I give up!

rcollicott

Cadet
Joined
Jun 10, 2011
Messages
28
Johnson 1976 115 4v. Was having some carb problems. Went thru them and had it running yesterday. Seem to run real good. Tried to start today and cranks but will not even start! Check for spark,was good. Seems like one thing after another.What am I doing wrong?:confused:
 

Barnacle_Bill

Admiral
Joined
Feb 8, 2004
Messages
6,469
Re: I give up!

Hard to say what you are doing wrong. What is your starting procedure? Did this problem just start?
 

Daviet

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
8,958
Re: I give up!

What kind of problems were you having that made you overhaul the carbs?
 

rcollicott

Cadet
Joined
Jun 10, 2011
Messages
28
Re: I give up!

What kind of problems were you having that made you overhaul the carbs?
Had Idle problems. Would die at slow speeds. Rough idle hard start. These carbs had been gone thru before and I think I may need to replace them. After rebuilding it seem to run real good. would start right back up when shut off. After sitting over night now just will not fire at all and yet has spark.
 

ripperace

Cadet
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
Messages
21
Re: I give up!

Check your fuel lines. Did you make sure the primer bulb was nice and firm before you tried to start it? If you can get it started again, let it get good and warm, then unplug the hose from the outboard, let it run out of gas, then put it away till the next day. Plug the hose back on, prime it up and see what happens. If it starts right up, I'd say buy a new fuel hose. You can also check the fittings by pulling the fittings off and checking O-Rings. They shouldn't be cracked or anything. The primer bulb can be checked by pointing the arrow upwards, and pumping it. It has a check valve in it, and if the hose has any age to it, you might be loosing prime through the hose. If you are loosing prime overnight if the hose is never unhooked, I'd say you've lost prime. If you are unhooking it and letting it run out of gas, then you've got issues elsewhere.

Ripperace
 

AEROCOOK

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
872
Re: I give up!

The fuel lines / hoses (all of them) may need to be replaced with the modern ethanol compatable type. If the lines are old or original, the ethanol in todays fuel can eat the rubber and send debris down stream into your carbs.
 

rcollicott

Cadet
Joined
Jun 10, 2011
Messages
28
Re: I give up!

The fuel lines / hoses (all of them) may need to be replaced with the modern ethanol compatable type. If the lines are old or original, the ethanol in todays fuel can eat the rubber and send debris down stream into your carbs.

Thank you for all the input!!!
 

ripperace

Cadet
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
Messages
21
Re: I give up!

The fuel lines / hoses (all of them) may need to be replaced with the modern ethanol compatable type. If the lines are old or original, the ethanol in todays fuel can eat the rubber and send debris down stream into your carbs.

I've seen "the ethanol problem" more times than I care to admit to. I don't know why they think it's our saving grace from oil. It didn't work in the 70's, and it's only causing issues again now. Any of you good people, if you can find ethanol free fuel, I suggest buying it. They sometimes call it "recreational fuel". Our marinas here in my area won't sell ethanol enriched fuel due to the fact that the stuff attracts water like a sponge. One marina owner told me that if they ran "street gas" out fo their pumps, they'd have to clean the tanks every year to make sure there is no water in the bottom of them. Besides, I've seen the difference ethanol free fuel will make in performance of an outboard and it is noticeable. One customer has laid claims to a 400 RPM increase over running street fuel. That's saying something if a fuel change can cause the engine to be able to run more RPM than a prop pitch change would do.
 

hotshot123

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jul 9, 2009
Messages
98
Re: I give up!

if you have good spark, try squirting a little premix gas into the carb throats and then spin it over to see if it will fire up. if it does, then you know you have a fuel delivery problem. if not then you may have a timing or compression issue. have you had the flywheel off lately for any reason? I ask because this sounds like the one i worked on this weekend. the guy had it running good he said but then the next day he couldnt get it to run. I found out that in his working on it to get it going, he had pulled the flywheel off but after replacing the trigger, he did not torque the flywheel correctly and it started fine that one time but sheared the woodruff key the next time he tried to start it.
 

rcollicott

Cadet
Joined
Jun 10, 2011
Messages
28
Re: I give up!

if you have good spark, try squirting a little premix gas into the carb throats and then spin it over to see if it will fire up. if it does, then you know you have a fuel delivery problem. if not then you may have a timing or compression issue. have you had the flywheel off lately for any reason? I ask because this sounds like the one i worked on this weekend. the guy had it running good he said but then the next day he couldnt get it to run. I found out that in his working on it to get it going, he had pulled the flywheel off but after replacing the trigger, he did not torque the flywheel correctly and it started fine that one time but sheared the woodruff key the next time he tried to start it.
Thanks for the info!! I have checked the fuel system,lines, primer bulb,ect, I found the problem after removing the front cover on the carbs. The elect choke linkage was out of adjustment. The choke plates were not closing all the way and i mean it was just not closing tight. would have thought it would start where it was but was not enough. Started fine after adjusting to where the plates would close tight. Simple fix but had me going crazy!! :rolleyes:
 
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