johnson 150 check engine light.

hey guys/girls,

last ditch effort for a new idea on this problem ive been dealing with..

here goes...

I purchased a 2000 wellcraft sportsman 210 w/ a 150 johnson outboard in august 2010.

boat ran great during previous owners test run with me, and ran great for about 5 weeks after my purchase : ).

i topped the tank off with fuel, and the oil tank up with oil, and decided to take a long run that day, and this is what happened.

when the boat hit 34 mph (about 4k rpm) the check engine light comes on, full power, and audible. ease off throttle, alarm clears and its business as usual.

I ran the following the tests..

replaced water separator
cleared the vent
cleaned the fuel pump screen
replaced primer bulb

ran the boat. still alarms.

installed a vacuum gauge just before primer bulb and ran the boat, drew 5-6" and tripped. brought a kicker tank and connected to outboard while on the water..runs fine : )! now i'm sure i'd find it...wrong.

back in the driveway I ran a length of clear poly tubing from access valve (ball valve-no anti-siphon valve on my boat) to the primer bulb w/ my vacuum gauge in the system.. boat ran 2-3" : ). replaced all fuel lines. ran boat...alarm tripped!!!!

brought boat to the wrench..diagnose bad pick up tube (poly tube test proved that it was not the pickup tube in my driveway) so i changed it and removed t he screen on the end..never ran boat again for the season.. filled the tank (treated) winterized and waited..

spring start up i changed the pick up tube and usual start up procedures.. boat ran great for the first month. : ) i thought i was in the clear.

I filled the tank with fuel and oil tank with oil. and ran the boat..struggled to idle, and stalled at no wake speeds.. and once again 34 mph and 4 grand rpm..check engine light.

brought the boat back to the wrench. they diagnosed the vac switch for alarm was tripping at improper vac pressure..replaced.

finally some results. picked it up yesterday ran it.. check engine with new symptoms!

latest symptoms:

check engine light occurs (now at a 22mph and above- and one time at 18 mph)
primer bulb deflates (yes, i ran w gas cap open to check venting.)


I know i just told a life's story but i could really use some help with this one!!

thanks in advance!

Re: johnson 150 check engine light.

If the primer bulb goes flat you're back to another fuel restriction. Could be in the tank side of the primer bulb or a bad check valve in the primer bulb itself.

Re: johnson 150 check engine light.

Did you inspect/remove/replace the antisiphon valve in the fuel tank? If that doesn't fix it, try a portable fuel tank and bypass all the filters and seperators. if it works, then introduce them one at a time until you find the culprit.

Re: johnson 150 check engine light.

i own a 150hp johnson 2000, my fuel pump took a dump. this happened after i ran my main tank dry.This year is know to have vro problems, as fuel pump rebuild kits aren't available, only replacement pumps. good luck keep us posted.

Re: johnson 150 check engine light.

Stylesabu, Are you sure about know issues with the 2000 Johnny 150HP fuel pump? Are you sure about the non-availibility of fuel pump rebuild kits? The OMS pump on the 2000 Johnny 150HPV6 is the same one as on the '98 Johnny 150HPV6, and has been know to be very reliable. In addition, the Crowleymarine.com parts list states that rebuild kits are avail in the OMC AccessoriesParts Catalog.

Re: johnson 150 check engine light.

Thanks for all the input guys! Finally got it! I recently purchased this boat, and something that I thought that was a normal things, proved not to be. While running the boat I could hear a faint horn, really faint, couldnt hear it unless you put your ear near console where the alarm horn is. Turns out that the following had occured: previous owner had replaced the horn with an after market (who knows what kind) alarm horn. This alarm horn would intermittently fail and sound, while at the same time engaging the check engine light. The culprit- the wiring harness was bad due to the previous owners batteries. They had installed maintenance free type batteries and that gave improper voltage through out the boat ultimately causing the chain of events leading to me almost losing my sanity!

remedy- new harness, and key switch.. new batteries will be installed before the next run.

all the fuel stuff checked out, alarms are gone and i can finally enjoy my boat again. : ) !!!!!!

Re: johnson 150 check engine light.

Ummmm....none of that would have caused the poor performance...RPM-wise that you reported.

Re: johnson 150 check engine light.

oh yes, that issue. bad vro, also replaced. costly problem, but happy to have my boat back in action!

Re: johnson 150 check engine light.

I am having the same problem.... it has been a few weeks?
How's the Boat? New Batteries (maintance free again ?) and do you run it with the
switch on "ALL"?