No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

Dutch552

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Update below:

I have a 1994 Johnson 115hp model# ending in TLARC on a 1994 Javelin bass boat. The tach has never worked on the boat since I bought it 2 years ago but I used a tiny tach to confirm the boat was propped right so I have been troubleshooting the tach. This morning I put the gray tach harness lead to the yellow/gray on the terminal strip and started the motor and I got a tach signal-so I know I have needed a new regulator/rectifier which is on order from CDI. I switched the wires back on the terminal strip and the motor ran fine all day with multiple restarts throughout the day. When I went to trailer the boat-it wouldn't crank at the dock.

The battery is fully charged and is less than a year old. I have functioning tilt/trim, get the start up alarm bleep and can hear the primer solenoid activate when I turn the key, but the engine doesn't even attempt to crank. I have a factory service manual but am relatively new to outboards. Any advice on where I should begin to troubleshoot?
 

Fed

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

Make sure you're in neutral maybe even jiggle the shift handle a little.
Do you own a voltmeter?
 

Dutch552

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

Throttle in neutral. Yes I do own a voltmeter, just don't know where to begin. Irritated that it worked fine all day and now nothing...
 

Fed

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

Do you hear a click from the starter motor solenoid when you turn the key to 'start'?
If not then put your volt meter leads across the 2 small starter motor solenoid terminals and see if they're getting 12V when you turn the key to 'start'.
 

emdsapmgr

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

You will want to verify that the key switch or control box is not the culprit. Disconnect the control box at the engine. (the big red plug) Pull the spark plug wires off the plugs. Put a set of jumper cables direct to the starter, with a fresh battery. See if the starter will rotate normal speed. If the starter functions normally-that's good. You will need to start checking other things: the key switch in the control box and the starter solenoid.
 
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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

I know I have needed a new regulator/rectifier which is on order from CDI. ......the motor ran fine all day with multiple restarts throughout the day. When I went to trailer the boat-it wouldn't crank at the dock.

The battery is fully charged and is less than a year old......


To clarify.... are you saying the battery was fully charged when you left to go fishing, then the engine wouldn't crank at the end of the day, or that you've since charged the battery and the engine still won't crank?


If it's the former, then it's a good possibility that you ran the battery down throughout the day, since it's not getting charged with a bad regulator.
 

Dutch552

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

The battery was recharged when I took the boat out and still no crank after reaching 12.8volts. I will test the starter solenoid first thing in the morning.
 

Dutch552

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

Okay, an update of things I have done thus far. I jumped the starter to the battery and it spun as normal. The starter solenoid tested okay but had a hairline crack in the case so I replaced it. Main outboard 20 amp fuse replaced.

The only thing I can get out of the motor is when I first tuen the key to "start" and then move the throttle forward while in gear-I get a very small movement of the starter motor and every once in a while it will actually engage the flywheel and move it slightly. The above will not happen in neutral or in reverse while in gear-only forward in gear. Is this positive for a bad neutral start switch or do I need to look elsewhere with this new information? Thanks.
 

emdsapmgr

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

If the starter functions normally when used with jumper cables, and you have a new starter solenoid-you have verfied that the two major components in the system are ok. Slow starter turnover can be from poor electrical connections. Have you double checked all connections to make sure they are clean and tight?
 
Last edited:

mekkamaz

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

If starter moves while it is in forward or reverse, that is a clear sign of a bad switch, cause it has to open contact and won?t let solenoid to get power til it is in neutral...also if it moves sligthly it is also a sign of a short circuit somewhere that is causing the engaging out of time....
 

Dutch552

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

UPDATE: The culprit ended up being the neutral safety switch. Replaced and motor now fires as new, though I still have a hard time believeing that it would just go out at the end of a good day of fishing in perfect weather...ah boating...I also took off thecarbs to rebuild them and found BOTH carb bowls to be cracked. I have seen them warped on many of the older OMC outboards that I have owned and worked on but this is the first time I have seen one of the plastic ones cracked like this.
 

toddschubert

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

Anecdote to you problem
I got back to the dock after several of hour and stop starts reverse forwards and got a knocking noise first in reverse then in forward too. I thought it was not engaging but got it on the trailer and found the bolt to anode had come loose and thang the universe it did not start hitting prop until I got to dock!
 

emdsapmgr

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

Does your engine have the plastic carb bowls?
 

Dutch552

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

It does. I just ordred the new aluminum OMC bowls with jets to replace them.
 

emdsapmgr

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Re: No Crank - '94 Johnson 115

Those plastic bowls were a real problem for OMC. It was not a question of if they would warp/crack, but when. They made bowl replacement kits for them for a few years-they had so many failures with them.. You will also have to order new drain plugs for the bowls. The old ones won't fit on the new bowls.
 
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