dbdeisenroth
Recruit
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
- Messages
- 1
I'm totally new to this, and I don't want to write a 5-page description of my situation so I'll try to be short.
I moved to California from Colorado last fall and picked up a Gregor 12'3" aluminum boat (1978) with a trailer and a Johnson 15hp (don't know what year, but it looks older) for $500 bucks. After some trouble starting it, I got it working with some new spark plugs. It's sweet, it goes fast, and I caught my first Largemouth Bass yesterday at Lake Don Pedro (well, 2nd, but the 1st was 14 years ago...this is the first one in our new boat).
Yesterday was our 4th or 5th trip or so. Up until now, once it gets started, except for some white smoke, the Johnson runs like a champ. Yesterday, at full throttle (we always run it at or around full throttle, although we slow down and let the engine "rest" because we figured full throttle couldn't be good for more than a few minutes or so), the engine zoomed to a really high RPM and the boat slowed down. We dropped the RPMs and killed the engine immediately.
It took a few tries to get it to start again, it would "start," but within 2-3 seconds die. Never experienced this problem before.
So we let it rest for a few minutes (very scientific), and then started it up. It runs fine, just like before, except now at speeds above 5mph or so the engine seems to "disengage" from the propeller. I can then crank down on the throttle, reduce the RPMs and it re-engages. I can replicate this behavior like clockwork, over and over again. I can slowly accelerate, and at what seems to be the same speed point, the prop will disengage and the engine will whir away.
I did some searching around, and I have an idea what could be wrong, but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. I thought it would be better to ask the pros, and so I did my best to describe the symptoms exactly.
One more note: I'm sure every man believes they are "mechanically inclined," but in reality some are above and some are below average. I've worked on automobiles for the past 6-8 years or so, and I've done such projects as removing axle shafts and U-joints, replacing head gaskets, and, of course, lifting my Jeeps. So, although I don't know Johnson/Evinrude motors, I'm sure I could figure it out with the right guidance.
Thanks in advance.
Sincerely,
Daniel B. Deisenroth
I moved to California from Colorado last fall and picked up a Gregor 12'3" aluminum boat (1978) with a trailer and a Johnson 15hp (don't know what year, but it looks older) for $500 bucks. After some trouble starting it, I got it working with some new spark plugs. It's sweet, it goes fast, and I caught my first Largemouth Bass yesterday at Lake Don Pedro (well, 2nd, but the 1st was 14 years ago...this is the first one in our new boat).
Yesterday was our 4th or 5th trip or so. Up until now, once it gets started, except for some white smoke, the Johnson runs like a champ. Yesterday, at full throttle (we always run it at or around full throttle, although we slow down and let the engine "rest" because we figured full throttle couldn't be good for more than a few minutes or so), the engine zoomed to a really high RPM and the boat slowed down. We dropped the RPMs and killed the engine immediately.
It took a few tries to get it to start again, it would "start," but within 2-3 seconds die. Never experienced this problem before.
So we let it rest for a few minutes (very scientific), and then started it up. It runs fine, just like before, except now at speeds above 5mph or so the engine seems to "disengage" from the propeller. I can then crank down on the throttle, reduce the RPMs and it re-engages. I can replicate this behavior like clockwork, over and over again. I can slowly accelerate, and at what seems to be the same speed point, the prop will disengage and the engine will whir away.
I did some searching around, and I have an idea what could be wrong, but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. I thought it would be better to ask the pros, and so I did my best to describe the symptoms exactly.
One more note: I'm sure every man believes they are "mechanically inclined," but in reality some are above and some are below average. I've worked on automobiles for the past 6-8 years or so, and I've done such projects as removing axle shafts and U-joints, replacing head gaskets, and, of course, lifting my Jeeps. So, although I don't know Johnson/Evinrude motors, I'm sure I could figure it out with the right guidance.
Thanks in advance.
Sincerely,
Daniel B. Deisenroth
