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1976 Johnson Outboard won't crank!

D

dudemccrackin

New member
I have a 1976 Johnson Outboard motor Model 35EL76G. I bought this on a 15 foot aluminum boat almost a year ago and it started and it ran fine. I rerigged the entire boat with new accessories but did nothing to the motor, motor wiring or anything to do with the motor. Every so often I would turn the motor over just to make sure it was ok but I never actually cranked the motor because I didn't have it in the water and I didn't have any fuel.

So today I was going to take the boat out for the first time and connected the fuel line with plenty of fuel and pumped the primer bulb. It turned over perfectly but didn't start so I thought it hadn't received fuel yet and pumped the primer bulb a few more times. I turned the key and the motor turned over but didn't fire up so I stopped and went to my neighbors house to get some starter spray and when I got back I turned the key and NOTHING happened. I haven't used the spray yet because now it's not even turning over.

I have disconnected the kill switch, fully charged the battery and still nothing. I used jumper cables to bypass the solinoid (spelling?) and it would slowly turn over like the battery was weak. I changed to the new dual marine battery that is fully charged and it kept doing the same thing!

I'm confused as hell, not to mention frustrated!!! Why would it turn over fine and then just stop trying to turn over at all? I know NOTHING about motors and need suggestions,answers or help of any kind! I would also like to know what the fuel/oil mixture should be. I was told by the guy at Gander Mountain that it was 16:1 so that is what I mixed but the should not be causing this problem if it's the incorrect ratio, in my opinion!

Please give me answers asap! I have spent more money on all the reerigging that I did for the boat, motor and trailer combined and need to start scouting some Crappie holes for clients I have lined up to help pay for this boat!!! Thanks in advance, Tim Kindrick
 
With a good known fully charged battery and good known jumper cables (no doubt as to their high quality), connecting the jumper cables directly to the electric starter.... the engine should crank over normally at a high rpm. If it does not, then obviously the electric starter requires attention. Remove, dismantle, and inspect it... could simply be a stuck brush.

If on the other hand, the electric starter cranks over normally with the good known jumper cables and good known fully charged battery, then there is a loose cable or a tight dirty cab;e somewhere.... remove all cables/wires associated with the electric starter system, clean all cable/wire terminals and the components they attach to, then tighten them securely with a wrench or pliers, not your fingers if wing nuts are encountered.

Proper starting procedure: Pump fuel primer bulb up until it's hard... turn key to the START position and engage the choke or primer solenoid (whichever your engine has) at the same time, keeping the choke or primer solenoid engaged until the engine fires (within six revolutions). Note that if the engine doesn't fire within six revolutions... something is wrong, find out what it is.

Thousands of parts in my remaining stock. Not able to list them all. Let me know what you need and I'll look it up for you. Visit my eBay auction at:

http://shop.ebay.com/Joe_OMC32/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
 
Last edited:
kimcrwbr1 said:
http://maxrules.com/graphics/omc/wiring/1973-76_18-25.jpg
Wire your engine like this. My first concern would be your wiring are you powering up your accessories with the ignition switch? If you accidentally touched battery pos to either kill wire on the ignition switch with the battery connected you probably fried the coils it only takes a split second. The charge coil, rectifier, choke, start, or battery should never come in contact with the kill circuit the motor will run without a battery and should start pretty easy with the rope. just make sure the ignition switch is on.
Click to expand...

I have 3 batteries, 2 are ran in parallel to each other to provide extra run time for my trolling motor and all the accesories are connected to these including Humminbird Sonar, anchor winch, lights, bilge pump and livewell pump. I dual marine cranking battery is wired strictly for the motor only! Of course it is connected to the ignition and kill swith but I removed the kill switch temporarely! Nothing runs off the ignition switch except the kill switch. It was turning over fine but not starting bacause I don't think I was getting fuel in the carberator yet so I would turn it over for 5 seconds or so then off and try again. I did this several times without a problem but it didn't start. I went next door to get some spray starter fluid and came back but before I sprayed anything, I try to turn it over again but nothing happened. It was as if I had disconnected the battery except I could heard the ignition choke when I pushed the key in. I checked the battery voltage and is was full 12.92 volts! I checked the wires going into the solenoid and get the same thing. So I used barrery cables to bypass the solenoid and it turned over very slowly but not enough to fire. So I quit messing with it.
 
I have 3 batteries, 2 are ran in parallel to each other to provide extra run time for my trolling motor and all the accesories are connected to these including Humminbird Sonar, anchor winch, lights, bilge pump and livewell pump. I dual marine cranking battery is wired strictly for the motor only! Of course it is connected to the ignition and kill swith but I removed the kill switch temporarely! Nothing runs off the ignition switch except the kill switch. It was turning over fine but not starting bacause I don't think I was getting fuel in the carberator yet so I would turn it over for 5 seconds or so then off and try again. I did this several times without a problem but it didn't start. I went next door to get some spray starter fluid and came back but before I sprayed anything, I try to turn it over again but nothing happened. It was as if I had disconnected the battery except I could heard the ignition choke when I pushed the key in. I checked the battery voltage and is was full 12.92 volts! I checked the wires going into the solenoid and get the same thing. So I used barrery cables to bypass the solenoid and it turned over very slowly but not enough to fire. So I quit messing with it.
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
Are the spark plugs wet and do they burn with a lighter? How are you jumping the starter? use the jumper cables and clamp the neg to the starter bracket and touch the stud on the starter with the posative cable. If it cranks over remove the ground cable and do it again. You need to determine if the starter is working first off then work your way back to the battery. It could be corroded connections or a bad wire under the insulation or the contacts in the solenoid? Once you get it cranking good then you need to check the compression and spark gap with a spark gap tester it should jump a gap of at least 3/8 inch brite blue snap. Allways troubleshoot compression, spark, fuel, cooling in that order.
Click to expand...

I have 3 batteries, 2 are ran in parallel to each other to provide extra run time for my trolling motor and all the accesories are connected to these including Humminbird Sonar, anchor winch, lights, bilge pump and livewell pump. I dual marine cranking battery is wired strictly for the motor only! Of course it is connected to the ignition and kill swith but I removed the kill switch temporarely! Nothing runs off the ignition switch except the kill switch. It was turning over fine but not starting bacause I don't think I was getting fuel in the carberator yet so I would turn it over for 5 seconds or so then off and try again. I did this several times without a problem but it didn't start. I went next door to get some spray starter fluid and came back but before I sprayed anything, I try to turn it over again but nothing happened. It was as if I had disconnected the battery except I could heard the ignition choke when I pushed the key in. I checked the battery voltage and is was full 12.92 volts! I checked the wires going into the solenoid and get the same thing. So I used barrery cables to bypass the solenoid and it turned over very slowly but not enough to fire. So I quit messing with it.
 
joereeves said:
With a good known fully charged battery and good known jumper cables (no doubt as to their high quality), connecting the jumper cables directly to the electric starter.... the engine should crank over normally at a high rpm. If it does not, then obviously the electric starter requires attention. Remove, dismantle, and inspect it... could simply be a stuck brush.

If on the other hand, the electric starter cranks over normally with the good known jumper cables and good known fully charged battery, then there is a loose cable or a tight dirty cab;e somewhere.... remove all cables/wires associated with the electric starter system, clean all cable/wire terminals and the components they attach to, then tighten them securely with a wrench or pliers, not your fingers if wing nuts are encountered.

Proper starting procedure: Pump fuel primer bulb up until it's hard... turn key to the START position and engage the choke or primer solenoid (whichever your engine has) at the same time, keeping the choke or primer solenoid engaged until the engine fires (within six revolutions). Note that if the engine doesn't fire within six revolutions... something is wrong, find out what it is.

Thousands of parts in my remaining stock. Not able to list them all. Let me know what you need and I'll look it up for you. Visit my eBay auction at:

http://shop.ebay.com/Joe_OMC32/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
Click to expand...

I have 3 batteries, 2 are ran in parallel to each other to provide extra run time for my trolling motor and all the accesories are connected to these including Humminbird Sonar, anchor winch, lights, bilge pump and livewell pump. I dual marine cranking battery is wired strictly for the motor only! Of course it is connected to the ignition and kill swith but I removed the kill switch temporarely! Nothing runs off the ignition switch except the kill switch. It was turning over fine but not starting bacause I don't think I was getting fuel in the carberator yet so I would turn it over for 5 seconds or so then off and try again. I did this several times without a problem but it didn't start. I went next door to get some spray starter fluid and came back but before I sprayed anything, I try to turn it over again but nothing happened. It was as if I had disconnected the battery except I could heard the ignition choke when I pushed the key in. I checked the battery voltage and is was full 12.92 volts! I checked the wires going into the solenoid and get the same thing. So I used barrery cables to bypass the solenoid and it turned over very slowly but not enough to fire. So I quit messing with it.

I will try to take the starter off later today and mess with it. Like I said in my OP, I know almost nothing about motors but it doesn't look the hard to take off and look at. I just don't want to cause a big problem if there was a smaller solution to the problem. BTW.... do you know what the fuel/oil mixture ratio is for this motor? Thanks!
 
Mix ratio is 50:1 for that motor.-----Take the starter apart and have a look / inspect it.----Very easy to work on those starters.
 
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