Logo
FULL SITE MENU

1985 Johnson 15hp won’t fire!

J

Jim337

New member
Hello, sorry for the long post in advance! New to me 15hp will not fire at all!! I’ve worked on and repaired many outboards, motorcycles, snowmobiles etc. but I’m at a loss here. Things I’ve done so far: fresh gas, new plugs, carb cleaned and kit installed. 90 psi on both cylinders dry, pulled flywheel checked key for wear, no bare wires visible anywhere, spark is there on both plugs and blue but hard to say if it’s enough. I have a tester and it jumps across 1/2” gap but not real strong. Doesn’t seem to be flooding, if anything, plugs aren’t very wet at all. Tried pouring fuel directly into cylinders, nothing. Starting fluid, nothing. I’m leaning toward weak CD2 power pack or possible timing off but I don’t know if that’s possible when the flywheel did not move and everything looks good under it. Previous owner is a friend and said it ran good when he put it away but has been sitting for 3 yrs. maybe stuck reeds? But shouldn’t it still fire with fuel directly into the cylinders? Again, sorry but I’m at wits end with this thing! Thanks for any ideas.
 
I’m really worried it’s going to be something ridiculously easy that I’m overlooking. I also tried disconnecting the negative in the kill button. No go but it literally seems like trying to start without a safety lanyard like on the newer motors.
 
Sounds like a 9.9 Evinrude I just got running a week or so ago. I was told to put a fuel oil mix into a spray bottle and spray into the carb. I had already tried putting a bit right into the cylinders and into the carb. Nothing worked. Figured what the heck, I put a bit into a spray bottle and it was set to a mist rather than a spray. Third time I pulled it over it poped. Sprayed a bit more in and by the third pull it was running. I didnt have it in my tank so shut it off and put it in my barrel of water and it ran great with a bit of fine tuning the carb. The motor had good spark but had been setting for three years so I cleaned the carb before trying to start it- just checked compression and spark to see if it was worth the effort. Not sure why the mist did it or even if that is what made it go but sounds just like what I was going through. Had good spark, good compression, and thought I had fuel. Might be worth a shot!
 
Good advice, guys. Sometimes direct fuel will not fire. Spark could be mixed up very true. I had a trade in direct from a dealer, wires were mixed up. 9.9 electric start. Got it for 100 bucks. Dealer had pulled head, said low compression, dah! Had it fixed in 1 hour. Sold it right away for big bucks. Like flying Scott said, it was only mixed up coil wires.
 
Back
Top