1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

[amad]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and to motorboats in general. Today I just bought a 1969 Old Town boat with a 1970 Johnson 60hp motor on it. When I got it home, I put the "muffs" on it and hooked the hose up. When I started the motor, I could not see any water being sprayed/squirted out of the holes. There was smoke coming out of them. I'm not sure of the previous maintenance on this motor. Any suggestions? Should I replace the impeller? The water pump? Both? Neither? Also, how big of a job is it? I am decently mechanically inclined. Thanks for any help. I would love to take it out on the lake this Friday!!!

 

[BonairII]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

You won't always get water spraying out of the leg of the motor on muffs. How long did you run it? It takes a minute for the t-stat to open up and allow the water to start cooling the cylinders, so maybe the motor hadn't reached operating temp yet.

Regardless, always change the impeller of any new(to you) motor. Change Lower unit oil also.

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

When running on a hose the water will come out the prop and the vents above the cavation plate. Because the exhaust housing is not full of water you woun't see much water out of the exhaust ports.
If you are not sure, replace the impeller, not to hard to do. You should probably get the factory manual if you are going to work on the engine yourself.
You can install a tell-tale on the engine to show you if the water pump is working.

 

[BonairII]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

The water pump and impeller are the same thing.

I'm def in favor of installing a telltale. It let's you know that water is pumping.....It doesn't prove that the motor is actually cooling though.

 

[amad]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Wow! Thanks for the replies! I only let it run for about 20 seconds because I was afraid I might be causing damage. Should I try letting it run longer? How risky would it be to take it out this Friday and then change impeller/water pump later? Also, I'm not sure what a telltale is.

Thanks!
Aaron

 

[durban]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

i put something on about the water from impeller to motor & goes back to .
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=550756

 

[BonairII]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

How risky would it be to take it out this Friday and then change impeller/water pump later? Also, I'm not sure what a telltale is.

Thanks!
Aaron

Run the motor a bit longer to see if you get some water coming out of the relief holes(i might just be a mist).

If you decide to run it on the water without changing the impeller...you're going to have to by hyper vigilant that the motor is pumping water while your underway.

Do you have an overheat buzzer inside your control box? If so, make sure it works so it can warn you if you're running hot.

Order an impeller now, so it will be on it's way to you.



http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=222677

 

[amad]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Ok, I went back out and ran the motor a little longer...about 2 or 3 minutes. I still did not see water coming out of the top holes. BUT when I turned the motor off and turned the water off, the water draining out of the small holes near the intake was warm water. That would make me think that the water is circulating through the motor? Is that right?
Also, how long do you need to run it with the lever near the ignition switch/throttle up in the "warm/start" setting? When I turned it down after a minute, it would die. I started it again and again trying to play with the warm up lever until the battery died....charging it now.
Also, under the cowl on the engine, I see a lever that I can switch from "choke on" to "automatic choke" to "choke off".
Where should this setting be? Thanks for all your help.

Aaron

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Run the engine and look at the prop, water will come out of the center of the prop, hold your hand on the cylinder head and see how warm it gets. The cold start lever is used to warm the engine up, might have to run several minutes, before it will idle properly. If it woun't idle properly when warmed up you may have to do some further checks to find the problem. The choke should be in the auto position for the choke to work from the control box.

 

[BonairII]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Your best bet(aside from dunking the motor in the lake) is to put it in a large barrel or trash can etc and make sure water level is over the impeller housing....then run the motor. You should get much better water flow then.

Just to reiterate.....locate your overheat buzzer and test it to make sure it's operational. Very important that it is working properly.

 

[amad]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Your best bet(aside from dunking the motor in the lake) is to put it in a large barrel or trash can etc and make sure water level is over the impeller housing....then run the motor. You should get much better water flow then.

Just to reiterate.....locate your overheat buzzer and test it to make sure it's operational. Very important that it is working properly.

I actually did put it in a big trash can with water earlier when I was only running it for a few seconds....not long enough to tell anything I'm sure. I'm not sure I have an overheat buzzer. Where would it be?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[BonairII]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Probably inside your controls. Open up the controls case(carefully) and it should be visible. Put 12volts to the 2 leads to the buzzer...and it should alarm if it's functioning.


BTW: NOW is the time to order an OEM service manual. Don't get a Seloc or any other generic manual. The service manual will save you time/money and frustration....now and in the future.

 

[amad]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Probably inside your controls. Open up the controls case(carefully) and it should be visible. Put 12volts to the 2 leads to the buzzer...and it should alarm if it's functioning.


BTW: NOW is the time to order an OEM service manual. Don't get a Seloc or any other generic manual. The service manual will save you time/money and frustration....now and in the future.

Thanks. I'll check the buzzer tomorrow. Do you think the warm water draining indicates that it is pumping water?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[BonairII]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Thanks. I'll check the buzzer tomorrow. Do you think the warm water draining indicates that it is pumping water?

Thanks,
Aaron

Probably.

If it were me, I'd drop the lower unit to check the condition of the impeller before I ran the motor on the water. But that's just my opinion.

Your impeller may indeed be fine and last you til the new one comes in(or for a couple more years)......OR it may be on the brink of disintegrating and leave you stranded on the water the first time you take her out.

It's a crap shoot unless you contact the PO and find out when the impeller was last replaced(assuming he tells you the truth).

Dropping the lower unit is really the only way to know for sure. Dropping the lower unit is simple as pie. If you go this route....we'll walk you through it.

 

[amad]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Probably.

If it were me, I'd drop the lower unit to check the condition of the impeller before I ran the motor on the water. But that's just my opinion.

Your impeller may indeed be fine and last you til the new one comes in(or for a couple more years)......OR it may be on the brink of disintegrating and leave you stranded on the water the first time you take her out.

It's a crap shoot unless you contact the PO and find out when the impeller was last replaced(assuming he tells you the truth).

Dropping the lower unit is really the only way to know for sure. It's a simple as removing some bolts. If you go this route....we'll walk you through it.

Do I need to take the lower unit completely off to check the impeller, or just drop it Dow some? What does a good or bad impeller look like?
Sorry for the million questions.

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[BonairII]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

You got to take it completely off.

This video will give you an idea of water an impeller housing/impeller looks like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnZ4SqWqtyA

 

[amad]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Thanks for all the advice!!! I have replaced the impeller and am hopefully ready to go. Heading to the lake today.

 

[amad]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

Well that was a disaster! I went to the lake, got everything ready and backed into the water. Motor would not turn over at all. Finally realized that it would turn over when I had the warm-up lever all the way off, but then it would not start. I did adjust the idle (I thought) yesterday, but apparently messed up some kind of switch, too. Anyway, I pulled it back out of the water, put the throttle full forward and then back to neutral, and test cranked it. It cranked fine with warm-up lever on. So...back to the water. Got back in the water, and it still did not crank with warm-up lever on. Pulled it back out of the water AGAIN, readjusted the idle (??) so it would turn over when the warm-up lever is on and backed it back into the water AGAIN. This time, it cranked and cranked, but would not start. FINALLY got it started after about 5 minutes of off and on cranking. Once started, it ran fine on idle. Parked the trailer, got in boat and backed out. About 30 feet from the dock, I realized we had forgotten our life jackets (AAAARRRRRGGHHHHH!) I was about a mile from a marina, so I thought I would just risk going over there and buying 3 life jackets. About that time, I looked down and my engine hot light was on (AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!) So I quickly took it back to the dock (it seemed to want to bog down when I gave it some throttle), got the trailer, and pulled it out. I drove straight to the shop in town and left it with them. They are about 10 days backed up, but I had no choice. He said it could be as simple as a dirt dobber's nest or something clogging the cooling system, could be a sticking thermostat, or it could be any number of other things. He's going to check the overheating issue and the hard starting issue. So frustrating!!!!

 

[BonairII]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

You gave up pretty fast IMO. You could have had your motor running in a couple days if you brought it home. That 10day wait will probably end up being more like 2-3 weeks(if you're lucky). I'd go back and pick up your boat if I were you.

A t-stat costs about $20 bucks and takes about 10 minutes to replace.

In the future, be patient. You're probably going to be paying a good amount of money to the mechanic for something you could have done yourself.

 

[amad]

Re: 1970 Johnson 60hp...is it cooling? New to boats

You gave up pretty fast IMO. You could have had your motor running in a couple days if you brought it home. That 10day wait will probably end up being more like 2-3 weeks(if you're lucky). I'd go back and pick up your boat if I were you.

A t-stat costs about $20 bucks and takes about 10 minutes to replace.

In the future, be patient. You're probably going to be paying a good amount of money to the mechanic for something you could have done yourself.

You're probably right, but I am going out of town on Monday for 11 days anyway. Plus, with the difficulty starting, it may need carb work (which I probably could have done that myself, too). But I will have peace of mind knowing that they have gone over the engine and checked it all out.