Logo
FULL SITE MENU

1973 Johnson 65HP Powershift 2 won't crank

T

TheRedDirge

New member
Hi all, I'm quite new to the world of boating and just purchased a 16ft runabout with a 1973 Johnson 65HP Powershift 2 on it. I bought it on craigslist sight unseen for $650, and it's been nothing but trouble so far. The man I bought it from said that it last ran in 2016 and has good compression, that he fogged the cylinders before storage and drained the lower unit of oil. Sounded good, so I picked it up and bought a new battery for it. Upon turning the key though, nothing happened. No click of the starter solenoid, nothing. First thing I tried was running jumper cables direct to the starter terminals and the starter cranked, then I messed around with the solenoid by running a jumper from the small yellow wire to the large red one with the key turned, and nothing happened. So I've concluded there's no power going to the solenoid for whatever reason. The strange thing is though, when I was first messing with it, as soon as I turned the key into the run position, the choke solenoid would move ever so slightly, which makes me think the ignition switch is good. However now that I've disconnected a few things and reconnected them, there's nothing, and the choke solenoid no longer moves when the key is turned or choke switch is lifted. So either something that I reconnected isn't making contact, or I've fried something in testing with all the jumpers. I'm at a loss here with what to do next, and am wondering if this is even worth it. The engine, being 65HP seems like it could be pretty sweet if I got it running, but the boat itself is not in the best of shape and would need a ton of work to make it nice again. I was considering pulling the engine to keep for myself, but I feel like it'd be dang near impossible to sell the boat after that, so I'm wondering what I should do. I feel like I need to get the engine running in any case, so that's where I'm gonna start. Any ideas or advise on it would be great, and I can provide pictures and other info if needed.

Thanks for your time
 
Check the main fuse and the neutral safety switch. Before anything make sure the lower unit has lube in it. If he did not refill the lower could be damage there. This may be a lesson for for you.
 
Last edited:
The parts book shows a neutral start switch in the control box.------It also shows a safety switch to prevent cranking with throttle too far open.----That second safety switch would have 1 white wire going to it.---JUST 1 WIRE ----That switch has an internal ground that may be dirty.-----Some will argue , but that switch is easy to take apart for cleaning.
 
I agree, check the fuse. If that is blown, the choke won't work, nor will the starter run.

You mention a yellow wire on the solenoid. Actually there should be two, and they were white when new. ONE of them goes to the safety switch. If you jumped from the large red battery cable to the white wire leading to the safety switch, you melted the switch inside. After you do that a few times, you learn not to do it. I did.
 
fdrgator said:
I agree, check the fuse. If that is blown, the choke won't work, nor will the starter run.

You mention a yellow wire on the solenoid. Actually there should be two, and they were white when new. ONE of them goes to the safety switch. If you jumped from the large red battery cable to the white wire leading to the safety switch, you melted the switch inside. After you do that a few times, you learn not to do it. I did.
Click to expand...

Can you tell me where that fuse would be? I've looked around under the cowling for anything resembling a fuse box and I can't find one. I found a bus-bar and another thing called a 'power pack' but neither seem to have any fuses. I also took apart the controls and checked the neutral position switch, and it's working, though that whole control box is in really rough shape and should probably be replaced lol
 
OK, checked the fuse and it was blown. With the new one the choke works again, but still nothing on the starter. I checked the small white/yellow wire on the starter solenoid with the multi meter and there is indeed a brief burst of voltage when the key is turned. So I highly suspect it's bad at this point. Is there any way I can check that to see for sure without a 12V power supply? If not, I think I may still order a new one just to eliminate it.
 
Not sure what you are saying here. But with the key turned to "start", you should see 12V on one of the small solenoid terminals and zero V on the other small terminal, and the solenoid should click and the starter should run. If you see 12V on both small terminals, the safety switch is burned up, OR the throttle is set too far toward "fast". If you see near zero V on both small terminals, the problem lies in the control or wiring leading toward it.
 
Back
Top