Clinton J9 resurrection

Hello, new member here. My father in law handed over his '59 or '60 Clinton J9. In the 38 years I've known him, it has seen very little use as it ran very poorly. He finally sent it home with me when it failed to turn over at all.

I'm not going to throw a fortune into it, but I got the rings unstuck with minimal effort with my breaker bar and a few hours of ATF soaking. It has decent compression, I can't hand turn enough to get a reading but it sounds decent. The impeller is crumbled and torn to nubs so I'll order a new one. The carb is so varnished that I am going to have to tank it. The plug is rusty and worn so will be replaced. And the lower unit doesn't have lube, it has tar, so it will also be flushed.

I've gotten this far today with just an illustrated parts list, but I'm ready to start putting things back together. Does anyone have a link or a copy of a J9 service manual I could use to get this little motor tuned properly? It's also missing the throttle ball, is there an easy substitute? Thanks in advance.

VikkiP said:

Hello, new member here. My father in law handed over his '59 or '60 Clinton J9. In the 38 years I've known him, it has seen very little use as it ran very poorly. He finally sent it home with me when it failed to turn over at all.

I'm not going to throw a fortune into it, but I got the rings unstuck with minimal effort with my breaker bar and a few hours of ATF soaking. It has decent compression, I can't hand turn enough to get a reading but it sounds decent. The impeller is crumbled and torn to nubs so I'll order a new one. The carb is so varnished that I am going to have to tank it. The plug is rusty and worn so will be replaced. And the lower unit doesn't have lube, it has tar, so it will also be flushed.

I've gotten this far today with just an illustrated parts list, but I'm ready to start putting things back together. Does anyone have a link or a copy of a J9 service manual I could use to get this little motor tuned properly? It's also missing the knob on the throttle handle, is there an easy substitute? Thanks in advance.

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Update: the gearcase definitely has some excess wear due to loss of lubricant, but no broken teeth. One of the foot screws had no sealing washer, so I'll be replacing both tomorrow. If anyone has a modern Sierra part number that would be great otherwise I'll stop in at West Marine with a screw and just match it up. I don't know what the appropriate gearcase lubricant is and would appreciate that bit of information.

The carburetor is clean, and is temporarily reassembled while awaiting the rebuild kit. It's a Tillotson MT series, and if anyone knows the initial settings for the mixture screws and the float setting, that info would be handy.

Last item is the impeller and that is also on the way. Should I grease the driveshaft before reassembly? It was rusty in the upper midsection but cleaned up well.

VikkiP said:

Update: the gearcase definitely has some excess wear due to loss of lubricant, but no broken teeth. One of the foot screws had no sealing washer, so I'll be replacing both tomorrow. If anyone has a modern Sierra part number that would be great otherwise I'll stop in at West Marine with a screw and just match it up. I don't know what the appropriate gearcase lubricant is and would appreciate that bit of information.

The carburetor is clean, and is temporarily reassembled while awaiting the rebuild kit. It's a Tillotson MT series, and if anyone knows the initial settings for the mixture screws and the float setting, that info would be handy.

Last item is the impeller and that is also on the way. Should I grease the driveshaft before reassembly? It was rusty in the upper midsection but cleaned up well.

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Well, this looks like a dead subforum. Got my impeller and carb rebuild kit in, but I can't seem to get the tube to engage in the water pump housing or the splines to engage in the power head. Any suggestions? I don't have replacement gaskets for the power head, so I haven't tried removing it.

you can grease the splines on the driveshaft - lightly with a good waterproof grease.

I'd be inclined to at least reseal the lower unit.

a light greasing on the water pump tube wont hurt either. as far as spline alignment, pull the plugs and have another set of hand rotate the flywheel while you raise up the lower...

I'll have to take a look in the library to see if I have any old clinton data...your local library may be a good source as is the internet with your favorite search engine...

Thank you. Internet searches led me here, and eBay listed the parts I needed - I have a partial gasket set on the way that has the needed powerhead gaskets. I was able to engage the splines by pulling the starter rope, but had no luck getting the water tube to seat into the housing, so the powerhead is off and I'll reassemble from the bottom up.

Our library hasn't turned up any sort of service manual for Clinton motors so I am working strictly on "take a picture then take it apart" mode. There doesn't seem to be anything too complex, and even though this is only the first outboard I've dismantled, I'm confident I can put it back together. The Tillotson MT carburetor is probably the simplest I've ever seen.

I didn't find anything in my files for the J9 clinton...I did find a note that said aomci.org has some fluent with clintons, so you may wanna check there. worst case, looks like several service manuals for sale via the internet. Good luck with your project.

All back together now. My father in law bought this motor used. He has never opened it up and he's owned it since 1969. The water tube was never seated into the water pump as there was even aging on the water tube, not even a mark from the o-ring. That would explain the fact that it has overheated after only a little bit of running for the 38 years my husband and I have been together. Air cooled cylinder, water cooled exhaust minus the water cooling is not going to work well.

I was able to find a NOS impeller, carb kit, and most of a gasket kit (some missing, some spares). New fuel lines and spark plug. It's all back together, has great compression and spark, and I can't wait to get some gaskets for the lower unit screws and fill that up. If my husband brings the tank home from up north, I'll clean that out and mix up a bit of fuel.

Agreed on the heat math...and bummer on the water tube's history.

Hold on to that tank...you want be happy with the modern 'replacements'...and I believe I read 16:1 for the oil gas/fuel ratio.

keep the updates coming.

makomark said:

Agreed on the heat math...and bummer on the water tube's history.

Hold on to that tank...you want be happy with the modern 'replacements'...and I believe I read 16:1 for the oil gas/fuel ratio.

keep the updates coming.

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Thanks. I'm the only one in the family who really enjoys fishing, and the rowboat and motor are a mile away from a nice bluegill/perch/bass/walleye lake. I got so sick of rowing that I bought a small electric trolling motor, but the battery is heavier than the outboard. And the 30# thrust couldn't cut the weeds, which that 4 ft avg depth lake is full of. It took me an hour to cross the lake, which is when I decided that I needed to fix the outboard. I'm into it for about $100, which isn't bad if it runs.

It calls for "1/4 pint of motor oil per gallon of gasoline" which if my math is correct, 128:4, or 32:1. I've also read that air-cooled 2 cycle engine oil, rather than outboard motor oil TC-W3, is preferred over motor oil.

Cleaning the tank will be a challenge. It is full of hardened, varnish-like fuel and some non-volatile orange sludge. I will research methods to clean it properly and will take special care with the fuel line and primer bulb (which I should change out due to the likelihood of ethanol fuel breaking it down further). I plan to store mixed fuel in a plastic can and only fill the tank when I plan to use it, which will allow me to further dilute and use the leftover fuel in the 2 cycle lawn mower and other lawn equipment so I always have fresh fuel.

Been awhile and finally got back to the Clinton.

Carb kit and powerhead and reed cover gaskets came in, it's all sealed back up.

Got a new tank and mixed a little fresh fuel. The old tank is decor now.

When I squeeze the primer bulb, fuel squirts out of the vent above the bowl. I'm not sure but guessing that's not unexpected given the fuel inlet is in the top cover, but it's kind of disturbing to see raw fuel dripping off the carb for a bit.

I have the foot in a barrel of water and the motor is clamped to an engine stand. I can start and run it for up to 30 seconds before it seems to run out of fuel. It responds to choke on/off, throttle speed, and low speed rich/lean which is encouraging. It doesn't seem to be pulling fuel up from the tank through the pulse fuel pump. Without the motor running, how can I check the fuel pump? I suppose I could find an adapter and check the pulse vacuum for the few seconds it will run without a fuel supply.

It's come a long way from seized but isn't quite lake ready yet.

Thanks in advance.

if you squeeze the primer bulb too hard, its not unusual to be able to by-pass the needle valve in the carb...i usually quit squeezing as soon as the bulb 'firms up' a bit (indicating the float has raised and the needle is restricting the flow of gasoline into the bowl.) as long as the fuel doesn't run out of the vent (or else where) when the engine is running..

if the fuel pump isn't working, you can use the primer bulb as its surrogate...if you didn't replace the pump's soft parts, i would do so. and its worth the effort to find quality parts. either way, given the way they blend gasoline nowadays, I'd figure on the fuel pump rebuild at least every other year.

if you can access the vacuum port that drives the pump, it should 'pulse' as the engine is turned over...sometimes a finger is enough to feel the suction...sometimes a vacuum gauge is needed.