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1955 , 5.5 hp johnson water impeller change

Rholsing5

New member
Hi all, I'm I've recently purchased a a 14' lone star boat and it came with a 5.5hp johnson. I believe it to be a '55? I've not figured out how to find that out for sure yet. Any how, he'd not started it for at least 5 years and it sat outside on the back of the boat during that time! I pulled the motor and put it on a stand and tested for spark. It had great spark!! I cleaned the carb , pit the motor down in a tub of water, well below the pick up screen and gave her a yank. It fired first pull after sitting 5 yrs!! I was stoked, until I seen it wasn't pumping water. I've purchased a new impeller and am currently trying to find the o-ring and cork gasket needed in there as well but I'm having trouble locally with that, any suggestions? I'd like to change all the lower gaskets, so I was thinking there may be a complete lower gasket kit available? What type and weight of oil do I need to put in the gear case?
My local marina told me to use a 50:1 fuel mix in it but I read another post that said a 24:1 mix is needed instead. Any help with these issues would be much appreciated. I'm new to boating , as this is my first and am trying to get this going to take my boys fishing yet this fall. Thanks ,Rick
 
Use 24:1 on that motor.-----They made many of those motors and a lot of them are still in service,----Your local dealer should be able to help with the parts.
 
Use 24:1 on that motor.-----They made many of those motors and a lot of them are still in service,----Your local dealer should be able to help with the parts.

Thanks for the quick info. My local dealer doesn't have books or info back that far. The guy actually laughed at me when I told him the year. I've found several parts on this sight though. Thanks, Rick.
 
Use the parts diagrams from this site for part numbers.

http://www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php

You can order them here or at least tell your dealer the part number and he should be able to acquire the part by order. The parts are readily available. There is an impeller kit but I doubt it comes with the cork seal and O-ring. I am assuming the cork seal and O-ring are from the 6 or so parts just under the powerhead. You should also get a powerhead to exhaust gasket for when you put the powerhead back on.

By the way, you said the motor was submerged well below the intake screen. It needs to be at least submerged so that the water is about 3 inches above the 4 bolts that bolt the lower unit to the mid-section. That is where the water pump sits and the pump is not self-priming.

If your motor is a 1955 it should have a model number of CD-12 on the transom mount. If it is CD-13 then the motor is a 1956, etc., except the 1954 is a CD-10 just to confuse things. Anyway, if you model number is different, let us know what it is and we can tell you the model year.
 
Use the parts diagrams from this site for part numbers.

http://www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php

You can order them here or at least tell your dealer the part number and he should be able to acquire the part by order. The parts are readily available. There is an impeller kit but I doubt it comes with the cork seal and O-ring. I am assuming the cork seal and O-ring are from the 6 or so parts just under the powerhead. You should also get a powerhead to exhaust gasket for when you put the powerhead back on.

By the way, you said the motor was submerged well below the intake screen. It needs to be at least submerged so that the water is about 3 inches above the 4 bolts that bolt the lower unit to the mid-section. That is where the water pump sits and the pump is not self-priming.

If your motor is a 1955 it should have a model number of CD-12 on the transom mount. If it is CD-13 then the motor is a 1956, etc., except the 1954 is a CD-10 just to confuse things. Anyway, if you model number is different, let us know what it is and we can tell you the model year.



Hey, thanks! Yeah it says CD-12 on the tag. So that helps a lot, thanks! I'll check out the link you sent. I'm not sure if I had it that deep in the water though I'll have to check that. I know it was just above the big wing above the prop. So maybe I'll try deeper. There is a little bit of play in the prop from side to side. Is this normal? I'm thinking the bearing might be shot? Maybe replace the seals around that shaft as well? I was told an 85-90w gear oil is sufficient , thoughts? Thanks!
 
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