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New Old Stock '84 Johnson 25 h.p.

C

coastal eddy

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Ok, I'm new to the forum so Hi everyone and thanks in advance for any help here.
So I go on craigers and see this motor. It's a '84 J25RLCRD and it's brand new. Never been installed on a boat before. With a bit of skepticism I go check it out and this thing is brand spankin new. Allbeit 32 years old. So he was asking $875 and I got it for $800. I think I got a good deal as it was just what I was looking for. So far so good. Obviously a motor sitting for 32 years in storage will need a new impeller so I ordered one of those and it will be here in three days but I went ahead and tried to split the lower end and that's where I'm running into trouble. It just doesn't want to split. It has an extension on it so I began by taking off the four side bolts and it would not split. That's when I noticed the one in the back at the top of the extension so I removed the four sides and the back one on the extension and got the lower end to wiggle a bit but the back bolt is acting like a hinge and although it will wiggle back and forth it will not break loose and come off. So that's where I am. Am I missing something or is it just 32 years of stuck and if that's the case as I suspect it is, How should I proceed to get this pup to break loose? I have a manual coming with the pump kit btw. Also it seems to be having a bit of a problem obtaining full throttle but I am assuming that there again it is just 32 years of carb varnish. I will rebuild the carb if a little carb cleaner doesn't open the jet.? That's the plan! Feel free to voice any opinions about anything here. Looking forward to getting to know you guys.
 
I have a solution figured out but it is problematic and I don't like it but as it stands now the problem is that the bolt on the backside of the lower end is frozen with corrosion which is preventing the two parts from splitting (to get to the pump). It is frozen at the motor side above the extension. I can get the nit & washer off ok but the bolt is frozen where it passes through the tab on the upper shaft. My solution would be to take a hacksaw and slice into the shaft slicing in between the two parts until the bolt was cut through. at that point I am sure the parts would separate and one would have to hope that after removing the extension the remainder of the bolt could be remove from the lower gearbox and a new one screwed in. That's a big leap but I have soaked the bolt with corrosion oil? and I have heated both the bolt and the case as much as I dare so my options here are few. Adding to the downside is the damage to the two cases from the hacksaw blade but that is not insurmountable as any gasket sealer would bridge the damage.
 
Wow where was this stored, must be near the ocean? You may have more problems showing up. The driveshaft can rust itself to the crankshaft too, but the motor is factory assembled with grease and an o-ring there. This could be stuck too. Here in northern Minnesota we have rusty cars and trucks, trailers, etc., but our boats are pretty clean, and motors that run barely 5 months a year.
 
I would sooner remove the powerhead and then look things over from above than cut into the housings. Then you will find out if the shaft is stuck into the crank. You may have to heat a bit more and try to vise grip out the stud. The paint may get damaged, but you can match it at the auto body supply store, is there a stripe there too, that will get melted?
 
If the shaft is stuck to the crank, you can force it to pull through the water pump housing, then treat it with penetrating oil. Then just repair or replace the housing if it was damaged. The impeller drive key is plastic in these motors. I have even reassembled motors with the drive shaft still stuck in the crank, but you can't do it on this motor.
 
All good responses and I thank you for that. I think I won't be doing anything irreversible for some time and will try soaking the heck out of it with penetrating oil and heat for a while. I have three days till I get the service manual so I won't be taking the motor out for now and before I do that I may take it to a trusted shop and give them a whack at it as I am not confident I am not missing something. The frozen bolt is only frozen for a grand total of one inch of contact so it does not seem impossible to break the bond. The problem is it can only wiggle side to side just a little due to the internal parts so you can't move it much to twist the shaft and break the bond. Does anyone know of a particular anti seize fluid?
 
timguy said:
If the shaft is stuck to the crank, you can force it to pull through the water pump housing, then treat it with penetrating oil. Then just repair or replace the housing if it was damaged. The impeller drive key is plastic in these motors. I have even reassembled motors with the drive shaft still stuck in the crank, but you can't do it on this motor.
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At the moment it does not appear to be the shaft that is frozen but only the shaft of the bolt in the rear as it passes thru the hole in the upper case. The electrolisis is not rampant by any means but I have found a couple of small random spots. This is the worst spot.
 
PB Blaster is my favorite, second is JB (Justice Brothers) #90. Patience is the greatest of virtues. Leave the hammers and saws on the peg board. Best of luck, Tim
 
Hey Timguy, Thanks for your input. Patience is a virtue that I never have had. Took a hacksaw to it per my original plan and it worked like a champ. Had to drill the stub out and after examining the nub it was obvious that all the pb blaster, heat, tapping, pushing, pulling cursing, etc. did absolutely squat to loose the stud. In fact I was able to wiggle the stub just a little after it was cut but before it broke loose so I sprayed it a little and it immediately seized back up. Anyhoo it is done now and I just have to make a new stud as that part is unavailable and I have not been able to find it anywhere. No problem but I wonder what material the original is made of? I am assuming it is stainless steel? 6xxx series? Not really a high strength requirement that I can see. Pump should be here tomorrow. Still have the carb issue to deal with but that shouldn't be too big of a challenge. Plan on going through the whole unit and remove and antisieze everything that I can. Really stoked about getting such a pristine motor. Looking forward to getting it on the water.
 
The short stud is available, the longshaft is not, unless used perhaps Twin Cities Outboard 952 496-1951, or Tim's Outboard 218 682-2331, both here in MN. These will be corrosion free because motors are only run in fresh water and used at most 6 months a year.
 
Yeah, and therein lies the problem. I have a longshaft extention and my thought process before I cut the stud was that if things went sideways I would simply convert to a short shaft as that might actually serve my purpose better hoever I forgot to take into account the shorter drive shaft etc. all of which is problematic. It will not be an issue to make a new stud. Merely an inconvenience so that is where I am now. Prolly do that today.
Right now my biggest concern is that the motor doesn't want to reach full throttle so I will have to address that issue. It could be just some varnish that a spritz of carb cleaner might resolve but I usually am not that lucky. Prolly looking at a carb re-build and if that's the case I may take it in to have it done as I am more of a nuts and bolts guy and when it gets into fine tuning I sometimes falter. I have been reading A LOT of post on here and it makes me very humble. Some of you guys REEEALY know your stuff. Unfortunately I'm no where and I mean no where near worthy of handing those people wrenches so I may be better off taking it in. Thanks a bunch for your help. Not kissng you off I just want to say I appreciate the feedback from you and Joe.
 
I haven't done a compresion check. I was going to ask about a recomendation for that tool. The story I got about why it sat around and of course it could be just that but supposedly some guy was building a wooden boat that never got finished and this motor was suppososed to go on it but never did get mounted' The motor sounds great slipps into forward and reverse perfecty and you can tell by looking at it that it has not been used. The prop looks brand new. not a scratch as does the rest of the motor. The bonnet is perfect. No oil anywhere. It is just suffering (in my opinion) from neglect. Bolts that haven't been turned in thirty two years tend to not want to turn. I think this is the only major issue and really other than a lot of hand wringing and clutching of pearls it was fairly painless and no cost.
 
OK, well so far so good! Just made the stud which turned out to be easier than I thought and I thought it was going to be easy. I installed the pump and put it all back together. Put a dab of gasket sealer where the hacksaw blade removed some mating surface and it looks perfect. Tomorrow I will check the compression (no tool recommendation so I'll just wing it) and spritz the carb.
 
Allright, os I look in my manual and it shows a couple of O-rings sandwiching the impeller and although that makes no sense to me I remove the pump again and take a look. Can't see how that would work and since I have no o-rings that would fit that spot (none were there to begin with and none came in the kit) and so I just closed her back up put some gear oil in the lower end and put her in the tank. I was getting a funny chunking noise and a stall when I returned to idle fast so I take the bonnet off and oil is dripping out of the spark plug holes. OH CRAP!! So I go to pull the plugs and they are in there finger tight at best so I tighten them up and fire it up again. Starts right up. Still won't reach full throttle not even close so I turn that little finger adjust knob in the front with the Nike swoosh on it and Vuala. Perfection. Runs like a top, doesn't stall idles well all kinds of top end and power so next stop is Big Bear Lake and if that works out, The ocean. Unfortunately I have put a couple minor scratches on the bonnet and that really tweeks me because the motor was show room fresh when I got it. Oh well I tend to be a bit rough on equipment. Does p@$!! me off though. Anyhow that's it for now. I have a transom to replace on a nice 14' Valco that I picked up for scrap. Getting it sandblasted on Tuesday and then put it all back together. Should be looking pretty good by September just in time for lobster season. Thanks for whatever you gave me. It is apreciated. Later guys.
 
Great job and you get an A+ for effort. Don't eat too much lobster, anything that tasty and expensive can't possibly be good for you.
 
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