1957 Johnson 18 kicking my but,,

[Peterz46]

Just worked out a trade with a nice old timer,, not feeling so good about it or him right now.
The motor looks clean, he insisted on giving me the old metal tank, as I have now learned it is a pressurized tank systom. I cannot get it to fire off, I put fresh fuel in the tank however did not know it was " a pressurized " systom, I gave it about 20 pulls with no lunch, I then pulled the carb and gave it a good cleaning, put the carb back on and gave it another 40 or so yanks, I'm cleaned the plugs, they looked good, I checked for spark, plenty of spark, however when I pulled the plugs on to check again for spark I noticed that they were dry, I am not getting fuel to the combustion chamber, the entire room time I was attempting to star this old girl up I had the gas cap OFF of the tank, up until 20 min. Ago I had never herd of a pressurized tank systom,
Would leaving this cap off stop me from getting fuel to the combustion chamber?
I had pressed the button on the tank many times and it moved fuel into the carb float,
Any help would be welcome,
Peter

 

[Willyclay]

Yes, the tank must be sealed to prime the carb for starting and remain that way for the powerhead pulses to pressurize the tank while the motor is running! Welcome to the iboats.com forum. The members here are great and the experts can help you with any issues on that great old motor. Good luck!

 

[racerone]

When you operate the primer you fill the carburetor even with the cap off.----Motor should start.--------With the cap off the motor will stop once the carburetor goes empty.

 

[F_R]

No Title

Peter, you said the primer is filling the carburetor. Obviously, the problem is somewhere else. And "dry" plugs isn't it. If they were wet, they would indicate a flooded condition.

Motor in neutral and throttle set as far toward "Fast" as it will go (in neutral)? That is the true "Start" position. Choke working? High speed needle at 3/4 turn out and slow speed needle at 1-1/2 turns out?

Gotta tell you this: You should pull the flywheel and check the coils. Or at least remove the thin cover plate from the flywheel and take a look. That motor absolutely has cracked coils unless they have already been replaced. They ALL do. And you are wasting your time until you deal with them. Get new ones here at iboats. Having spark doesn't mean they are good either.

Never pull a Johnson 20 or 40 pulls. If it isn't running after four or five, something is wrong with it or your method.

 

[Peterz46]

Test

 

[Peterz46]

Ok , new to these forums, forgive me for the test above,
I will check the coils as soon as I get home tonight, the one mistake that or seams I may have made is the throttle position, I do not think I ever tried to start it in the neutral, wide open position, the most the throttle was open was 50%,
That said after far too many attempts at starting it I would have expected to flood the motor creating the wet spark plugs, that I did not see,
I will also double check to low and high settings and let you know how I make out, any other tips would be appreciated.
Peter

 

[Chinewalker]

Another thing to keep in mind. If the motor doesn't start, or even sputter, after 3-4 pulls, something is wrong. Could be your starting technique of throttle position, prime, choke, etc. Could be something actually wrong with the motor - gummed up carb, poor compression, lack of spark. In any case, pulling 40 times is just killing your shoulder. These motors, when set up correctly, start easily and run great. Getting them there is the fun part...

 

[kat-a-tonik]

Peter I have a 58 that was originally pressurized system, they are easy to change over to a fuel pump and one line system, unless you just want to keep it original

 

[Peterz46]

I can honestly say I have never been so happy to hear an engine sputter in my live,
I pulled the flywheel and checked the coils , they look like they just came out of the box, well almost, no cracks no burn marks, the plug wires however look a bit rough, turns out you can change just the wires and boots, I change them and put everything back together, primed the carb, pulled the choke, opened the throttle to the wide open neutral position, gave her a yank,,, Nothing,,, Frustrated would be an understatement, gave her a second yank,,, she roars to life,,, at lest for a few seconds,, I panicked,, not sur why, but I did, I hit the kill switch and she went silent,,,
By theni was out of daylight,, will work on it a bit tomorrow,,
I hope to bring this old girl back to life,,,, will see,
Thanks for your advice, I'm sure I'll be looking for more,
Pete

 

[Willyclay]

Great news! Keep us posted.