zdcabelas7
New member
Hello - I had recently purchased an old 1979 Johnson 15hp Seahorse from a guy on Facebook Marketplace for cheap. He said that he couldn't get it running. When got it home and dug into it, it wouldn't start, but I took the carb off and cleaned it up and replaced the head gasket. It started on the first pull after that. Everything looked great, so I took it out and it ran great; however it felt like it was sort of lethargic. Like it didn't want to go as fast as I thought it should. A few days later, I went to put it in the water again, and when I started it up, it ran for a few minutes and then died. After that I couldn't keep it running to save my life. I suspected it was the fuel pump that was bad, so I replaced that. But that didn't help at all. When I try starting it now, it starts fine, but I cant seem to keep it running. I've completely rebuilt the carb, replaced the fuel pump, checked the fuel lines. I'm pretty sure my tank is okay. Venting doesn't seem to be the issue. Its got to be fuel related though because when I spray a bit of starter fluid into the carb it peps right up. For some reason, I just cant get it to idle. What happens now when I start it is it revs up immediately really high in neutral and then sputters and dies. It's driving me nuts and I'm not sure what else I'm missing.
Any ideas would be welcomed!
Any ideas would be welcomed!