89 johnson 50 gas issue

[budsterjames]

My 89 johnson 50 vro recently had the lower unit go out, I found a lower unit on an 84 johnson 50 that was in working order and swapped it out. For years we had the vro disconnected and ran premix, we noticed that we could mount the fuel pump from the 84 on the 89. So we removed the vro unit from the 89, put in the fuel pump and plugged all of the oil related hoses left behind. The motor fires up, it goes into forward and reverse and works fine. Here is the catch, the motor seems to run out of gas and we need to pump the bulb on the fuel line to keep it running. It is not completely soft but in order for it to keep firm someone has to constantly squeeze it a little bit. Any ideas as to what could be wrong? We can't spot any fuel leaks anywhere. We thought maybe the fuel pump was bad and got a new one to try, does the same thing. Thanks.

 

[racerone]

What is the model # of the motor. An 84 lower does not fit on an 89 model as far as I know.Start with a compression test.--------I assume you did remove the plug between the 2 screw holes to mount the 84 pump.

 

[budsterjames]

J50TLCUD, really it's an 87 but was sold as an 89. Somewhat embarrassing, we didn't remove the plug and once that was removed everything runs fine. Thanks for your assistance.