1991 johnson 150 warning alarm

enstar

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I am looking to replace my warning alarm on my 1991 Johnson 150 looper.. The part number is 585993.. It has a purple wire, tan wire and a ground wire. The only one I could find online costs 75.00, seems kind of expensive.. I have seem some newer ones on ebay that cost half that price but with a different part number. Would those be compatible with my engine, and if so which part number would work? Thanks
 

Will Bark

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Re: 1991 johnson 150 warning alarm

I replaced my warning horn with a simple backup alarm horn from Auto Zone for about $5.00. I hooked the tan wire to one connector and the purple wire to the other connector. It's been working fine for about 4 years; maybe you can do the same. Good luck
 

enstar

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Re: 1991 johnson 150 warning alarm

Thanks for the suggestion, never thought of going with just a general alarm horn. But I would still like to know if some of the newer model number alarm horns would work? And which ones?
 

kjdunne

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Re: 1991 johnson 150 warning alarm

If your alarm horn is inside the remote control, they had different shaped horns in different years. I have a 1985 control and a 1995 control which have different horns which are not interchanchable because of the physical shape. If the physical shape of the one you see on ebay is the same as yours, it should work. It seems part #s get changed or superceeded sometimes for no apparent reason. Radio Shack also has piezo buzzers that will work but not fit inside the remote control. The purple and tan wires are the ones you need to connect to the horn. Purple is +12 volts when the ignition switch is on, tan becomes ground when the temp sensor(s) get hot. You can extend the purple and tan wires to outside the control box to use a different horn, just be sure to route them so they don't interfere with or get snagged by the moving parts.
 
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enstar

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Re: 1991 johnson 150 warning alarm

Thanks for the info.. My alarm is just located under my console, not inside the remote control. So I assume just a generic alarm from Radio Shack will work.. I appriecate the tip and I think I will go that route...
 

kjdunne

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Re: 1991 johnson 150 warning alarm

Radio Shack's model 273-68 works well. Can be connected for continous or warble tone. The package says it's weatherproof. I used one mounted under a console for 5+ years and it was working fine when I sold the boat. About $9.00.
 

bhassman

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Re: 1991 johnson 150 warning alarm

Read your question and responses because I was looking for a reason my horn goes off constantly. I just bought a new in box 1990 150hp Johnson and took it out of the box and hooked up the controls that come with it and the horn seems like it doesn't work right. Pull the tan wire and it just chirps leave it hooked up and it goes off continuosly. Checked the heat sensors and oil sensor using a manual and all checked out ok. Haven't started it yet so don't know what that will do to the elec. system will do then. I pressured up the oil system like the directions said but don't know if the pump hast run if it gets to the sensor or not. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Hate to buy a new horn if its something else. Thanks a lot. butch
 

kjdunne

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Re: 1991 johnson 150 warning alarm

With the key ON, engine OFF, unplug the wires from the VRO pump, oil tank, and temp switches, then see if you still have the alarm. If yes, find the short in your wiring harness or cable to the remote control, tan wire to ground. If no, plug in the wires one at a time starting with the temp switches to see what is causing the alarm. I had an oil tank give me a constant alarm one time, so I just left it unplugged as the tank was in a visable location.
When the alarm horn is working correctly, it gives a short chirp when the key is turned on to let you know it's working. The Radio Shack and other alarms/buzzers won't do that. If you use a non-OMC/BRP alarm, leave the black wire disconnected from the horn. Purple is +12v, tan becomes ground when a sensor activates. The black is ground for the test chirp in the OMC/BRP horns.

Just reread your post, you say the motor is new. Run a premix of 50:1 fuel and oil with the VRO connected when you first start it. It may take a while for the VRO oil sensor to start working, and the factory recommended using premix until the VRO is verified working by the oil level dropping in the tank. It may take a bit of running to verify as the engine uses about 1 gal. of oil to 50 gals. of gas. The extra oil won't hurt anything except maybe the mosquito population.
 
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