Vikingfjord
New member
Hello! Im in desperate seek of help! Ive got at 1989 johnson 120hp with some serious problems. Before I aquired it, it had sat for an uknown amount years... Since the engine status was completely unknown, we started with the simple stuff, like checking wires and that it was not missing anything important. Previous owner had lost the keys, so a new ignition switch was aquired. Then, the water pump and impeller was replaced. The spark plugs were said to be new when the engine was stored away, but I did not know if new meant 20 years? Anyways, they were changed in to a couple of new ngk plugs. We could now try to start it(exciting!) The engine started! We were overjoyed. It ran quite bad, and smoking heavy. But at least it ran. It was then mounted to the boat(a 17ft speedboat) and prepped for the water. When I tried to start it mounted to the boat, it wouldnt even fire a bit. Then discovered a loose wire(a brown and a white cable were the brown had popped out of the contact) with this connected it fired right up, and ran seemingly good(still smoking a bit tho). Went to the water and put the boat out. It fired up after a few atempts. Took it out in open sea to test the throttle response. Set the throttle to full, but the engine needed a few seconds for it to react(seemed like drowning almoast). Then it took of like a bullet 
. Ran it for aprox. 10-15 minutes when it suddenly died. It seemed like an electrical shortage due to the sudden stop, but that is not guaranteed. Got a tow back into the marina, and when I took the enginecover of, I discovered that the ignition advancing screw was completely unscrewed. Back on land the plugs was checked, good spark on all four, but it wouldnt start... Had the carbs of and cleaned them(did not aply new gaskets) floats adjusted aswell. Still didnt start... Had my neighbor, who is what you can call a mechanical mastermind(suprisingly not a huge fan of old outboards) take the flywheel off to check the ignition setting. All seemed good. Moved the ground cable to a better spot due to very slow cranking speed. Still wouldnt start. Removed one plug to increase the turning speed, and it fired right up. After tinkering with the ignition adjustment screw, I finally got it running on all four. It ran bad, smoking and puking oil/fuel out the exhaust. Now during easter, a new attempt was done. Started suprisingly easy! Ran like crap tho... Went to the sea to test it in water, and running it for a longer period of time. When it started in the water, it covered the entire watersurface with smoke, oil and fuel. Something is not right. It took 15-20 start atempts to get it running in the water btw. It stalled after about 5 mins of medium throttle. (Will not idle by it self...) inspected the plugs, three were full of oil, and the fourth was brown and completely dry. Turned the engine over a few turns with the plugs out to get fuel out of the cylinders. Put the plugs back in (different placement this time). And now it will not start at all. It fires instant, but seemingly not correct as it just leaves the starter spinning. What I cant figure out: is this a fuel or ignition related problem??? I can feel a mental breakdown coming to me caused by this engine... Can someone please help me?!
. Ran it for aprox. 10-15 minutes when it suddenly died. It seemed like an electrical shortage due to the sudden stop, but that is not guaranteed. Got a tow back into the marina, and when I took the enginecover of, I discovered that the ignition advancing screw was completely unscrewed. Back on land the plugs was checked, good spark on all four, but it wouldnt start... Had the carbs of and cleaned them(did not aply new gaskets) floats adjusted aswell. Still didnt start... Had my neighbor, who is what you can call a mechanical mastermind(suprisingly not a huge fan of old outboards) take the flywheel off to check the ignition setting. All seemed good. Moved the ground cable to a better spot due to very slow cranking speed. Still wouldnt start. Removed one plug to increase the turning speed, and it fired right up. After tinkering with the ignition adjustment screw, I finally got it running on all four. It ran bad, smoking and puking oil/fuel out the exhaust. Now during easter, a new attempt was done. Started suprisingly easy! Ran like crap tho... Went to the sea to test it in water, and running it for a longer period of time. When it started in the water, it covered the entire watersurface with smoke, oil and fuel. Something is not right. It took 15-20 start atempts to get it running in the water btw. It stalled after about 5 mins of medium throttle. (Will not idle by it self...) inspected the plugs, three were full of oil, and the fourth was brown and completely dry. Turned the engine over a few turns with the plugs out to get fuel out of the cylinders. Put the plugs back in (different placement this time). And now it will not start at all. It fires instant, but seemingly not correct as it just leaves the starter spinning. What I cant figure out: is this a fuel or ignition related problem??? I can feel a mental breakdown coming to me caused by this engine... Can someone please help me?!