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popping,no power under load, & a lot of oil burning johnson 115 v4 2 stroke

Z

zedmin

New member
Hello all, I'm new to this forum & hope you can help me.

The outboard shakes, burps oil out the tail pipe every 25-45 seconds, sputters.
Can only move at 2000 rpm.
Had no power on 1/2 throttle & up in the water.
The boat is new to me & my 1st 2 stroke.

This is what I done so far-
Replaced the plastic fuel bowls(had cracks) & carb. rebuild kits.
Rebuilt the carbs the plastic parts, didn't touch the throttle plates & mounts.
New fuel line with primer bulb.
New water pump
New plugs

Hooked a temp gas can with fresh gas- still no go
Bypassed the VRO & mix the gas 50:1

She idles & starts up easy, but the oil fouls the plugs
I have 120 psi on each cylinder.

I'm out of ideas & appreciate any help.
 
Since you're premixing the fuel/oil to a a 50/1 mixture.... clamp off the oil supply to the VRO.

Drain the excessive oil out of the carburetors.

Go thru the normal premix start up procedure. It may take awhile to get rid of the oil in the crankcase.

Let us know what happens.
 
Hi joereeves, I did clamp off the VRO & let her run for about 15 minutes going from idle to 2000 rpm with water muffs.
Hi racerone, I did do a compression test 120 psi each cylinder except 1 was 128 psi

I just found out the plugs in the motor is QL82C & this site calls for QL78YC.
I wouldn't think this would be an issue??
 
It's a J115ELECM.
Yes there's thermostats installed, that reminds me 1 side of the motor was cold & the other was warm, after running for 15 minutes or so.
 
Sounds like it may not be getting spark on all cylinders. They will run all day on muffs on 2 or 3 cylinders. I would also double check that clamp on the VRO, pulsing oil sure sounds like the VRO.
 
I swapped the plug wires around.
Bought a plastic tub filled it with water, started her up & let her warm up.
Still runs like crap, oil burning, motor running rough & a knocking/rattle.

Right side get hot on the heads, left side is warm.

I could swap the thermostats?

Right plugs brown & a little wet.
left plugs brown & wet.

Could it be the coils & rectifier?

Ran it at 1200 rpm & brought her up to 2000 rpm+ , doesn't sound good at all, rattling.
This is sill with the vro bypassed & gas oil mix.

BTW a lot of oil scum in water.

Any of your thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Does spark jump a gap of at least 3/8" ( 1 cm ) on all leads, yes or no ?----Re the rattling , check the gear oil for metal lumps.----The orange / blue stripe wire should go to the top cylinder #1 on starboard and #2 on port side.
 
How can that engine be "oil burning" if you're pre-mixing and have eliminated the VRO?

The only oil available to the engine would be what you're adding to the gasoline... and that should be 1 pint of 50/1 oil to 6 gallons of gasoline (50/1).
 
Hello all, I went out purchased an adjustable spark tester & set it to 25.
Warm up the motor & connected 1 plug wire at a time to the tester.
When the boat 1st starts up I get great sparking, then it slows down & then starts missing/skipping out on sparks when warmed up.
I did this on all 4 cylinders & same result.
Is this the coils or rectifier, or???
Going to try to attach a video.

https://youtu.be/joi7SP6-1mA

I ended up grinding some paint off to get a good ground & same result.
The other side I was able to screw down the ground.

https://youtu.be/R7-_80dG1x4
 
Fumes (Carbon Dioxide) will do more than get you a bit sick... It'll get you a bit dead!

Saying the pointer on the fuel primer solenoid is "pointing down" doesn't do it!... It needs to be pointing at the other end of the solenoid.
 
You got spark issues brother. Nice looking motor. Good compression. Primer solenoid correct. If it was my motor I would start with a good spark diagnostics. First suspect might be stator, then power pack. Don't run it anymore, there is unburned fuel going through your gonna get sick.
 
primer.jpg
The engine is going to run rough the way your testing it as its only running on 3 cylinders. You need a DVA tester to check stator output. Also shade the optical sensor when testing as ambient light can effect it..The spark really don't look that bad in my opinion.....
 
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I hoping this will help pinpoint whats going on.
Forgot, the primer is pointing down.
Checked the quick connects on wires, all seem fine.
Click to expand...

I don't think, that it depends on quick connects at all.
 
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You can see clearly that the spark is coming and going that tells me that we have some spark problems when the spark hits it is strong but it is intermittent, however.
 
Yes that adapter should work fine. There is testing procedures found at CDI electronics in their free online service manual. If you don't want a new stator there are tested used ones available. Tim's Outboard in Hackensack Minnesota should have one. Their number is 218 682 2331
 
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Hello all, I ran a DVA test to the orange wires on the coil packs around 190
Ran the motor, disconnected the black & yellow ignition stop wire & still same issues.
Disconnected the yellow wires to rectifier still same issue.
Did notice the yellow wires had a slight burnt tinge at connectors.
I pulled the stator out & can't find the correct info on bench testing it.
I have ohm reading of 1 on the yellow wires.
Shouldn't the large yellow wires have some ohm reading?
None of the windings look bad on the stator.

Should the timing be 20 degrees at idle? Selock book not helping.
My timing is 8 degrees

Any ideas?
 
OK, I replaced the stator, coils, power pack, optical sensor, plugs & wires.
Still same issue.
This must be in SLOW mode
I came across people in forums having issues with the blocking diode.
Where's it located in the wire harness?
Or how can the SLOW mode be bypassed?
The VRO is connected with wires.
When I was on the lake, I unplugged the port side brown with white wire & still no difference.

Any Ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
Update, I found the blocking diode, it's .542 in one direction only.
The VRO is all reconnected.
Should I disconnect the wires on the VRO ??
Any ideas?? I'm almost out of ideas.

The previous owner had someone wire in a radio & it blew out the 1st day he had it installed.
I removed all the jacked up wires & went new wires to a separate battery for the radio.

My last idea is to disconnect the tan wire that goes to the power pack. (would that remove all alarms, temp sensors, oil sensors & etc.?)

The noise I had was a sticky Bendix starter, cleaned & lubed now.

Help please.
 
One question, you stated above your temps are high on one side, have you replaced the therms yet? Any sensor not functioning properly will affect the ecm and force it to try and correct the issue. I scratched my head for two days until I realized one side wasn't closing to build heat and the vac adv wasn't shutting down. Motor ran just as you described, culprit was a small rock in therm spring, fixed that and ran like a top. Another issue could be the vro dumping if your still using the gas side for fuel delivery. Since they are now component and not rebuildable, and add the fact your already mixing the gas, why not eliminate it completely and install the aftermarket fuel pump? If you have removed the oil supply line and blocked off properly then that isn't an issue. It can't be getting oil like others have stated above if there is no oil supply. My bets on the therms/temp sensor, there are only a handful to cause issues with that motor IIRC so I'd concentrate there. It really sounds like the vac advance isn't doing it's thing properly due to a sensor fault
 
Hello Tikitech, I had the VRO completely blocked on oil line & wires disconnected, still the same problem.
Now VRO oil lines connected & wires disconnected.
The thermostats aren't replaced yet, both side warmed up, just one side warmed up about 4 or 5 minutes before the other.(just felt the heads by hand, I don't have a laser thermometer)

I gave throttle 2 minutes after cold start. Not enough time to fully warm out, still no go over 2200 rpm & shakes

Now I disconnect the tan wire leading to the power pack & all wires leading to VRO pump. VRO mixing oil with gas. (using boat gas tank not temp tank either one same issue)
Temp sensors disconnected also.

NOW today I smell gas & have gas around the motor. in the water, holey moley the oil cloud too.

I checked the gas lines a few weeks ago, all looked good & connectors tight.
I did top off the tank today with 100% gas.
Checked the vent line & seems to be fine no clogs.

Ran the boat, felt the primer bulb & was hard.

Bad vapor tank or gasket??

Still can't get over 2200 RPM & shakes like hell.

I don't know what to do.

I thought It was in SLOW mode.

Now smells like mechanical issues instead??
 
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