98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

My boat has been sitting since last April. I have never let it sit more than a month or two before but have been so busy this year I haven't taken it out. Anyway today I went out to try to start it and I pulled the spark plugs and thought I would turn it over by hand a few times before trying to start it. I put a breaker bar on the flywheel and gave it a good tug. She is frozen up tight. I did not try to break it lose for fear of breaking something. I thought before doing anything else I would check here for advice.

A little background on the motor. I bought the boat 7 or 8 years ago from a friend who was the original owner for almost nothing. It had low compression in the lower left cylendar. I rebuilt it with instructions from Dhadley and it has been a great motor ever since. Last April I took it to Marco Island for a week vacation and it was in fine shape. I did a compression check on it before putting it in storage and had 118-120 psi in all 4 cylenders. It hasn't been touched since April and like I said it is frozen now. One more note, when I pulled the plugs the lower left had a little rust on it. Like I said though the compression on that cylendar was the same as the other 3 when put in storage.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated since I really don't want to have to rebuild it again.

Thanks
Gator Mike

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

Start by tilting the engine and adding lots of oil through the spark plug holes, aerosol will help. The rings have probably rusted to the cylinders.

You might want to use fogging oil in the future.

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

Thanks, I just tilted the motor all the way forward and sprayed penetrating oil in the spark plug holes. I will let it sit overnight and try again in the morning. Any Idea how much torque I can safetly put on the flywheel? I will try to turn it with a torque wrench so I know I'm not turning too hard. If this doesn't work would I be correct to assume the next step would be to pull the heads and oil directly to the rings?

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

fill the cylinder with marvel mystery or penetrating oil, let it sit a day of two, leave it tilted all the way up. that will get on the rings.

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

Thanks Tash,
Will do that, somehow I get the feeling I'm gonna smoke up the neighborhood when I get this thing started. Can't be any worse than the last time I seafoamed the motor though.

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

I'd seriously consider getting rid of all the old fuel in the boat. Today's ethanol fuels attract water and don't store well in the long term (over 6 months.)

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

agree^^^^^ also when you lower motor, and catch the oil in a big towel, when you get it to turn do not stand behind the heads, it is going to spit oil out the holes. you can drape a towel over the heads, to cut down on mess, also one under the exhaust.

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

Ok last night I sprayed 3 in one oil in the cylendars and let it sit overnight. This morning I ran up to Home Depot and picked up a gallon of PB Blaster and filled each cylendar. I tried to turn it when I got home from work 8 hrs later and she is still locked up solid. I refilled the cylendars with PB Blaster and will let it sit until tomorrow afternoon and try again. I'm not pulling real hard on the breaker bar yet, don't want to break anything.

I will post back tomorrow with results.

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

Take your time with this. It would be better to let it soak a week and get results than to rush it and have to tear it down or break something by forcing it too soon. We soaked an 4 cylinder I/O for two weeks with PB Blaster and tried it every couple of days. It was the 14th day when it came loose.

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

After a day and a half of soaking in PB Blaster she is still frozen solid. I put maybe 60 or 70 lbs of torque in each direction and she wouldn't budge. I refilled the cylendars and will try again tomorrow afternoon.

I'm starting to get a feeling I may be tearing this motor down before this is all over.

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

Two days of soaking and it is still locked up. I put about 100 lbs of torque on the flywheel nut today and tried in the opposite direction untill the nut loosened. She still feels locked up solid.

Should I continue to soak or would it do any good to pull off the heads and tap on the cylenders? Any other steps I should try or just continue to soak?

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

Is there any play at all in either direction? Is the gearcase in neutral - does the propeller spin freely?

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

whats the rush???

let her keep soaking....

if you got a propane heater set it close by( be carefull of leaking fuel) and warm the whole motor....

a salamander style heater works good.

you just got surface rust tension, if the motor went away fine...the prop turns freely right?

I had heard not to rotate backwards...can anyone confirm if that is true.???

good luck

patience!!!

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

if you rotate backwards you need to replace water pump impeller, it can cause the paddles to flip and or break off...I would replace it anyway after sitting up so long/change gear oil also. I also recommend marvel mystery oil..it is great stuff...you can add it to your fuel for first tankful in addition to your 2-stroke oil. I would turn it clock-wise and put some real torque on it after soaking for about a week every couple of days, I would also do a lot of spinning it over with plugs out while pumping marvel mystery oil in the cylinders, then clean carbs out good. get some Deep Creep or sea foam and do a de carb also

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

ezeke said:

Is there any play at all in either direction? Is the gearcase in neutral - does the propeller spin freely?

Click to expand...

No there is zero play either way, it is froze up solid. It is in neutral, the prop spins freely. I'm a little worried about the lower left cylendar, like I said before the spark plug had some rust on it. I will keep soaking and report back in a couple of days.

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

bob johnson said:

whats the rush???

if you got a propane heater set it close by( be carefull of leaking fuel) and warm the whole motor....


patience!!!

Click to expand...

Don't think there is any need for a propane heater, I'm in Florida, we have the A/C on.

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

Ok, I'm on my 6th day of soaking and no new results. She is still locked up tight. There is no play at all in the flywheel, she is as tight as if you had it in a big vice. The lower unit is in neutral and the prop spins. I put a bit more torque on the wrench today, 120 lbs and it still wouldn't budge.

Should I continue soaking or move on to the next step?

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

After 6 days of soaking with no luck i would pull the heads and have a look.
Just my opinion,the other guys may have different ideas.

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

I had a 20 h.p. johnson and used brake fluid in the cylinders and they broke free if you would like to try that .

Re: 98 115 Johnson been sitting 9 months

Gary H NC said:

After 6 days of soaking with no luck i would pull the heads and have a look.
Just my opinion,the other guys may have different ideas.

Click to expand...

Agree.

I would not be surprised if you find rust.