1982 50HP SeaHorse Won't Fire Up

[kayrecs]

I recently purchased an old boat on craigslist and spent the day yesterday cleaning her up and trying to get it to start. I fogged the cylinders with WD40 and put in new plugs. It turns over freely and seems to have ok compression from turning the engine over with the new plugs in. I was told the solenoid was bad so I replaced it along with a new ignition switch due to the missing key. It has a brand new battery and fresh premium fuel in a new can. The hose was leaking a little at the connections at the needles, but it was getting fuel and had a firm bulb. Turns over really strong, but doesn't seem to be getting a spark by testing it with the plug out of the cylinder.

Here is a video of me trying to start it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2g9zEN7fcM&feature=youtu.be

The cables in the control housing are rough, but they will move and actuate the levers in the motor.

It's a 1982 Johnson Sea Horse 50HP.

[FONT=Bitstream Vera Serif, Times New Roman, serif]I obviously cannot afford to take it to the marina and pay out the butt to have them get it going and risk being scammed by not knowing much about marine engines. I am not afraid to get in to it and do some wrenching, but at the same time in anyone here or would recommend someone in the DFW area that may be able to help, I'd be willing to pay a little something.[/FONT]

[FONT=Bitstream Vera Serif, Times New Roman, serif]Thanks for the help![/FONT]

 

[Bigreddon]

First of all..hook up some water to that baby!! Your killing the the water pump impeller!! No spark condition is caused by bad connections to ignition, or bad ignition components. Find a schematic online, and check your voltages to each component. I found many corroded wires on my ignition module and coil. Then, once I fixed those, she purred right up.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Ive got that exact same motor, long leg too.
First of all, do as above, the water pump requires water to lubricate it, without water its like a car without oil. The water pump sits about half a foot above the water intake grill, if you use a barrel you need the water level to be at least two inches above that.

Now for the no spark, what you need to do is go to the powerpack, the rectangle thats bolted on to the starboard side of the engine near the rear, disconnect the black wire with a yellow stripe to it and try again. (Thats the kill circuit, if the motor starts after that you will need to use the choke to kill the engine).
By the way the choke works by pressing the key in.)

 

[Bosunsmate]

Also once you have that sorted you will need to relocate the water outlet tell tale to the top of the motor, this model overheats badly without that quick modification.
Dont even contemplate going to a marina unless you want some pain

 

[Bosunsmate]

The cables in the control housing are rough, but they will move and actuate the levers in the motor..[/SIZE]

[FONT=Bitstream Vera Serif, Times New Roman, serif]Thanks for the help![/FONT]

Also the gear lever will be rough if the motor isnt running as it needs the gears to be moving for it to slot into gear, so try not to put it into gear without the engine running (otherwise its like changing gears in a car without a syncroniser)

 

[kayrecs]

Thanks ALL!

I had the ear muffs hooked up when I was working on it earlier, but just tried to start it for the purpose of the video, I'll be replacing the impeller if I can get the thing to run but I don't want to waste my time or money.

Bosunsmate - Thanks for all the really helpful advice here! ...Pretty cool you have the same motor. I didn't know that about shifting it into gear was bad without the engine running... I'll try disconnecting that black wire with yellow stripe and see what happens. As far as the cables, It should still run as long as its in neutral, right? Could you elaborate on the water outlet mod.. I see where the hose dumps out but don't understand the mod you are talking about.

I will keep this thread updated. Once again thanks y'all!

 

[bonz_d]

1st thing I'd do is check to see if the little inline 20amp fuse isn't blown.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Bosunsmate - Thanks for all the really helpful advice here! ...Pretty cool you have the same motor. I didn't know that about shifting it into gear was bad without the engine running... I'll try disconnecting that black wire with yellow stripe and see what happens. As far as the cables, It should still run as long as its in neutral, right? Could you elaborate on the water outlet mod.. I see where the hose dumps out but don't understand the mod you are talking about.

I will keep this thread updated. Once again thanks y'all!

Yep, itl run in neutral
Heres a thread on the water outlet mod
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...aq/228380-johnson-evinrude-adding-a-tell-tale
Currently the outlet is at the bottom of the exhaust cover, you block that up and move it to the top of the crankcase, thats all.
Good luck:thumb:

 

[Bosunsmate]

1st thing I'd do is check to see if the little inline 20amp fuse isn't blown.

I may be mistaken but im pretty sure that the motor wont crank, like it does in that video, with that fuse blown

 

[kayrecs]

Great News!

I followed the old black wire with the yellow stripe to a harness where it appeared to turn into a black wire connected to the smaller lower post on the side on the new solenoid and moved it carefully out of the way, turned the key (of course with a hose hooked up) and it fired right up!! I let it run for a second and the speed was all over the place despite not touching the throttle at all. When I turned the key to shut it off - nothing - It was still running a varying speeds.

I disconnected the negative terminal from the battery and still nothing! It had been running for about a minute at this point so I just unclipped the fuel line and let her run out of gas.. I grabbed my phone just in time to capture it running for a few seconds and then dying out.

I was electrocuted by the metal of the control box just as a side note. The previous owner had installed an auto zone on/off switch in place of the run/stop switch which had gone bad so I just connected the 2 wires to defeat the switch all together.

So, with that.. What do I do now? Should I be replacing the wiring harness?

How difficult is it to change out the control cables and adjust on this thing? I have a feeling it needs it.

Would anyone recommend using sea foam or anything like it to "clean" it out?

Once again, thanks for the help. I am excited to have this thing out on the lake this summer!

 

[Bosunsmate]

That bottom black wire on the solenoid should go to a clean ground, otherwise it wont work.
The blackyellow kill wire should never of being going there thats like a 100%fail.
That blackyellow kill wire should be connected through to your control box. It kills the engine when its shorted to ground at the control box, thats how it works.
The engine sounded good until it stopped.
Also do not disconnect the battery while its running as that can damage components including the stator and rectifier.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Ive no idea what the wire set up hes done but turning this motor on by fusing two wires together is just weird as turning the motor on is actually breaking the connection between ground and the killwire so that the engine will have spark. So you fusing that wire together did i dont know what...

Heres a wiring diagram
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/ignitionSwitch.html

 

[Bosunsmate]

Yes use seafoam, run it at 50 to 1 oil mix and dont fiddle with the cables until you have everything else sorted out,

 

[pn]

you might call the previous owner and ask him what the on/off run/stop switch he installed is for, im guessing its on the kill circuit.

 

[kayrecs]

Thanks everyone! I am about to run to the department of wildlife and fisheries to get the boat and motor titled in my name, then I'll be able to come home and get some work done on this thing.

I am a little confused about the wiring.. but I printed out that diagram and am just going to get into it following each wire.

I'll update shortly.. Quite a few projects in the works today!

 

[kayrecs]

I ran it one more time and it sounded just a little rough to me.. I admitted defeat and am working with a craigslist marine mechanic doing side work.

His work order is to change out the control cables and "tune up" the motor as well as replacing the impeller and changing the gear oil.

He called to let me know the control box was shot and would need to be replaced, which I had feared after opening it up myself.. but he almost insists that I get a certain model which is $300. We are relocating the ignition and installing a run stop switch in the dash. They will literally only control the gearshift and throttle.

Is there not a universal fit type application for me here.. from what I understand it uses a 33C type cable and I have found many control boxes compatible with those. Are there really no other options? I really like the vintage style controls which can be had for half the price. I am ok with remounting FYI.

Thanks for the input as always!

Ben

 

[Bosunsmate]

that is now running with a misfire, blocked carb or something.
yes heaps of controls can do what you want, Many of those universals you just change its connection as to whether it requires a push or pull for forward

 

[AlTn]

did you get some firm compression readings?...as others advise, it'd be in the first order of things to get the motor running well before tackling the controls and cables issues

 

[jakedaawg]

Just a side note, I noticed in your original post that you used fresh premium fuel. This fuel needs to be mixed with a tcw 3 oil at 50:1.

 

[kayrecs]

Ok iboaters! Major updates today!

Just to quickly address jakedaawg - I of course mixed it 50:1 with a quality 2 stroke oil but thanks for looking out

So since my last post, my trusty craigslist marine mechanic got the thing cooling after pulling the lower unit twice, replacing the impeller but still wouldn't cool.. We ended up completely rebuilding the water pump with a kit so another new impeller (now I have a spare) housing, seals etc.. Cleaned the pisser nozzle and replaced the worn hose under the cover for good measure. BAM!! It was circulating water just fine! The thing was running smoothly enough, fortunately the rough idle in the previous video was apparently caused by a loose spark pulg? He ran it in the driveway for me at 11:00pm and it started right up and began pumping water.

Fast forward to today.. I loaded up a paddle and a box of tools and spare parts in fear of the worst on her maiden voyage and towed it down to the public ramp on Lake Ray Hubbard here in Dallas, TX to test everything out. Launched the boat, parked the car and it fired right off. I slid it back into reverse and pulled away from ramp and shifted it into gear and was off.. I bumped the throttle up a little to quickly idle out away from the marina. Once we were away from the buoys I pushed the throttle up to about a quarter of the way and got it to plane out a little, but then heard it start to bog down and struggle a little. I thought it may have been a fuel issue because the primer bulb was soft and didn't feel like it was pumping fuel.

I backed it off a little, and cruised around at low speed pretty smoothly constantly checking to make sure it was properly cooling, It was Testing it out I would accelerate to the point where it would bog down and listen.. It would slightly cut out, but really sounded like it was struggling. I stopped and shifted into neutral to listen to the motor and went to pull away and... nothing. It wouldn't shift into gear at all, forward or reverse. I took a look under the cover and the lever is actuating the control on the side of the motor, it just wouldn't shift. Stranded in choppy water with a strong wind I paddled to the nearest shore which was the backside of a private marina full of busted up old concrete as a sea wall...Great.. With no other option I jumped in and tied a line to the bow and began swimming the boat around, fortunately there was a ramp about a quarter or half mile up, but it was private and for members only.

I let my wife and puppy off on the shore and they befriended a couple with a boat on the ramp, but were unwilling to offer me a tow in.. After a brutal swim and loosing my glasses with a wash to the face, I finally got it around to the ramp and the couple gave me a lift back to my car at the public ramp and were nice enough to scan me back in with their keycard. The boat is back in the driveway now but I am at a loss of what to do now. I text my mechanic at work and let him know quickly. He offered to help work on the drive issue once he made it back from a trip and thought the bogging down was caused by the carbs needing to be cleaned or rebuilt.

Let me know what you guys think! As always, thanks for the help!

Sadly I did not have my phone out on the boat to document, but I am more than willing to snap a picture or record a procedure to have you guys help diagnose.

Hope everyone will be out on the water this weekend!

Ben