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70's 115 Johnson taking out of storage and need some help

R

rsdata

New member
Newbie here... long story short... I have not had this engine in service for 10 years. I am now retired and have some time, and I want to get this running again. I have fogged the cylinders and I have turned over the engine a couple of times in the past ten years. Today I drained and refilled the lower unit and I think that all went well. About a 1/4 water cup clear water came out, then clear looking lube. I then refillled it. Sometime in the past I plugged the plug wires, and thought I would know by the length which wire went where. WELL, that is what I get for thinking like that. I have a Clymer shop manual, but cannot find anywhere that tells me which coil goes to which cylinder.

I bought this engine 20 years ago, it is a V4, 115 HP and I think a late 70's model.

I have several pics... I hope these help someone tell me if I have the plug wires hooked up correctly...
thanks for any help...
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That much water in the lower unit all these years ??--------That means the lower unit needs a seal kit and a new impeller for water pump.---------Looks to be a 74 model.-Remove cover on CDI unit and check the wiring there , I believe it is marked as to where the orange wires go.
 
racerone said:
That much water in the lower unit all these years ??--------That means the lower unit needs a seal kit and a new impeller for water pump.---------Looks to be a 74 model.-Remove cover on CDI unit and check the wiring there , I believe it is marked as to where the orange wires go.
Click to expand...

Thx for the quick reply
where is the serial number tag located? I suspect that would pinpoint the year...

marked on the outside of the CDI package the org coil wires are numbered.
I followed the org wires and found the following
Looking at the engine from the back, the coils are 2,4 and 1,3 left to right

Now how do I ID which cylinder is 1,2,3,4?
sorry for the stupid questions...

I suspect that the water impeller might be stiff, and I changed a couple about 20 years or so ago in an adult ed marine engine class I took...
Is there a recommended Johnson parts supplier on the 'net?

thx again
Roger
 
DUH...
now that I am looking closer at this site, I see it is a parts house, and I am about to answer two of my questions...

still need to find the cylinder numbers though...
Roger
 
OK... after more reading, I'm thinking the cylinders on the V4 are: left top is 1 bottom is 3, right top is 2 and bottom is 4. So it appears (in my previous picture posts) I have the left cylinders hooked backwards, but the right appears correct... and it was the left ones that I was most unsure about.

NOW, please bear with me... I used to own an '89 40 HP Johnson, with a factory recommended 100:1 oil fuel ratio. It worked fine for about 15 years, but one summer it started to run rough,with no power, like it was firing on only one of the two cylinders, until it would "catch" and run fine at a high speed. Then it failed me the following summer, as it froze up solid after I ran it for about 5 minutes on a 3 week fishing trip to Canada in '04. I replaced it with a 4 stroke Honda 50 from the only dealer in a 50 mile radius, that saved the final 2 1/2 weeks of my fishing trip.

I am wondering if the introduction of gasahol around the late 90's, in that time period hastened my problem, that was later diagnosed as a shot crank. The cost to repair was just too great, and I was happy with the tiller-Honda on my 16 foot Aluma Craft.

I am trying to resurrect this '74ish 115HP Johnson powered runabout boat for fishing. The last time I had it in the water was ten years ago. It ran fine then as I recall... I still have the tube-pull rope on it that I used to pull my daughter around Lake Cumberland.

What is the recommendations NOW for the use of gasahol in this engine? I know enough to NOT use old gasahol, and I think I need to run about 40:1 oil ratio. I think I still have a Johnson anti-carbon additive bottle still around after all these years. I have not yet started this engine, but I want to in the next 5-6 days, prior to taking it out to fish in. What additivies or fueling advise can anyone give me for fuel for this old engine? I just traveled through AL, and I think I saw a few filling stations that advertised 100% gas, no alcohol, BUT I have not seen these stations in KY or OH, where I am going to fish.

Any help appreciated...
thx
 
Sorry ---Cylinders are numbered from top to bottom.--The top cylinder on the motor is #1 and the bottom cylinder is #4.-------Work slowly and carefully or you will make expensive mistakes !!!------So I doubt that the wiring at present is " wrong "
 
this is the V-4 engine, not an inline 4
I thought I saw in another post where a V-6 engine was 1,3,5 on one side and 2,4,6 on the other... from that I took that the V-4 would be the same... 1,3 and 2,4... am I wrong? The orange coil wires (according to the description numbers on the CDI panel) run to #1 and 3 coils which are located on the left and #2 and 4 which are located on the right...
the cylinders have to be 1,3 left and 2,4 right ...


I can't see how the cylinders would be 1,2 left and 3,4 right... I never disconnected the orange coil wires... only the spark plug wires.

Am I missing something, racerone???

Does anyone have any ideas about possible fuel problems going forward with this old engine?
 
Sorry mate !!!-----I have 40 years of experience and know what motor you have !-------There is one cylinder at the top ( starboard )and it is #1 the one below it is # 2 on the port side then #3 on the starboard side and then the bottom #4 on the port side.--- Look carefully and work slowly to avoid costly mistakes !
 
Thanks for the advise. In the bright sunlight I saw cylinder numbers stamped on the engine. Your description above was correct, and I did have one lead incorrect. Gotta put this puppy in the water to see if the engine will run.
 
Not too many Sunoco stations around... here and there, but lots of Shells, although in N KY some of the Shell stations have turned into Speedway in the last year. I have to check the Shell pumps for the ethanol component. I thought everyone was at 10% these days...
 
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