1959 johnson 5.5hp Help!!

Newly registered member to the forum here, but long time lurker. I have recently acquired 1959 johnson 5.5hp and the original pressure tank that came with it. everything looks to be in excellent condition. it sat in a garage for a year or 2, so before I even pulled the rope I tore apart the carb and rebuilt it. I tore the lower unit off, changed the impeller and lower unit oil. I also dug into th ignition and replaced everything as well. I started her up and after a while of pullin, she started up. water seemed to be comin out the pee hole pretty good, but after about a minute or 2 it idled really high and the power head seemed to get really hott, too hott to touch, so I shut it down immeditely. im fairley new to outboards, but i read somewhere that it shouldn get that hott? so i pulled the plugs and the bottom plug seemed kinda wet, while the top was fine. so i decided to replace the head gasket, thermostat and therm gasket. i figured that there may have been blockage somewhere around those parts. So i just fired her up again and its doing the same thing? except it fired a little easier and the bottom plug was significantly less wet than the first time around. im confused! i dont know what to do next, boating season is almost here in PA and im not going to have a motor! i read somewhere that the water tube may not be lined up right from when i put the lower unit back on, could this be true? should i tear the exhaust side cover off, replace the gasket and make sure its not clogged too? im kinda stumped an any insight would be appreciated!!!

Re: 1959 johnson 5.5hp Help!!

Make sure that you have enough water in the barrel, while you run it. The water level should be just above the lower shock mounts. You can take the thermostat cover off and fire it up, to see if water is pumping up there good. If not, then you might have a clog somewhere. I have seen where corrosion will create a clog, where the copper water tube goes into the exhaust housing. I usually take a piece of flex housing (which is commonly used on a lawn mower throttle cable) and shove it up the water tube. This is a good way to see if it's clear. When you replaced the impeller, did you coat the water tube with oil, before you stabbed it in the impeller housing? If you don't, then you run a risk of collapsing it and creating an obstruction, or shaving off a piece of the rubber.

Re: 1959 johnson 5.5hp Help!!

ALWAYS find the problem before throwing parts at it! Boating is expensive enough as it is.. I concur w/zeph, water tube perhaps not connected correctly. Make sure the water in the barrel completely covers the impeller housing, as these do not have self priming waterpumps.. they must be submerged upon starting. And pulling the thermo cover and test running will tell you if it's indeed a water tube connection/obstruction issue. If it's pumping there, then it has to be a powerhead obstruction. You can then pull the head and poke around. Good luck!

Re: 1959 johnson 5.5hp Help!!

thanks fir the help guys. Well I pulled the therm cover off and let her run for a few seconds. Water was very forcefully being pumped up through the therm housing.Before that though, I took offthe exhaust covering and cleaned out a bunch of junk and fired her up. Started up and ran nice and cool and suddenly the water stopped flowing and it started heating right up so I shut her down. Think I've narrowed it down to a blockage in the powerhead. I don't see how tho because I replaced the head gasket a few days ago and thoroughly cleaned everything and used an air hose to blow any particles out as well as in the exhaust. Kinda frustrating

Re: 1959 johnson 5.5hp Help!!

I've got a 59 cd-16 with a similar problem. I 've had the lower unit off twice trying to figure out why it isn't pumping water. now i read there is a thermostat on these motors. tomorrow i'm going to run it after taking the thermostat off and see if water is being pumped to the top of the power head. Maybe I have a restriction in the power head. It takes me over two hours to disasemble the head and lower unit and reinstall. I'm gettiing tired and frustrated of doing that.

Re: 1959 johnson 5.5hp Help!!

byronjacobson said:

I've got a 59 cd-16 with a similar problem. I 've had the lower unit off twice trying to figure out why it isn't pumping water. now i read there is a thermostat on these motors. tomorrow i'm going to run it after taking the thermostat off and see if water is being pumped to the top of the power head. Maybe I have a restriction in the power head. It takes me over two hours to disasemble the head and lower unit and reinstall. I'm gettiing tired and frustrated of doing that.

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Typically, most people here would tell you to start a new thread, instead of hijacking someone elses, but no worries here

I would suggest that once you remove the powerhead and the lower unit, I would make darned sure that the water passages are 100% clear. Over time, I have noticed that corrosion blocks certian things off making it tough for water to pass through. One place in particular, is the joint in the exhaust housing, where the copper tube goes in. Also. where the powerhead mounts to the exhaust housing. Make sure that the passages are all clear here. Also, check everything in the powerhead itself. When you put it all together, make sure you mate up the pick up tube, to the waterpump housing correctly, so the rubber grommet doesn't get hashed.