80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

I just bought a used boat. It's a 1974 Larson Shark with a 80 HP Johnson Super Seahorse (1967 I think).

I got it to the lake, and started it up and let it idle. It will shift into both forward and reverse, but once there I don't have any throttle at all. I can put the shifter all the way to the floor both ways and nothing. The motor will eventually die because it's not getting enough fuel.

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to outboard motors. I did follow the cables back and it appears that everything is electronic. There are 2 cables and 1 bundle of wires coming from my control box. One cable goes to the shifter side, the other goes to the "Warm Up Lever" that advances the timing.

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. I have a Seloc manual but it doesn't say anything about a throttle.

Thanks in advance!

Re: 80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

Hi, SM
Can you post the model number of your motor and a description of the remote control? What I've read so far doesn't seem to go together with a 1967. Maybe we can give some more intellegent answers if we know what we are dealing with.

Of course, the first thought is does the throttle/spark advance on the motor move when you move the remote control handle?

Re: 80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

I don't know what model it is, there is no identification plate on it anywhere. The control box just has two cables coming out of it, one cable goes to the side where it shifts it into forward or reverse, the other cable goes to the side where the spark advance thing is. Both of these cables work fine. There is also a bundle of wires that go back to the motor.

Re: 80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

Well whatever the heck you have, certain basic things have to happen. With the cable disconnected and moving by hand the lever that you call a spark advance thing (shift in forward gear) the spark should advance all the way up against a stop. Further movement should cause the throttle levers in the carburetors to go wide open.

If that is happening, the next thing is does the remote control do what you are doing by hand.

Checking these two things should at least isolate the problem to either the motor or control. Proceed from there.

Re: 80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

The warm up lever is what I'm talking about when I say that spark advance. It twists the distributor cap counter clockwise. When the warm up lever is up, the control won't go either forward or backward. When I push the control further forward, after it goes into gear, the motor does nothing, it just sets there idling. I have moved it back and forth dozens of times and cannot see anything moving on the motor when I do so.

Re: 80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

OK here is what we know:

We know that the throttle cable is not broken, as evidenced by the fact that the warm-up lever moves the distributor. We also know that the throttle linkage on the motor is intact, at least to some degree, for the same reasoning.

So where does that leave us? It says that something is broken or missing inside the control.

Trouble is we don't know what control you have so we can't give much advice on what to look for inside. You said there is a bundle of wires going to it, and it obviously is a single lever, combined throttle and shift. That describes a control newer than your 1967 motor. The fact that your motor has a moving distributor says that it probably is a 1967. It sounds like somebody has adapted a newer style control to your 1967 motor. Nothing wrong with that except we don't know what we are dealing with.

Can you take some pictures of the control and motor? I'm going to send you a PM and you can e-mail pictures to me if you can't post them here.

Re: 80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

look for a quarter sized disc like this, should be on the block near the heads, model and serial # should be stamped on it.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/tashasdaddy/MVC-859S-1.jpg

Re: 80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

OK. I went out this morning and gave everything a good looking over. I see what the problem is. Either the cable is broken or the control is broken. The throttle cable does not function hardly at all, it doesn't move at all when you move the shift/throttle lever and moves VERY little when you move the warm-up lever. Is it fairly easy to put a replacement cable such as a Teleflex cable on? The motor end looks pretty easy, how about the control end? If I take the control box apart, will I ever get it back together?

I think that the control box is a lot newer than the engine is, the control box has a choke switch and an ignition switch both of which I don't need as I have a choke and ignition switch on the dashboard. Would I be better off just buying a new Teleflex single lever/dual action control and replacing the one I have?

Next question: When I changed the oil in the lower end, there was water in it. Probably only about 2-3 tablespoons, but the oil had the milkshake effect going on so who knows how long it's been like that. How big of a project is it to take the lower end apart and replace the seals? Would I be better off taking it to a repair shop to do this and what kind of cost am I looking at? (The local repair shops' rate is $68/hr)

Thanks!

Re: 80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

did you put new washers on the lower unit plugs? it's a must everytime they come out. #1 cause of water in the lower. put new washers on and give it a try. and then check for water again. there are new 2 lever controllers, on ebay and they are the original for the motor, easy to work on and install cables. i personally prefer the 2 lever than single.

Re: 80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

Get the book for your motor. You are going to need it for alot of reasons.
First if the motor is a 67 then you are going to need to set the points every 3 months or so and will need to know the gap.
You have work in front of you I hope you didn't pay to much for the boat.
They went to CDI ignition systems a long time ago because water, heat, points, caps, and rotors don't get along.

A boat is a hole in the water you throw money at.

Kyle

Re: 80 Johnson Super Seahorse - No Throttle

Where would I get new washers for the plugs?