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8HP Johnson 1991 J8REIA Fixable or break up for parts?

Edchris177

Regular Contributor
I have a smooth running ‘94 Evinrude 8Hp, but have been on the lookout for a spare prop.
I came across a farmer who had tossed this ‘91 Johnson 8HP in the scrap pile. Said he lost the water pump & overheated. Sat in his shop for a couple years, his kid went to look at it & said it was seized, so it was being thrown out.
Seized or not, it was worth what he settled for, a few beer tokens, or the cost of a used prop.
Took it home, sprayed some fogging oil in the spark plug holes, & it pulled over easily. Turned out he had it in reverse gear when he showed me it was seized...of course it wouldn’t turn over.
I tested for spark, no joy. However, the kill switch looked broken, so I put the multi-meter on, sure enough, no circuit. Wobbled the kill switch around & got continuity & it will jump blue spark across 1/2” gap on my home made tester.
Ignition seems good, so I decided to go deeper. Compression seemed low, (60psi both jugs), but when I tested my 4 stroke pressure washer, it also read 60! And that engine starts runs fine. WTH... two bad compression gauges in a row?
I pulled the head, gasket looked OK, but I don’t know the significance of those bubbles, which are on both sides.Nor the grungy stuff surrounding the thermostat, it seems metallic.
It appears there was some sort of ring surrounding the thermostat, but it now corroded.
It definitely got hot, see the discolouration on the head paint.
The head is definitely warped somewhat, I can just slide an .005” feeler under a straightedge, near the Center of the head.
This kicker shares many parts with my ‘94, both are Belgium made. I don’t like to break it up if it’s a good motor.
Thoughts on repair?
At minimum, I will need a new kill switch, & gaskets for head & inner/outerexhaust cover, & probably a carb clean.
 

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Here is the bottom end, what I was originally interested in, prop has no dings.
It doesn’t seem like it’s seen much use, the original owner said they used it one week a year, believable, the pinstripes are still on the leg.
I pulled the drain plug, no water came out, though the oil was pretty dark.
 

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Here are the cylinder walls & piston top. I cannot see any scoring. Hard to hold light, camera.
Motor is fresh water, everything came apart easy.
 

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Is it worthwhile to attempt fixing this kicker...or should I just part it out?
Once they are overheated enough to brown the paint, are they usually beyond repair?
 
UPDATE: Posted to encourage others who may have overheated their kicker. Just because your motor is now D.O.A., it might not be a death sentence. Resurrection can happen!
This motor got hot, really hot, but decking the head brought back compression, & you can see from the previous photos, the rings, bores, & pistons looked OK.
Photos in this thread, http://www.marineengine.com/boat-fo...ow-much-does-a-warped-head-affect-compression
This motor appears to have had little use, the factory sticker was still on the carb, along with the pinstripes on the lower unit. I asked Racerone’s opinion, he thought it was worth saving, so I spent a few $.
I got the impeller, entire thermostat assembly, & the kill switch replaced.
Full Disclosure- I didn’t personally do any of that. I dropped it off at Racerone’s place, he has all the parts on hand, & knows how to do it.
Picked the motor up last week, tested it in a barrel, then put it in my 14’ Jon boat. There was black crap leaking out of the exhaust, I think the previous owner had used it a lot for trolling. I ran it full throttle for 1/2 hr, cleaned that mess out.
The one thing I did discover, & hadn’t noticed earlier was the twist throttle was wonky, 1st third of travel was fine, but then it seemed to bind.
I undid the throttle cable, & it was smooth, so that wasn’t the issue. Hooked it back up, then started looking closely at all the moving parts as it went to full throttle.
A-Ha. When the previous owner overheated it, it got hot enough to melt the pivot point of the THROTTLE ADVANCE LEVER,(#40 in the parts diagram).

Instead of rotating as you twist the throttle, because the boss was melted, the lever “rolled” sideways, causing the twist grip to bind, & the throttle not to fully advance. I considered JB welding & trying to fix it because
this critical part is no longer in existence, not here, or Evinrude Canada. I scrounged one, installed, (this is where the factory manual was critical), EUREKA, full smooth throttle.
The other issue was the kill switch. The original was broken off at the little tabs that hold the lanyard.
Racer had one, but I was overseas, & he wasn’t sure I wanted to pay for it, so didn’t install it.
I took it, (cause his price was way less then what they list a new one for).
He explained about tying a line to the old one before you pulled the wires out, so you had a means to pull the new wires back through the sheath.
However, upon close observation of the replacement switch, (and being one who leans to the easiest way), these switches bear close resemblance to many automotive switches. There are a couple of small “tits” that actually hold the switch together.
Its actually two pieces that snap together. One part contains the little red buttons, but that’s all it does. The other part is the sealed unit, with a push button that actually makes the connection to ground out the ignition. Using a small flat head screwdriver, in the orientation shown, you can easily split the two pieces.
The RED “button” can then simply be pushed out, inserted into the original fitting, & the two parts snapped back together.
No fishing wires, or splicing if your working pull had the wires cut.
Obviously, this won’t work if the actual sealed switch is bad, but that’s easy to test with a multimeter. If it’s only the “red button”, this makes the job about 10 minutes. You only have to undo the 3 Phillips screws underneath the tiller handle, remove the cover plate, then 2 screws that hold the switch.
Ill make a separate post, with appropriate title, so it shows up when others search for Kill Switch Replace.
It starts 1 pull, pushed my 14’ Jon boat at full plane. I paid $100 for the motor, to use as parts for my other 8hp, but upon inspection/consultation, it seemed to good to part out.

 
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