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1976 johnson 55hp video test 5 opinions and advice desired

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danray35e

Contributing Member
Background. rebuilt lower unit, rebuilt carbs, power pack was faulty so I replaced it. One coil was faulty so I replaced it. Great compression, great spark. This is test number 5 trying to get it to run properly. Been testing it with muffs but today I went out and bought a storage tub deep enough to submerge the lower unit so I don’t have to have muffs. It seems to work better. I have the choke on to start. I had my wife kim film it cause when I tried to do it myself I wound up shocking the crap out of my self on the wires. lol. So I got it running and you can see in video the only way to keep it running is to regulate the amount of air coming in via the choke valves. It almost dies until I let a little more air in then it runs pretty decent. Then when I finally take the choke off completely. Its impossible to keep it running. which gives me the impression that its still not getting enough fuel. or should I let it warm up more? I followed the manual on setting the slow speed needle valves. It said to gently bottom out, then back off 5/8s turn. I am suspicious that the factory settings are not what this motor wants, or needs. Not sure how to proceed at this point. see video




http://youtu.be/zGJZXkEXraY
 
When you disassembled the carbs did you get the old idle needle "cups" out and replace it with the new ones from the kit? If you didn't then you need to,and then start with the idle mixture set at 1 1/2 turns out. Then sync the throttle linkage and set your throttle pickup timing. She should stay lit with the choke valves open after that so you can fine tune your idle mixture and idle speed.
 
fishinwrench said:
When you disassembled the carbs did you get the old idle needle "cups" out and replace it with the new ones from the kit? If you didn't then you need to,and then start with the idle mixture set at 1 1/2 turns out. Then sync the throttle linkage and set your throttle pickup timing. She should stay lit with the choke valves open after that so you can fine tune your idle mixture and idle speed.
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Wow 1 1/2 turns? That is considerably more than they are now. As far as the term cups refer to the attached pic. are you talking about number 38 or 29? I replaced 29 but not 38 needle.jpg
 
Yeppers 38

The "special tool" required to get them out is also commonly known as..... a 3in. deck screw :)

If someone a bit "shade-tree" has been into the carbs before you don't be surprised if they are already missing.
 
yes 50 to one good oil.

"1/4 turn rich for quick cold starts and to protect the motor especially if you do alot of slow speed running (trolling). " rich for slow speed trolling because it provides more oil?
 
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Ok got home and turned mixture screws out 1 1/2 out. amazing difference. I fiddled with it a bit in first video then I think I almost have it right in second video then at about 20 seconds in the engine started making a terrible noise. You can’t really hear it in video much but I frantically tried to shut it down, but it quit before I could. I tried to restart but battery was too drained. Im afraid it may have revved too high.


http://youtu.be/mMSktsKsDjA

http://youtu.be/uHcsYdO0DBw



 
By george I believe you've swallowed a reed. LOL

She was spitting fuel out of #2 even in video #1 OUCH !
Those are Heat-n-Beat pistons too. Ug :(
I hope you got lucky, but.....
 
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I'm just guessing at the reed because I could see it spitting fuel more and more.....and then POW! I hope I'm wrong.

There in no aftermarket pistons for those 1974-76 55's and the OMC replacement has to be heated (boiled) to install the wrist pin..... it's a bit of a PIA.
Let's just hope that I shot my mouth off prematurely :) I HAVE been known to do that BTW.

So did you pull the plugs and try to turn the flywheel by hand after it croaked? What's the prognosis?
 
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After you said that, I went out and with a flash light looked thru the carbs at the reeds. i didn't see anything missing, but then I couldn't see the whole thing. i then pulled the plugs and rotated the flywheel by hand. I even put the rope on it and pulled it fast a couple of times with no discernible sounds coming from the engine except the sound of compressed air coming from the spark plug hole and the sound of the reeds make when air gets sucked in, or it could have been the exhaust reeds i was hearing. The only sound that I did hear which was not a pleasant sound was not coming from the motor at all. It was coming from the lower end. Sounded like the water pump dragging. But that could be a normal sound it would make with no water running in it. Tomorrow i plan to pull the carbs and look at the reeds, and then pull the lower unit.
 
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kimcrwbr1 said:
Do not run it until you inspect the gearbox good. Did you rebuild the lower unit. You can adapt a hose to the engine with the lower unit dropped and run the engine that way using house water. I would pull the gearbox it looked like it was pumping water pretty good but I did hear the noise beginning to get louder you were not reving it that high in the video.
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I did just get thru rebuilding the lower unit. But Im not above looking over my work a second time. Dont know if you saw other vids I have showing lower unit pumping water, but I always wondered about the amount of water squirting from all over the place. i was wondering just a few minutes ago about somehow hooking a water hose to it with the lower unit off. but I would not have the back pressure from having the exhaust submerged.
 
Well that's somewhat comforting, sure sounded like something came loose though. And that bottom carb was definately doing too much back-spitting.

Ya don't suppose you could have bumped the shift linkage.... and that gawd awful noise was a half-shift, do ya?
Lemme know what you learn during the daylight tomorrow.
 
fishinwrench said:
Well that's somewhat comforting, sure sounded like something came loose though. And that bottom carb was definately doing too much back-spitting.

Ya don't suppose you could have bumped the shift linkage.... and that gawd awful noise was a half-shift, do ya?
Lemme know what you learn during the daylight tomorrow.
Click to expand...

That is an interesting thought, and not out of the range of possibility either. I will post my findings here tomorrow.
 
Nonsense-----------There are no exhaust reeds on any Johnson / Evinrude outboard.----------------Simply a gross misunderstanding of how these machines actually work !
 
Untitled.jpgYou are correct racerone, I went and looked back at the parts diagram of that small one i used to have and then I remembered it was the intake manifold I was thinking about, and not the exhaust. What can i say ive slept, and drank lots of times since then, lol
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sea-Foam-Sp...Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ab1ea9bed&vxp=mtr get the engine running and disconnect the fuel line and let it run out of fuel just before it stalls spray seafoam in the carbs then disconnect the fuel lines to the carbs and fill the float bowls with seafoam. Connect the fuel lines back up and let it sit for 1/2 hour or so then start it up and rev it to about 2000 rpm until the smoke clears. It could be varnish on the reeds keeping them from closing all the way causing the small sputter of fuel back out the lower carb. The seafoam will clean the carbs and the cylinders of any carbon buildup. The more it smokes the more carbon is being dissolved. You dont need to worry about backpressure if you just hook it up to the hose it will be fine just dont rev it up past 5000 rpm it should hold together
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I may try that after I am sure nothing came loose and is in the engine. Only prob with rpms is I have no way to read rpms at this point.
 
Pull the flywheel and inspect the key.---------If flywheel tapers are damaged or flywheel nut is not properly torqued then the flywheel key will shear.-----That throws out ignition timing.------Just a trouble shooting tip / check that costs nothing.
 
I pulled the flywheel last week when I was doing electrical troubleshooting, and found the key was sheared then. If it did it once It may have done it again.
 
web.jpgnuts.jpgI watched the videos again to see if I could see the spitting everyone kept saying was happening. I never saw any spitting. I wonder if what people were seeing is this spider web glinting in the sun. watching the video it glints and moves around looking like something squirting but its just a spider web.

Secondly a question I have about the position of the spark advance lever. In normal idle is it supposed to be seated to the left by my thumb or to the right against the rubber stop? If it is supposed to be seated to the left at idle should it spring back there on its own? Because it doesn't.
 
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Against the rubber stop is the maximum " full throttle advance " and at idle it should be against the idle stop on the left.---------------You need to study the factory manual BEFORE you start making adjustments in this area.-------------This stuff just does not go out of adjustment and should not be disturbed.-------------The " I wonder what happens if I do this approach " will just not work to get a motor running properly and can be very expensive too.--When you operate the control box to nuetral from forward , the lever should go back to the idle stop.
 
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Ive been reading the manual but it wasn't real clear on where the lever should be an any given point. Rather I should say, my comprehension of it is not that great. So I throw my questions here for clarification. I adjusted the linkage so both throttle and choke valves match. I also adjusted so the cam lines up with the index line just as the throttle begins to open. For clarification the only way to adjust timing (assuming all the linkages are correctly adjusted) is simply with the stop screws on the spark advance lever
 
I will repeat-----Make no adjustments here unless you are 100% sure of what the consequences are of these adjustments.-------" adjusted the linkage so both throttle and choke valves match " --makes no sense to me whatsoever !
 
racerone said:
I will repeat-----Make no adjustments here unless you are 100% sure of what the consequences are of these adjustments.-------" adjusted the linkage so both throttle and choke valves match " --makes no sense to me whatsoever !
Click to expand...

Why does it not make sense? Its what the manual say to do. Here is a quote from manual "Adjust the choke
butterflys by loosening the screw between
the top and bottom linkage. Make the
adjustment to close BOTH choke butterflys,
then tighten the screw.
Adjust the throttle butterflys in the same manner. Loosen the screw between
the top and bottom linkage. Make the
adjustment to close BOTH throttle butterflys,
and then tighten the screw."
It goes into more detail and i followed those details. It also told me how to adjust the cam follower to the throttle linkage, and I did that. What part of that makes not sense to you?

when I said make throttle and choke valves match, the above is what I meant.
 
racerone said:
OK then now it makes more sense to me.------You adjusted them to be closed as separate pairs !
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Yes, I thought when I wrote it the first time that someone might misunderstand and think I meant choke and throttle together. I guess I was right. I followed the directions in the manual to the letter. I never do anything without following directions. This is my first rodeo on an outboard, but not with engines in general. I completely overhauled a v8 460 in my garage before. all by my self. I am not afraid to tackle things most people I know would rather pay someone else to do. I almost always succeed because I am not afraid to learn from others via the internet. By trade I have been a welder, and an electrician (currently) I have built houses from scratch, poured concrete foundations, roofed houses, plumbing etc. etc. I have rebuilt three motorcycles. I am not a bonehead, Ive been around the block a few times.
 
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