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| 55 Johnson Seahorse, Starts OK, runs ... |
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Mark Simmons
New member
Username: marksimm1
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2009
| | Posted on Sunday, July 05, 2009 - 10:56 am: | 
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Hi great forum.
I've got a 1980 Johnson 55Hp sea horse. When I bought the engine it wouldn't start. I changed the battery (previous one was small and old), fresh fuel mix, clean fuel lines, and new sparks correct for model.
Enngine started on second key turn with a tint amount of choke. I was happy.
Took it for a run, went into gear fine and seemed happy and smooth at full throttle and at low revs. After about an hours run we took it back to mooring.
The restarted the engine to bring boat to slipway and it died when I put it into gear. Restarted again and it died again. Then it wouldn't start. I managed to get it to start and revved it up and then put it into gear and it held together long enough to get it out of the water.
Once out of the water I couldn't flush it through as it wouldn't start and won't start now.
What's the likley cause of this. Is it possible that my new battery kept the engine going for the trip, but the battery was ran down due to alternator in outboard not functioning correctly and now the charge on the battery is not strong enough to provide a descent spark?
Note, the battery is strong enough to turn the starter motor.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I"m desperate to get this engine going. My wife's cross with me for getting a boat in the first place. |
Dcramer
Advanced Member
Username: dcramer
Post Number: 140
Registered: 05-2008
| | Posted on Sunday, July 05, 2009 - 12:14 pm: |
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The outboard ignition system is self powered. The engine would continue to run even if the battery was completly dead.
Let's start with the basics. Fuel, spark, compression. Try pumping the fuel bulb manually to make sure it isn't a fuel pump problem. I assume you tried holding in the primer to supply fuel even in the event of a clogged carb. Pull the plugs and see what they look like. Try a timing light on each of the plug wires to make sure it's getting spark. Last but not least, run a compression test to make sure the internals are in good shape. |
Mark Simmons
New member
Username: marksimm1
Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2009
| | Posted on Monday, July 06, 2009 - 05:39 pm: |
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Hi, Thanks for the reply. I put the key in this morning and it started first time.
It seems to be that after its been out for a run for a while and then stopped, it doesn't like to be re-started. But after its allowed to go cold again it restarts fine.
Looking at the plugs it seems like its getting fuel through. The spark is visible on the sparks when they are removed and earthed. The fact that it runs OK for a while (like an hour on the water) leads me to believe the compression is OK.
I'm now curious about what would make it fail to restart after a long run.
A friend is suggesting it could be the coils as he says they can behave differently when hot. We also suspect that the carbs might be dirty just because its an old engine and hasn't had a fuel filter on it.
Could do with someone telling me whether i'm likely to be on the right track thinking its the coils or dirty carbs? Is there a way of checking the coils are OK? |
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