'70 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Afternoon everyone,

Looked at a '70 johnson 25 hp tiller, short shaft today. The guy ran it for me and it seemed to run smooth and the engine looked clean and in good shape, but noticed a couple of things that i need your help to see what i am seeing. I am a complete novice at boat motors, other than what i have been reading here the last few months. The serial # is E3274143 and the model is 25RL70E.



1) When he started the motor, i immediately saw that the pea stream was not strong. Water was dripping from under the cowling so i asked if he would run it eith the cover off. Looked like the water was coming out somewhere at the back of the motor. He is going to get his mechanic neighbor who did the recent tune up work on the motor (carb rebuild, impeller, serviced lower unit) to check it out and he will get back to me. Any ideas and should I haul *** away from the deal?

Now i have the year right, thanks TD!
Thanks for the advice, i appreciate it a great deal.

Carrington

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

shift on that motor is on the side. the tiller end handle turns for the throttle.

it is a 1970 25 E does stand for Electric Start.

some one may have added a tale tell to the motor.

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Thanks TD,

Just to clarify,

what did you mean about adding the tell tale, did you mean tall tale??

Any ideas on the water from the back of the engine?

Thanks again

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

The model number is for a rope start engine.

25= hp
R= rope start
L= long (20") shaft
70= 1970 model

The "E" is a model run and of little importance.

There was a kit to make it electric start, which may have been added. If there are teeth on the flywheel it has been converted to electric start.

It originally did not have a tell tale, but that also might have been added.

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Thanks JB,

What is a tell tale? Does it have anything to do with the water inside the cover at the back of the engine? Remember, you are dealing with a rookie! I tried to find it in the store, but no luck. Can you enlighten me??!!

Thanks

Carrington

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Tell tale: Nice word for what most people call a pee hole. That motor did not come with one. If water is dripping from the cowl, something is leaking. The water pump indicator is water blowing out in globlets out the back side of the midsection.

The motor came with a toothed flywheel to make it ready for a starter kit, which was an optional accessory.

25RL70E is a 1970 recoil start, long shaft motor. But it may have been converted to short shaft--it is easy to do. The E is an indicator of any mid-year changes that were made--IF any were made. Otherwise, it means nothing to the layman. The E in front of the serial number means it was made in the Evinrude factory. Yes, some have a J meaning it was made at the Johnson factory. I personally witnessed Johnsons coming off the Evinrude assembly line. If they flunked the test run at the end, they painted them Johnson colors and shipped them out anyway. ...Just a bit of Evinrude humor.

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Re: '74 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

The tell tale is the pee hole. It's the hole where the stream of water shoots out from to let you know the water pump is working.

As far as the leaking water...Check the head gasket and see if its leaking. The head is where the spark plugs screw into.

Re: '70 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Thanks for the help, i appreciate it. So it sounds like either there is a leaking gasket, or the water pump is going out. Hope i understand correctly.

Another novice question, before motors had a tell tale, how did the cooling system work on these motors?

Thanks

Carrington

Re: '70 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

FWIW, assuming you can locate the source of water leak, and fix it, the big check on this motor is the lower unit, and whether it is in good shape. Some of the checks on this require a load on the engine, and must be done in a real test tank, as opposed to a barrel.

If a clutch dog is gone, for example, it will kick out of gear under load, and short of disassembly, to my knowledge there is no test for this other than putting it under a load, either on a boat or in a real tank.

Lower unit repairs can get very expensive.

Re: '70 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

When you're talking about a 39 year old outboard, there's always a risk. If you can identify the cause of the leak and can see that it's going to be no big deal to fix it, or if the guy gets it fixed, you can never be sure that you're not buying a problem ready to happen.

Your best insurance is to get an on-the-water test, where you can wring the thing out in actual use. Run it fast. Run it slow. Run it hard. Start it cold. Start it hot. Then, when you get back to the ramp, check the lower unit oil one more time.

If it passed all those tests, then there's a good chance you have a good one. That still leaves you with an outboard that's almost 40 years old. Something could break the next time you use it.

It's the nature of buying old stuff. Still, a good old outboard is a far better bargain than a brand new one, all things considered.

Re: '70 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

"I personally witnessed Johnsons coming off the Evinrude assembly line. If they flunked the test run at the end, they painted them Johnson colors and shipped them out anyway. ...Just a bit of Evinrude humor."

Now...that's not what I heard at all. I heard that they tested every outboard as it came of the line. If it started on the first pull, it was a Johnson. Anything else was an Evinrude. If they couldn't start it at all, it was a Gale.

Re: '70 Johnson 25 - need help to avoid bad buy!

Thanks again for the help, have some direction now.

Carrington