Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

[Iwann1]

First I just want to say there are some great answers given here, I have learned alot so far. I am looking to buy a outboard engine 60 - 70 hp. I have talked to several different people and everyone has different opinions. The one thing that I have heard a couple of times is that Johnson 70hp are fairly good engines, I have heard bad things about Johnson engines in the past and am wondering if this is true. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Ian

 

[BruceA]

Re: Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

Yes, the Evinrude (Same thing as a Johnson) 70HP on my 16ft powerboat I have is an older model, 1988, and it still never misses a beat, is quite economical and being a 3 cylinder it is relatively easy to service myself.<br />It cruises at 28 MPH at 3800 RPM and at that it feels reasonably smooth, although at low speed it tends to be vibrate noticeably.<br />I think the larger/later V4 engines are a little smoother.<br />These are of course my opinions, others may feel differently.

 

[Iwann1]

Re: Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

Thanks BruceA, I have heard the Johnson/Evinrude 70hp are good motors. I am new to boating and I appreciate your imput. Ian

 

[novacane]

Re: Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

the v4 60-85hp johnsonrudes are awesome motors just my oppion

 

[Trent]

Re: Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

They are good motors but stay away from the older push button shift type. Parts are getting hard to find and they do give trouble.

 

[DJ]

Re: Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

Agree with Trent. Stay away from the electro-shifts. Anything 73 or newer is OK.<br /><br />I've owned several, they're simple, fuel efficient and have been around for a long time.<br /><br />Great engines.

 

[ajp]

Re: Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

What is the matter with electric shift. I have a 1969 Johnson 115Hp V-4 electric shift and it runs great. For what is likely to go wrong with this type of engine, parts are available. It is a simple designed motor that lasts. <br /><br />I had a 1980 70hp manual shift and it ran good as well. It had trouble pulling a skiier though. Full gas all at once to pull up the skiier would kill the engine. Even after new rings and honed cylinder walls to boost compression, problem stayed. Mechanics 1st said compression, then sync the carbs, then carb kits. Never did get it fixed.<br /><br />Any motor that runs is a good motor.<br /><br />Just my opinion.<br /><br />Arlan

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

The OMC 3-cylinders were one of the better designed motors to ever come out of their plants. I've got a 1980 Johnson Stinger 75 with close to 1000 hours on a rebuild. Previous owner hadn't replaced the impeller and it had cooked number one cylinder. That was in 1994 and I've been running it hard ever since. Fantastic on fuel for an engine of that size. The 85 hp V4 OMCs will drink MUCH more fuel for their ten more horses.<br /><br />Nothing really wrong with the electric shift motors, until something goes wrong. Parts may be available but in many areas it's getting harder to find a mech who will work on one.<br /><br />- Scott

 

[moogoojo]

Re: Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

i too have a 70 hp johnson it also stalls when i give it throttle from dead still i had the top half completly rebuilt same thing still stalls in take off.check this out i was in the river with it sunday never did get it to take off kept stalling .got mad went home put motor in barrell of water started the engine put in gear full throttle never did stall cant figure this out any help appreciated t.c

 

[DJ]

Re: Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

moogoojo,<br /><br />Went through the same thing. I don't know what year yours is but, this is what I did.<br /><br />1. Make sure it's getting up to operating temp.<br /><br />2. Synch'd and Link carbs. (make sure all the carbs are opening at the same time) and the throttle linkage is moving the timing.<br /><br />3. Rebuilt carbs.<br /><br />Actually, # 2 fixed it about 50%. # 3 fixed it 100%.<br /><br />It's a great engine. It is NOT a stump puller compared to a V-4, but it holds it's own.<br /><br />It uses 1/2 the fuel of a V-4 (90) with nearly the same amount of top end-on a light boat.<br /><br /><br />I am an older ("73 thru last production, crossflow V-4's and tri-powers))John/Rude fan. "Little ones" too.<br /><br />The cross-flow V-4 is my favorite (90-115) and the "70 tri Cyl's." are a VERY close second.

 

[Cut n' Jump]

Re: Is Johnson 70hp a Good Motor?

First off- I love my 78 Johnson/Evinrude 70hp. Yeah.. I had a bunch of broken ski ropes with my 70. That stalling problem was a real pain. The floats should be level when upside down. New needles and seats will sometimes lower the float level. Low floats or dirty jets will make a lean miss noticable mainly under acceleration. A top end surging at W.O.T. is a dead givaway. Running a small solid wire through the main jets [can be done while the carbs are installed] helps sometimes. A camoflaged buildup can be on the jet. After cleaning the carbs with new needles and seats that sucker launches. The V4's seem to have more bottom end torque than the inline 70's but thats probably because they have so many more cc's. More cc's = more gas. My 70 will go full throttle all day pulling skiers and use about 8 gallons of fuel. Double that for a V4. Really I'd like to have a 115 just for the massive increase in power. Those 45 extra ponies feel more like 100 with the right prop. They seem dependable after bypassing the vro. If you have a 17 ft or larger 'glass boat or if you want to pull 300lb. skiers or two at a time get a big V4. The 70 won't do that!