Logo
FULL SITE MENU

Stuck in Maine with Dead Outboard (1998 Johnson Fastrike 175)

L

Lamepops

Member
This motor has been really good to me since I bought it used 15 years ago. I'm on my yearly fishing trip to Grand Falls Flowage in Maine, and my outboard has failed. The first sign of trouble came after a 5-mile trip up the lake. After an hour of fishing, when I went to start the outboard, it started but did not sound right. The engine light came on, and repeated attempts to restart resulted in smoke pouring out of the cowling. When I took the cowling off, there was a small fire that was easily put out. The insulation on the wire from the solenoid to the starter had melted and ignited some nearby plastic. After some cleanup and removing the starter to check it, I replaced the wire and put it back together. The motor started right up, but the same thing happened a few minutes later. The engine light came on and the motor stopped. It sounds like something is preventing it from turning over...almost as if it's temporarily seized. I've examined the gear teeth on the bendix and flywheel and I see no obvious problem. I do have "some" compression in each cylinder, but don't know more than that. After cooling, the motor will start, but then halts and can't be restarted, and it sounds like something is binding and preventing the starter from moving.
Sorry if I am not clear...I am mechanically illiterate, but hoping salvage my yearly trip.
 
One final update before I head home from a disaster of a fishing trip. My cousin, who has extensive experience with all kinds of outboard motors, talked to a friend who spent years working on older OMC outboards. The two of them are convinced that I've had a failure of the VRO system, and that I'm no longer getting oil to the cylinders. Apparently a lot of folks convert their older OMC outboards to run on premixed gas/oil. One thing that bothers me though...for as long as I've owned this motor, I've always been able to easily spin the prop by hand in neutral. That is no longer the case. It is now difficult to turn and there seems to be one particularly bad spot in the prop rotation. So, when I get home, I'll be doing the following to try to get a feel for how much damage I have: 1) drain the lower unit and remove it for inspection, 2) do a compression test to see if any of the rings/cylinders are severely damaged. Thanks for following my posts and I would love to hear some feedback.
 
The gearcases on these motors , 20" models are not robust in my opinion.-----Drain the oil and look for metal pieces.-----Post the actual compression values here.
 
Thanks for the response. This motor has an aftermarket lower unit, but it sure feels like that's at least part of the problem. I'm just hoping the problem s don't extend up into the powerhead. I'll be on the road tomorrow, and taking my first look at the lower unit over the weekend.
 
Long day after returning from Maine and unloading the truck and boat. Later in the day, I did complete the compression measurements, and here's what I measured. From the rear of the motor, going down the left side, 75-75-70, and the right side, 85-75-70. All of these measurements are significant lower than the compression measurements when I first purchased the motor. The original measurements were between 110 and 125. Tomorrow I'll be draining the lower unit, and checking for metal fragments. Regardless of the health of the power head (rings, piston, cylinders), I would expect the prop to spin freely in neutral, but it is not. Thanks for following guys.
 
Update: My next task was to examine the lower unit because the prop does not spin freely in neutral. When I removed the drain plug, there was not a single drop of gear lube to be seen, and the drain plug had lots of metal fragments on it. A close inspection revealed a chip out of the bottom of the gear housing and a small fracture where the gear lube would have leaked out. I must have hit something during the trip, though I don't remember any "bumps" along the way. So - at the very least - I need a new lower unit.
 
Thanks racerone. Do you have any comments on the compression numbers I posted in post #6? They seem a little low to me, but no obvious busted rings/pistons. Are these typical numbers for a 25-year-old outboard that needs a rebuild?
 
Lamepops said:
Update: ....... When I removed the drain plug, there was not a single drop of gear lube to be seen, and the drain plug had lots of metal fragments on it. A close inspection revealed a chip out of the bottom of the gear housing and a small fracture where the gear lube would have leaked out.....
Click to expand...
Well bummer. Make sure you keep and use your shift rod if you get a V6 gearcase from a different year engine (I would suggest the Magnum). I have a 1996 Intruder 150 and after much frustration with shift adjustments I got some good advice on here and discovered my gearcase had likely come from a FICHT motor which had a different length shift rod.
 
Lamepops said:
Thanks racerone. Do you have any comments on the compression numbers I posted in post #6? They seem a little low to me, but no obvious busted rings/pistons. Are these typical numbers for a 25-year-old outboard that needs a rebuild?
Click to expand...
My '96 Intruder had 105 - 110 PSI when I first got it 10 years ago and it still measures the same. Before jumping too far you might take compression readings with different gauge in case there's something wrong with yours. If another gauge confirms those numbers in the 75PSI range, then yes, you're looking a rebuild. Regardless of age, a drop over 30PSI in all cylinders is not good.
 
Thanks for the tips kevinj. I won't throw anything out until I'm back on the water. I think I remember that the shift rod just comes right out after enough turns. I will retake the compression measurements. Even though I'm 68, I'm a rookie when it comes to motors.
 
Lamepops said:
Thanks for the tips kevinj. I won't throw anything out until I'm back on the water. I think I remember that the shift rod just comes right out after enough turns. I will retake the compression measurements. Even though I'm 68, I'm a rookie when it comes to motors.
Click to expand...
FYI, the shift rod isn't set by a number of turns, it's based on a measurement from the top mating surface of the LU to the center of the shift rod eye. The specific distance is based on your model and lower unit length so you'll want to search and find that value. This video gives you an idea how to set the shift rod height --> Shift Rod Adjustment from Dangar Marine
 
I was talking about removal and reuse of the shift rod. Isn't it as simple as unscrewing from the old LU and screwing into the new one to the proper length?
 
Yes - and thanks flyingscott. We're dropping the lower unit this weekend, and I definitely will retake the compression measurements. Part of me wants to take the old LU apart at some point and view the destruction. First priority is to get back on the water though.
 
Lamepops said:
Yes - and thanks flyingscott. We're dropping the lower unit this weekend, and I definitely will retake the compression measurements. Part of me wants to take the old LU apart at some point and view the destruction. First priority is to get back on the water though.
Click to expand...
I'm also replacing the VRO pump as a precaution.
 
Lamepops said:
I was talking about removal and reuse of the shift rod. Isn't it as simple as unscrewing from the old LU and screwing into the new one to the proper length?
Click to expand...
You can't really just thread out a certain # of turns then install the rod in the new LU the same number. The threads in each rod and clutch dog can vary slightly so you need to thread in the rod using the measurement method.
 
I replaced the lower unit on Saturday (along with the water pump) and also replaced the starter and solenoid because they looked thermally stressed from my adventure up north. The motor starts and runs, sounds great, and the water pump is doing its thing. I have not remeasured the compression on the cylinders, but I'll be doing that this coming weekend. Despite being extremely careful about transferring the shift rod from the old motor, including double and triple checking the measurement from lower unit to the center of the hole at the top of the shift rod, we had to shorten the shift rod length by a few turns to get it to shift properly. Not sure what happened there. The only thing I'm curious about is that there is some water leaking out between the lower unit and exhaust housing (I'm running water through a pair of ear muffs and garden hose). I've read in a couple places that this is normal, but I wouldn't mind hearing some feedback on this.
 
Tonight I'll be digging up the torque settings for the lower unit bolts and snugging them up. That should be it for the lower unit replacement. Then I'll redo the compression measurements.
 
Lamepops said:
Despite being extremely careful about transferring the shift rod from the old motor, including double and triple checking the measurement from lower unit to the center of the hole at the top of the shift rod, we had to shorten the shift rod length by a few turns to get it to shift properly. Not sure what happened there. The only thing I'm curious about is that there is some water leaking out between the lower unit and exhaust housing (I'm running water through a pair of ear muffs and garden hose). I've read in a couple places that this is normal, but I wouldn't mind hearing some feedback on this.
Click to expand...
Shift rod height is an exact measurement so I'm not sure why it would have changed unless there was a variation in the different lower unit you installed. That is a bit baffling.

Water coming out around the gearcase while on muffs is completely normal.
 
OK - final update for this thread. The '98 Johnson Fastrike 175 has a new lower unit (SEI #SE306), a new upper driveshaft, a new starter because the wrong replacement was installed some years ago (bottom mounting hole did not line up, a new starter solenoid, and a new VRO pump. I spent a few hours inspecting and cleaning up hoses and cables. I dropped her into a tank in the driveway and she started right up and ran for ~20 minutes. Next step is to start the break-in at the lake. My curiosity got the best of me so I cut the side out of the old LU. I was expecting to see a mess of missing and damaged gear teeth, but it was not obvious to me why it was seized up. I'm going to poke around at it a bit more. I'm punting on the compression measurements for now...if the motor runs well at the lake, I'll worry about it in the offseason. Thanks to everyone for listening and helping. Happy boating!
 
Back
Top