1995 Johnson 115TL - Runs rough & blows fuse

[meanderson]

I have a 1995 Johnson outboard 115TL. The 20A fuse in the motor blew out and the tilt & starter quit working. I replaced the fuse and the engine started with throttle down, but ran very rough and would cut out when letting up on the throttle. Could not get the motor to idle, it would die out every time. Replacing the spark plugs had no affect. After trying several times, the fuse blew again. Any ideas would be much appreciated!

 

[Jim311]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115TL - Runs rough & blows fuse

I had a bad ignition switch that acted similarly. It would blow fuses and didn't want to stay running at all unless I disconnected the kill switch wire completely. You could also have a bad ground or an exposed wire somewhere shorting out.

 

[Davelin]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115TL - Runs rough & blows fuse

I'm new at this but had the same thing on my 1970 115. I believe the wire in the lower unit that operates the electronic shift has an exposed wire and is shorting out and blowing the fuse when I put the engine in reverse. I removed the lower unit and found the wire had been pinched when the unit was installed.

 

[meanderson]

Re: 1995 Johnson 115TL - Runs rough & blows fuse

Thanks for the feed back guys! I figured there's a short somewhere. Not sure if I want to fart around with it or just take it in and have the pros figure it out. I can understand the short blowing the fuse but was actually more confused as to why the engine is running so rough. Must be a related issue because it normally runs like a champ.