2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

bullgator99 · Apr 30, 2012

My woes continue. After coming out of storage my Johnson 115 (J115PLSSB) is very difficult to start. I pump up the primer bulb, hold the key in for 10 seconds, then turn it over. The first time, it catches for a few seconds then dies. The primer bulb is no longer firm so I pump it up again. For the next 5 minutes I crank and pump over and over with no joy. It seems that the primer bulb goes soft every time I crank it (and every time I hold the key in to prime it). When I pump it up again, when I let the bulb refill, I hear a sucking sound from down where my fuel line is. I don't remember it doing this last season but maybe I didn't notice because it was running fine. Finally if I disengage the gearshift and give it wide open throttle it sputters to life, runs rough for 20 seconds or so, and I back off to idle and then it runs fine like nothing happened. Does this sound like a carb problem? Or should I check my fuel line?

boobie · Apr 30, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

Are you holding the key in when you are cranking it over?? If it pops and wants to run, push the key in again.

bullgator99 · Apr 30, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

boobie said:
Are you holding the key in when you are cranking it over?? If it pops and wants to run, push the key in again.

Thanks for your reply. It pops and wants to run the very first time I turn it over, but it dies. After that I've tried holding the key in while cranking, and I've tried holding the key in for 10 seconds and then cranking, it doesn't seem to matter. It won't even sputter.

stylesabu · May 1, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

how long will bulb stay hard, if you don't crank it? wondering if you have any air leaks. did it run fine when you puit it away last season? did you use stabil in the fuel?

bullgator99 · May 1, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

stylesabu said:
how long will bulb stay hard, if you don't crank it? wondering if you have any air leaks. did it run fine when you puit it away last season? did you use stabil in the fuel?

Last season I was told by another boater that he thought it was running rich, but he is not a mechanic and I didn't do anything about it (other than checking the plugs which looked fine). It hasn't started with the first crank in two or three years, but this is the first year that it has taken 5 to 10 minutes of pumping and cranking. I did put Stabil in the fuel before I put it into storage. I actually burned all the old gas last weekend, and yesterday I filled it with new fuel and it behaved the same way.

I haven't noticed whether the bulb stays hard if I don't crank it. I'll check that later today. Thanks!

Chris1956 · May 1, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

Holding the key in while not cranking doesn't choke the motor. It needs to be cranking to pump fuel thru the enrichener.

Sounds like your primer bulb check valves are bad.

bullgator99 · May 3, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

Chris1956 said:
Holding the key in while not cranking doesn't choke the motor. It needs to be cranking to pump fuel thru the enrichener.

Sounds like your primer bulb check valves are bad.

Sorry I must be mis-reading my owner's manual. What do they mean when they refer to the electric primer pump?

I've been distracted by a hull leak and haven't tried any further engine troubleshooting. I'll re-post when I recheck the primer bulb. Thanks for the responses.

Chris1956 · May 3, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

The enrichener is not a pump. It is a solenoid that opens when you hold the key in or push the choke button. if there is no fuel under pressure in your motor, no fuel will be pumped into the intake manifold. So if you pump the primer bulb up hard, the vapor seperator will stop any fuel from entering the fuel system, until the OMS pump mixes it with oil. If the motor is not cranking, there is no mixing with oil.

Clear as mud, right?

bullgator99 · May 3, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

That makes sense. Thanks!

bullgator99 · May 3, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

Okay the primer bulb stayed pretty firm overnight. I have the batteries out to fix a leak so I won't be able to try to start it again until this weekend.

bullgator99 · May 4, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

Went out this evening. Primer bulb was still firm. As usual, motor tried to start with first crank, then died. After that lots of cranking but no starting. I took it out of gear and pushed the throttle to wide open and it started. I cut back the throttle to 1/2 and it ran rough for 15 or 20 seconds, then evened out so I cut back to idle. Out on the lake it ran like a dream. I still wish it would start easier. Any suggestions?

Chris1956 · May 5, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

Is the Quickstart system working? Is the enrichener really working?

bullgator99 · May 8, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

When I push the key in, my voltage meter drops and if I do that while the engine is running at idle it slows down and stops. As far as the Quickstart, I am advancing the throttle to get her to start and I read that this overrides Quickstart. If that is not true I'll go ahead and troubleshoot Quickstart.

Chris1956 · May 9, 2012

Re: 2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

Quickstart is an automatic timing advance circuit. It is only active when engine RPMs are below 1100. if you know what your warm idle RPMs are, start her up and Quickstart should advance the timing to add a few hundred RPM to idle speed until motor is warm.

You can use the throttle advance to get her started, but drop it back to idle before she is warm and see if Quickstart takes over.

2000 Johnson 115 trouble starting

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