? It doesn't seem like it to me. Shouldn't it get to that point before? (i.e. at least by 3500 rpm as the book states?)

I know I'm asking a lot of questions here, and all relatively disconnected... I'm just trying to pull all this together and figure out how to go about getting this thing running properly... I can't help but feel like I'm missing some things and it's effecting me being able to get this thing running properly...

*Edit* Almost forgot... One other thing I noticed... When I advance the throttle the butterfly opens normally as expected... However, as I move to full throttle the butterfly goes BEYOND horizontal (full open) and continues on till it's probably close to half way shut again... Is this normal or is this yet another adjustment I need to make???

Can someone please try their best to explain all of the adjustments and which order they should be done in? You have no idea how much I would truely appreciate it!

Thanks in advance...

Greg"

"The carb roller to the cam ma

"The carb roller to the cam marks You seem to have gotten right.
Then the stopper on the rod. Put engine in forward gear, but not running. Give full throttle. Adjust the stopper on the rod so the carb plate is 99+% open. Be sure it does not get more.
Go back to idle and neutral. The stopper might now be about 1" away from the vertical arm!
Launch the boat, or have the gearcase in a barrel with water level similar to when the boat is launched.
Start the engine and let it run at lowest possible rpm in neutral. If needed, adjust the trunnion on the throttle cable from the tiller to get it lower, and be sure the knob at the end of tiller arm is all the way out. Start with idle mix screw about 2 turns out, then slowly adjust it in 1/8 turn, and wait for the engine to run stable. Do not change throttle during this. When engine obtains its max rpm when adjusting only the mix screw, go back 1/4-1/2 turn. Now readjust the throttle again to the lowest possible rpm the engine will run at, and re-adjust the idle mix screw.
Then adjust the throttle cable so engine runs at lowest possible rpm with adjustment knob all way out. If correctly done, engine will probably run about 650-700 in neutral. Try to screw the adjustment knob on tiller all the way in, and rpm should go up to about 1200.
Launch the boat and do a sea trial, and if needed final mix adjustments.
If You have not messed with the max timing stopper, forget about it."

"first of all seloc ---- waste

"first of all seloc ---- waste of money....it is too vague ---- covers too many models and years. you need a factory manual.

the throttle lever should go to the stop at wide open throttle......and to the idle stop at idle (im assuming it has one, im not familiar with your eng)

if you set the timing at wide open throttle as the book states you will have to do it going across the water or there is another process you can do at home if you have elec start....it should hit that stop right at your max rpm, that means it is set correctly

the butterflies inside your carb should open horizontal....they should not open so far they start to close in the opposite direction

you will not be able to adjust your carbs properly until you bring the idle down.

the carb opening too soon is related to the butterfly problem....the follower should not touch the cam at idle....im not familiar with your eng but there should be an adjustment at the carb for sync....if you have moved the connector that moves the link you need to set it back and make the adjustment at the carb.

have you taken the carb off at some point and/or messed with the synchronization?"

sorry morten didnt know you ha

sorry morten didnt know you had posted....i had to keep going back and reading it .

it sounded to me like he made the adjustment at the rod that connects the cam to the throttle lever...isnt the adjustment supposed to be made at the carb linkage?.......ofcourse i could be way off im thinking of my eng

"Roller to cam should be made

"Roller to cam should be made on carb limkage, full throttle opening on 'rod'. For people using the engine for trolling, it may sometimes be needed to 'adjust' the carb to cam position slightly 'off' to make the engine run smooth in that area.
It is to notice that all settings and adjustments are general, and some tolerances due to engine tear and wear has to be taken into considerations. But never should the butterflies be set to open more than 99+%!!!"

"Thanks so much for all the he

"Thanks so much for all the help! That info is a huge help and really helps me "get it"... Everything kinda clicked after reading that. I'm gonna try to get out and do a little work on it this afternoon and hopefully will get it al worked out.

One thing I'm not quite getting, but it's hard to visualize so I may just be thinking wrong... If I open up to full throttle and adjust the "stopper" so the butterfly is only 99%, then it would seem to me that the throttle (butterfly) won't start to move till much later (hence your own statement of the stopper being possibly an inch away at idle.

That's fine, but then won't that throw off the "sync"? The sync adjustment says to adjust it so that the throttle arm just starts to move as the cam follower is between the two marks... The timing plate (think that's the proper term) will continue to move exactly with the throttle, but now the butterfly won't move till much later.. So it reasons to me that after the above adjustment the cam follower will be WELL past the two marks before the butterfly ever starts to move ???

I realize the "sync" adjustment is made on the carb arm, but I guess I'm thinking that adjustment isn't "large" enough to get it back to where it needs to be afterwards.. LOL... No sense in sitting here confusing myself... Might as well just go give it a whirl!

Again, maybe I'm just not thinking it clearly.. I'll have to go out and give it a good look / trial and see what happens...

Also, I hear ya about the SELOC manual... as I've discovered it's pretty crapy.. wish I had know that before I ordered!

Anyway, I've ordered a factory manual now, so hopefully that will help a lot too!"

"Just open the link screw at t

"Just open the link screw at the carb so that the arm/roller pin is loose relative to the carb plate. Increase throttle so the cam moves and the pin is just between the marks, but no movement on the butterfly. Tighten the link screw!!! If You now increase throttle, the cam and roller will start open the carb slightly and at the same time timing will be advanced."

"I just wanted to thank you ag

"I just wanted to thank you again SO MUCH for your help. After your explaination I just went out and followed that process. Everything went perfectly! My idle screw is about 1 1/2 turns out to be perfect. The butterfly is "almost" (99%) open at WOT. The cam follower actually FOLOWS the cam now where as previously it was lifting off right at the marks.

And the best part? I'm idling down at 700rpm (in barrel) in neutral and drops to about 600rpm in forward gear. She purrs along perfectly now and throttle response seems 1000 times better.

FWIW I have to give a little testimonial here. Twice now I've had questions about this motor and I've asked both here and on another "popular" forum. Each time this forums has had nothing but helpful responses. The other forum seemed to generate either a "smart-arse" answer (i.e. "Rotate that third picture 90 degrees and I'll actually look at it and answer") or the standard "I'm not bothering to explain, just buy the service manual"... Okay great, I did buy the manual, but I'd rather not wait 3 weeks for it to arrive to try to get my motor running properly.

Anyway, point is, it's nice to know there are people out there like yourselves who actually want to help people rather than being arrogant.

Thanks again!!!"

"Ohh yeah, one more question..

"Ohh yeah, one more question... I think I know the answer but just wanted to check... I'm sure the timing advance stop is probably fine, but just in case I'd still like to verify it.

I don't exactly savior the thought of hanging over the back of the boat (especially since it's tiller controlled) at WOT trying to see where the timing is... Sure it can be done, it just seems a little crazy to me... LOL...

I've seen the "trick" where you can pull the plugs and turn it over with an electric starter at WOT and check it. Makes perfect sense to me, it's going to fire the plug at the right time regardless of the actual RPM the engine is turning.

But here's my question... I don't have electric start, only rope start... Could I do the same procedure but by having them pull the rope start? I can't really see any reason it wouldn't work but I'm not sure.. I know you'd only have a split second each pull to really see the timing, but I think it might work, especially in lower lighting.

The only reason I'm really concerned about this is just the fact that given how badly adjusted everything else was I'm guessing the previous owner had tried to "tweak" this thing and had no clue what he was doing. Makes me wonder if he might have tried to adjust the stop as well..."

"A pleasure to make people hap

"A pleasure to make people happy boating.
As for the max timing, leave it. The risk is bigger that You miss and gets far out than that You already are far out. Launch and give a sea test first."