Prop will not spin

[mattdank]

Hello,

I have a Johnson 50 and i hit a rock today with my prop while going in reverse. I was going really slow and the boat turned off right away. Now, my boat will not start and the prop will not turn at all by hand. When i try and start it, it will not even turn over..i hear it try and turn over but nothing happens. The motor is an older motor, early 90s. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Matt

 

[racerone]

Can you turn the flywheel one or more turns by hand ?---If you remove the lower unit can you turn the flywheel by hand ?

 

[mattdank]

i still have the boat in the water. I will try to turn the flywheel when i remove the boat from the water. What would that mean if i am unable to turn the flywheel?

 

[F_R]

It would mean that you busted something, which would be very unusual. That little bump shouldn't have damaged anything other than dinging up the prop a bit. Are you positive that you got the control shifted into neutral before trying to restart? And of course there is the possibility that it was about to break anyway, and the rock just finished it off. Or even that something broke and you didn't even actually touch the rock.

 

[mattdank]

It almost feels like i am trying to start the boat like it is stuck in reverse still. I have the handle in neutral but i am thinking that somehow the motor is still engaged in reverse. Is it true that i would not be able to turn the prop by hand if the motor was still stuck in reverse somehow and is there a way to check that the motor is actually in neutral? Thanks for the help, i really appreciate this.

 

[racerone]

Sorry, but you have to do the work / trouble shooting.----Remove the sparkplugs.---You should be able to turn the flywheel very easily whether motor is in forward / nuetral / reverse.----I am not standing beside your motor .--If I was there would be an answer in a matter of minutes on this issue !!

 

[mattdank]

I was able to spin the flywheel (it felt stuck at first) and I went to start it and the motor ran fine. When I put the boat in gear, the motor stalled and and now the flywheel will not turn at all.

 

[racerone]

??? see post # 2 and act on that.

 

[F_R]

Agreed, next step is remove the lower unit, which will tell you whether the problem is in the powerhead or lower unit. From what you said so far, it certainly sounds like something is busted or came apart inside the gearcase. Does it have oil in it? Or water? Or little of nothing?