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Need help trouble shooting! '01 johnson 2 stroke

C

captmello

Member
Hi guys,

Im hoping you can steer me in the right direction. I've got a 2001, 90 hp, 2 stroke, looper, vro, etc.

It ran great for the last 3 years, since I bought it. *I rebuilt the carbs when I bought it because they leaked fuel badly(float bowls) and its run great since.

So, anyway, ran great but has now got a problem. It will not idle without me raising the Throttle only lever high. then it will start and idle at rpm's over 2000, otherwise it dies. It will run over 2000 rpm, but misses and sounds rough. Under power, I can get it up close to normal WOT rpms, but it will still be missing, and hesitating throughout.

These symptoms came on over a weeks time. Sometimes it would idle fine, other times, not. Now it won't idle under 2000 rpm.

The gas is new, and I replaced the fuel/water filter, and fuel line and tried running it on another fuel tank with no change, so I believe the fuel supply is good.

I'm hoping someone will help guide me through. I'm very capable of doing repair work but Outboards are new to me.


Thanks.
 
Oh btw,

I also did a compression test, 130+/- on all cylinders. And I did confirm I have spark on all cylinders as well.

One thing that I noticed was how new the spark plugs looked and how covered in oil they were. They are three years old with 50-75 hours on them. they all looked like this.
You can see the flash in the oily plug.


DSC00191_zps68e305b2.jpg


Just hoping to get some direction on where to go from here.

Thanks again.
 
Ok, checked spark with an adjustable tester. Yes the spark was jumping about a 1/2 inch gap on the tester. I also changed the plugs just for the heck of it.

It still wont Idle under 1500 rpm.
 
Ar e you tightening the plugs tight enough ?The plug center electrode looks rounded ? Gap looks small ? Picture angle.

Have you rebuilt the fuel pump ?
 
cyclops2 said:
Ar e you tightening the plugs tight enough ?The plug center electrode looks rounded ? Gap looks small ? Picture angle.

Have you rebuilt the fuel pump ?
Click to expand...

I replaced the plugs and set the gap to .030. I'm sure they are tight.

I didn't think the fuel pump (VRO2) was rebuildable.

Thanks for the response.

I ran a small can of gas with seafoam to try to clean things out a bit. It's still not running right

Any other things I can check?
 
If your pump is original or you do not know. Have it rebuilt. Cheap & eliminates a possible cause.

My constant slow idling has plugs just like that. First start each morning looks like cheese curds floating behind the engine. same thing after lunch & dinner. Looks bad but runs fine.
 
racerone said:
Look it up under accessories.
Click to expand...

for some reason there are no kits for my model year, 2001, offered in the accessory area. There are Kits listed on the 2000 model year accessory list, but they are "unavailable".

Before tearing into the fuel pump I've decided to go through the carbs. I've got the rebuild kits but I have a question before I start.

Should I be pulling the trottle body off as well when I pull the carbs? I do not want to get into any calibration so I want to check here first. The Idle circuit appears to be part of the throttle body, or perhaps I'm mistaken...
 
Sorry , the repair parts for your VRO unit are now listed under ---oil system -------for your year motor.-Individual parts and cheaper than the complete kit too.
 
Sounds like an idle jet is clogged, thats why when you advance above idle it runs, you're using the main jet to compensate, but it still is runnning lean due to the idle jet not delivering fuel, thats why its running rough, normal fuel is both idle and main jets working together.
 
MrRodeoCC said:
Sounds like an idle jet is clogged, thats why when you advance above idle it runs, you're using the main jet to compensate, but it still is runnning lean due to the idle jet not delivering fuel, thats why its running rough, normal fuel is both idle and main jets working together.
Click to expand...

I hope you're right.

If I remember, the idle adjustment screw is in the throttle body of the intake assembly and not on the carb itself. When I rebuilt the carbs the last time, I just removed the idle adjustment screws (after counting the turns to seat the screw) and sprayed cleaner in the hole. Is there a better way?
 
From the parts diagram for your engine, it is in the carb, item 9, the cover panel on the side of the carb allows fuel to go to the idle jet and there is a little channel under that cover plate that gets clogged not allowing fuel to the idle jet. I sprayed cleaner through every hole in my carbs until I found that channel with a hole under the cover plate. Thats where one of my problems was.
 

http://www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php?year=2001&hp=90&model=J90PLSID&manufacturer=Johnson&section=Carburetor+%26amp%3B+Intake+Manifold

Thanks again for the help. I was actually reffering to # 34, the needle valve. It threads into the throttle body. Anyway, while rebuilding the carbs I found that needle is exposed behind the "calibration pocket cover, #4. I was able to remove only one of the cal. covers without removing the throttle body. On the rest I removed the needle and sprayed cleaner into the hole. I'm not sure what the needle valve is for, but that was why I was wondering if I should remove the throttle bodies, which I did not.

So I rebuilt all the carbs and it fired right up and will idle fine, at the moment. Its a bit early, so I'm going to wait for the neighborhood to wake up a little more before prolonged tests.

I'm trying to post a small movie of it idliing...



How is the idle quality of this motor? I have nothing to compare it to.

I'll post back later after I get a chance to run it some more.
 
I put all the covers and parts back on the motor before I forgot where the went.

here is anothor video of it idling.

In this video, I go and rev it up to about 3000rpm momentarily. Again Let me know what you guys think. I just don't know what it "Should" sound like. I rarely run it on muffs...

 
Ok, well its not fixed.

Here is another video of me turning it on, it fires, then kills. At one point, I raise the fast idle lever and it fires right up but once I lower the fast idle back down it eventually dies.



I hope these vids help. I'm getting desperate.

Whats my next move?
 
The cover plate I was referring to was #30 and rubber gasket 31, you can see the little channels in the diagram, if I remember correctly, fuel goes up the brass tube, through those little channels, then to the idle jets (There may be 3 orifice/jets, Idle, Intermediate and Main). The problem carb on mine was the upper right (I have 4 carbs), I still haven't determined whether it was ethanol fuel, the boat sitting up for a while before I got it of afterwards, or just trash in the fuel that got past the filter during maintenance. So check that please, even though the parts list only shows 2, It shows 3 in my manual, my engine is an Evinrude 120 V4 but they are close and while they look a tad different carbs all work under the same principle. I'd drop the float bowls and remove the cover plate and spray cleaner through every hole and tube, doing the same to both carbs, one hole at a time so you can compare top to bottom, look through the throat of the carb and watch for the cleaner to come out (Safety Glasses Please), you may still have a clogged orifice/jet that you don't realize is there. The reason I say this is, you can see 2 little channels under the cover plate, the channel delivers fuel to something, one may be idle the other may be another jet.
 
I'm sure I got all of the orifices cleaned out, along with the rest of the carbs. My carbs have two orifices and the needle valve in the throttle body. The carbs were clean and I don't think they are the problem.

I'd sure like to hear some feedback on the videos of the engine running...Anything to be learned?
 
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