Tom Soltes
New member
I am new to motor boating and recently found what I thought and still do think was a good deal on a 79 25hp Johnson. At first I had some difficulty getting it started but with a neighbors help was able to do that. It didn't seem to have as much power as I thought it would and it didn't seem like the throttle control moved very far. I found a stop screw on the cable leading to the carburetor, removed that and that took care of that issue. My guess is that it was used on a small jon boat and the stop screw was used to limit the power of the engine. Next issue was the water pump. When I first got it started I wasn't getting water out of the "pee" holes. I used a jet stream water hose to flush both ends (intake and exhaust) of the water outlets and started her up and it was working. Next is I got a lot of smoke out of the engine but my neighbor said that wasn't anything to worry about. Now with all of the above I really did not have it running that long and all seems to be okay. This was all done on a stand with the engine in a barrel of water. One last thing I wanted to do before taking it out was change the gear lube. I checked with an online manual and learned that process. Got new gaskets for the vent and fill then opened up the vent then drain. What came out looked to me to be clear water. I had it drain into a tub that I had used for an oil and gear change on my moped so it already contained residue from that. Not much came out but it certainly appears to be clear water. I started to pump in gear fluid and then after several minutes of doing this I noticed the gear lube dripping from the other side of the motor. I checked and found it coming from a missing bolt hole that connects the propeller housing to the lower unit. I checked all six of the bolts and three were missing. Ran out to the store and picked up stainless steel bolts and put them in to all the missing holes. One was missing on the vent and drain side of the engine and two on the opposite side. I then completed the gear lube process as described in the manual. That was all completed yesterday and none of the gear fluid has leaked. What should I do next on land before taking her out ? I would like to get some suggestions on anything else I should look for before taking it out and also any thoughts or ideas on why it had only water in the gear case. What precautions should I take before going into the water and when I do what should I be looking for to tell me that trouble is ahead. Thanks