'81 Johnson 15hp birdseed problem, need help!

Yes, I know, birdseed!?!? I have a 1981 Johnson 15hp that I just put a lower unit on this spring, went to take it out for the first time and it was idling kinda low, went to throttle her up and she died and wouldn't restart.

Turns out a rodent of some kind stuffed my intake full of birdseed. I cleaned everything out of the breather box, took the carb apart and cleaned thoroughly, and changed the plugs. The reeds on this engine are not very accessible so i stuck a shop vac up to port where the carb bolts up and sucked out a weeks worth of food for a family of sparrows.

The engine has spark and will not fire even with 50:1 mix directly in the cylinder. My next step is compression test. I would like to take the reed assembly off but it looks like the only way would be to remove the powerhead. What is all involved in powerhead removal? I know this is a very odd problem but if anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Re: '81 Johnson 15hp birdseed problem, need help!

:facepalm:
Finally a new problem I haven't seen before! lol!
I think you are going to have to take the intake off, and maybe the head. It is worrying that it will not fire off even with fuel put directly in the cylinder.
I do not know the exact procedure for taking off the powerhead on your motor (it is too new for me, lol), but it basically involves taking loose the shift linkage, disconnecting the wiring and fuel lines, and removing the nuts that hold the powerhead to the base. A manual would be useful in this situation.

I have had mud daubers build nests inside my intake before. I still can't understand how they even put up with the fumes.
They are stored with the choke closed now......

Re: '81 Johnson 15hp birdseed problem, need help!

If the reed valves are not seating properly could that cause low compression?

Re: '81 Johnson 15hp birdseed problem, need help!

fishon1213 said:

If the reed valves are not seating properly could that cause low compression?

Click to expand...

No. But if they are not seating the motor will not run.

Re: '81 Johnson 15hp birdseed problem, need help!

So i finally dug this motor out to start working on it again. I decided to just go ahead and check the reeds. Wouldn't ya know it, all four reeds had a single sunflower seed stuck in them. Its still not running but I am getting somewhere. Any advice on making sure I put the reeds together correctly?