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Getting the boat ready for the season!

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aaronbloyer

New member
Well it's that time of year again, getting the ole boat ready for the year!! And you know what that means! CRABS! Haha anyway I have a question about my boat motor that I've been working on and I figured that you guys would be a help! I have a 1996 60 hp johnson outboard on a 17.2 ft key west center console which I'm in love with! So today my buddy and I decided to de winterize it and we changed the spark plugs and put some sea foam in the gas tank along with fresh 10 gallons. We also took all 3 carbs off and opened them up and sprayed them out with carb cleaner then used compressed air to get anything we missed. Next we replaced the gaskets on all the carbs, not a total rebuild. When we put everything back together we started it back up and it ran good for a bit then shut off so I thought it just needed gas so I pumped the throttle 4 times and started it back up it ran for about 5-10 minutes with the throttle half way up not in idle. As we put it in idle it stalled out again so I restarted it and put it in neutral to see if I could shift it into gear. When I did it stalled again. So we adjusted the idle knobs on the carbs a few times and nothing seemed to work... If anyone can figure it out or give me some pointers on why it isn't working please let me know! Thanks!
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
How much old gas was in the tank? How did you adjust the slow needles on the carbs? Count the turns in clockwise to lightly seated see where they are. Then turn them out 1 1/2 turns preadjust and see if it idles. Did you run the engine out of fuel or drain the float bowls before you put it in storage? If you do that after each use the carbs will stay clean. You can try draining the carbs and with the primer bulb fill the carbs with seafoam and let sit overnight. The next day connect the fuel tank and turn the water on then start it and run it around 3000 rpms until the smoke show stops and see how she idles. It could be poor fuel or dirty jets or both If you have good compression and spark and still have issues the carbs need a thorough cleaning/rebuild. Is the VRO working properly maybe replace the pulse tube and spray carb cleaner in the pulse limiter on the crankcase?
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Today I replaced the fuel filter and rebuilt and cleaned carb 1. That's all I had time to do today. So I started it up with the throttle wide open and it started just fine but a lot of smoke! So I messed more with the idle screws turning them all the way in and backing them out 1.5 turns each. So them I pulled the throttle down again to the idle position and it turned off. Did this 3 times nothing seemed to be working!! It's so aggravating!! All I did was clean the carbs out and put new spark plugs! How in the world is it not even running better?!?!? I'm not a happy boater right now!
 
And also how do you rebuild this kind of carb! Can someone tell me why I have a few parts left over? I used a new float, a new little tiny piston under the float along with the little metal hook piece, also used a new screw in the float holder what's that brass thing called, and I used a new gasket with the brass screw in, new gaskets for the bowl, and new gasket for the top end, and a new gasket for the main jet that sits under the float. I have 2 little metal circles left and a few other things I'm not sure if they go with my johnson or a evinrude because the kits say for Johnson and evinrudes. Am I missing anything else that I need to replace?
 
Today I cleaned carb one again because my grandfather wanted to see how they looked but I told him I already cleaned the other ones. When we put everything back together we started it up and it idled for about 10 seconds then shut off and I couldn't get it to idle anymore! What's up with that? We also messed with the idle adjustments again doing the 1.5 turns and then going from there and didn't seem to work again...
 
Two things....on the top of the carb, you have a plastic cap. Remove that cap, look down into those pockets, and notice the very tiny holes in the bottom that pass thru to the venturi bore. Clean those holes so you can see thru them.

Secondly, make sure that center round ring gasket is in place and not torn on the tube that sticks down into the bowl. That round gasket MUST seal or you will not draw fuel up into the carb from the bowl.
 
In post #1 you say you " pumped the throttle 4 times "------These caburetors do not have accelerator pumps , so pumping the throttle does nothing and may cause damage to the control box !
 
daselbee said:
Two things....on the top of the carb, you have a plastic cap. Remove that cap, look down into those pockets, and notice the very tiny holes in the bottom that pass thru to the venturi bore. Clean those holes so you can see thru them.

Secondly, make sure that center round ring gasket is in place and not torn on the tube that sticks down into the bowl. That round gasket MUST seal or you will not draw fuel up into the carb from the bowl.
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My carbs couldn't get any cleaner I promise everyone that haha today I went out and bought a separate gas tank with fuel line and did the gas mix and the boat idled for longer than normal but it kept shutting off. The ball was hard the whole time so I know that my fuel line is good. It just won't stay idling! Any help is still appreciated!
 
What results do you get from a compression test ?---What happens when you turn idle mixture screws out 2 full turns ?
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
Pump on the primer bulb as you drop engine rpms if the engine stays running you have fuel pump issues? Try putting a portable fuel tank the same level as the engine and see if it idles if so your fuel pump is not able to keep the carbs primed either due to a wek pulse or a weak VRO. Alot of guys converting to premix anyways just to protect the motor. Give that a shot if the engine runs good by lifting the tank that is your problem.
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I did did get a new tank and fresh gas and fresh oil and it started and ran just like it does now but it would idle maybe for 10-15 seconds and shut off while the ball was still hard I really don't think the fuel pump is bad in it...
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
Cool glad you got it running good now what did you determine it was?
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Im not saying I fixed it I'm saying I didn't have to pick the tank up it pulled fuel into the carbs without me having to keep priming the ball. It still turns on but only idles for 10-15 seconds and then dies so my thinking is that the idle screws are messed up and not synced up. I've tried putting them all the way in and backing them out 1.5 and then half turns to them and nothing is working and it won't idle but it will run with the throttle half way up!
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
We cannot help you if your not willing to do things you wont test the compression it dont matter until we see compression numbers we have our hands tied. It could be alot of things start from the beginning. Compression, spark gap, engine sync then fuel in that order!
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You guys have been a huge help and I know where to go for anything else I need! But I've tried everything except the compression test and it's all helped just hasn't made it run the way it used too. I have a guy helping me out on either Monday or Tuesday (my birthday) haha and he will do a compression test and hopefully get it running. I didn't want to use someone but if I can't get the boat running correctly with you guys and all the help from you gonna need some to look at it in person but thanks for the help everyone I've learned a ton in the past week! Lol I'll keep you posted with what happens on Monday or Tuesday!
 
See post #8. Ha ha....

I think you better check again. You are running out of fuel in the idle circuits. The brass pickup tubes coming down from center of carb are suspect also.
When this thing starts, you have to push the key in as if it was a cold engine, right? It then runs on that primed fuel, and then runs out.

Listen to me or not, check the idle circuits in the carbs again.
 
is that the brass screw under the float pin that is as small as a needle or is the main jet that goes into the bowl? i replaced the brass screw that holds the little pin and the float in carb 1 but did not replace them in 2 and 3. but i still cleaned them out perfectly on all of them.
 
aaronbloyer said:
is that the brass screw under the float pin that is as small as a needle or is the main jet that goes into the bowl? i replaced the brass screw that holds the little pin and the float in carb 1 but did not replace them in 2 and 3. but i still cleaned them out perfectly on all of them.
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Are you talking to me? If so, no, it is neither. If you don't know where these holes are, you have missed them.
The descripti0n of where they are is in post #8.

These holes are tiny, maybe .005". I use welding tip cleaner wires to open them up.
 
I don't know anything about that particular engine, but if that's not a classic description of a stuck carb needle I don't know what is. You need to take the bowl off and see why the needle is sticking, in this case, closed.
 
aaronbloyer said:
You guys have been a huge help and I know where to go for anything else I need! But I've tried everything except the compression test and it's all helped just hasn't made it run the way it used too. I have a guy helping me out on either Monday or Tuesday (my birthday) haha and he will do a compression test and hopefully get it running. I didn't want to use someone but if I can't get the boat running correctly with you guys and all the help from you gonna need some to look at it in person but thanks for the help everyone I've learned a ton in the past week! Lol I'll keep you posted with what happens on Monday or Tuesday!
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So I just dropped my boat off to this guy that works on only Johnson's really nice older guy. He said he would call me in the morning to pick it up. He did a compression test and said everything sounded really good so it has to be in the carbs, he said he would take em apart tonight and it would be ready tomorrow. Also he's changing my lower unit oil because I couldn't get either screw off..
 
aaronbloyer said:
So I just dropped my boat off to this guy that works on only Johnson's really nice older guy. He said he would call me in the morning to pick it up. He did a compression test and said everything sounded really good so it has to be in the carbs, he said he would take em apart tonight and it would be ready tomorrow. Also he's changing my lower unit oil because I couldn't get either screw off..
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Boats fixed! Thank you all. Mechanic said that the first carb the float was way off and it was flooding the engine which makes sense, also the carbs were not in sink! I guess I screwed it all up. I'm obviously not a mechanic! Haha!
 
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