Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

chefjmk · Jan 21, 2013

hello All,
newbie to the forum..........Having said that i really need some help!
I have a 2000 Johnson 130 J130PLSSS. I Blew the motor and lower unit last year in boca grande. Got the motor rebuilt ( Supposedly by a mechanic). Finally got a lower unit 3 mths ago. installed it. wouldnt run right so I rebuilt the carbs and changed the reeds to CCM reeds. ( A mechanic helped me out). Yesterday took the boat out and it ran like a scalded dog, Idled amazing, couldnt of been happier.......then about 2 hrs into the trip at at 4000 rpm, something felt different and sounded different........5 minutes later......Overheat alarm. Shut the motor down. waited 10 minutes. she fired right back up and when i went to give it throttle it sounded like loud clanking... likes rocks in the motor. it seemed to idle fine.limped back to the dock. This morning i took offthe cylinder head covers and noticed a teal green smudge all inside of the #2 cylinder. all others seemed fine. no scoring, no missing pieces, etc. Turned the flywheel and all 4 pistons moved up and down. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

I said supposedly earlier because he was supposed to of had replaced a piston and when i took the covers off they all looked the same!! oh and they all had dark black deposits on the tops of the pistons

fireman57 · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

did you use 25:1 for your break in period? You shouldn't take a fresh rebuild and run the dog poo out of it. They should have given you break in procedures to follow if they did in fact rebuild it.

chefjmk · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

Yes i was just trying to summarize my story. I did the lower unit break in period. The mechanic said the same break in should suffice for the engine as well. the motor hasnt been pushed passed 4500 rpm.

Do the symptoms sound like any thing familiar? Thank you for the response

fireman57 · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

Are you sure the clanking isn't in the lower unit? sometimes it sounds like it is in the engine because it vibrates up through it. The green ooze sounds like unburnt oil. Check the oil in the lower unit for shavings/chunks of metal.

V153 · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

#1 Check compression. Does the motor sound difrent in gear vs neutral? Might surprize you just how much noise can be transmitted upward. 'Specially when it's in the water.

One day I thought for sure my motor was comin apart, proved to be a bearing goin out in the gearcase?

chefjmk · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

I will check in the morning........would the lower unit going out cause the motor to overheat? we limped home about 5 miles without an issue...... I mean everything "seemed "fine.. and only when you would bump up the throttle would it sound terrible........ Im open to everything and could only wish it was the lower unit considering its under warranty for 3 years!
Thanks for the response

chefjmk · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

Ok I couldn't wait. The lower unit oil is as blue as when I first put it in. It doesn't smell burnt at all
The magnet did have a little metal shavings on it but nothing too crazy. Could it still be faulty? Any other way to check??

trendsetter240 · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

chefjmk said:
Ok I couldn't wait. The lower unit oil is as blue as when I first put it in. It doesn't smell burnt at all
The magnet did have a little metal shavings on it but nothing too crazy. Could it still be faulty? Any other way to check??

Yes, it could still be faulty. When the upper bearing in the lower unit is starved for oil and fails it makes that loud clanking noise. it starts first at high rpms but the longer you run it eventually it will do it at lower RPMs too.

I'd do like was recommended first and check out the compression up top first then take a closer look at the lower unit. And no that bearing failing wouldn't make it overheat. Does the engine have a good strong pee stream? When you are up on a plane as well as at idle?

Cheers

fireman57 · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

There could be a few reasons for your overheat. could have a piece of impellor from the water pump that broke loose and clogged a water jacket but still let enough water through for idling. The rattle could be that the water pump housing broke, the drive shaft is bent, you could have hit something and cracked the lower unit housing, etc... You just have to visually inspect everything and if you don't find anything wrong then tear it down.

chefjmk · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

So you think I should drop the lower unit and check for?????
What do I need to check the compression? Any method to the madness or is it pretty straightforward.
Thank you for the responses

The pee was weak at idle. I've had the boat for 6 yrs and I remember it a always being that way for what it's worth

chefjmk · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

Nothing was hit while underway. Clean water under engine at all times

trendsetter240 · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

chefjmk said:
So you think I should drop the lower unit and check for?????
What do I need to check the compression? Any method to the madness or is it pretty straightforward.
Thank you for the responses

The pee was weak at idle. I've had the boat for 6 yrs and I remember it a always being that way for what it's worth

Doing a compression test is super easy and all you need is a compression gauge which can be purchased for less than 50 bucks.

Remove all 4 spark plugs, screw the compression gauge into the #1 cylinder then head up to the controls. Pull the kill switch to ground the spark, pull up the idle lever to open up the throttle and crank the engine over for 5 seconds. Take a look at the gauge it should read over 100psi. Repeat for each cylinder and record the numbers. A difference of more than 10% between any of the cylinders indicates a problem.

chefjmk · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

I don't believe I have a kill switch so can I just crank over the motor or is there another way to ground the spark??

Biggieb400 · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

One thought, when you replaced reed valves, did you use loctite on the screws? They can vibrate loose and go throughout the engine...

fireman57 · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

With the plugs out you don't have to worry about it starting

chefjmk · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

Reed valves are carbon fiber and even if they did break off I don't believe they would cause the noise coming from the engine

trendsetter240 · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

chefjmk said:
I don't believe I have a kill switch so can I just crank over the motor or is there another way to ground the spark??

You've got a kill switch with a motor that new. It's on the control box usually right below the key with a coiled red cable (lanyard) attached to it.

If you aren't using the Johnson controls and don't have a kill switch I'd not bother grounding the spark. Others might not agree but I've run many compression tests without ground the spark with no ill effects. Check for that kill switch though.

chefjmk · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

It doesn't have a kill switch. So I will just remove plugs and install gauge and crank for 5 seconds. Sounds right??

trendsetter240 · Jan 21, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

chefjmk said:
It doesn't have a kill switch. So I will just remove plugs and install gauge and crank for 5 seconds. Sounds right??

Yep. Also you want the throttle opened right up so pull up the idle lever before cranking it over.

chefjmk · Jan 22, 2013

Re: Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

Checked compression and I have 100psi on #1 and #3
0 psi on 2 and 4

so its definetly internal. im guessing a rebuild is in order?? any thoughts

Johnson 130 V4 overheat now sounds like rocks in my motor!!!!!

Cadet

Captain

Cadet

Captain

Lieutenant Commander

Cadet

Cadet

Lieutenant

Captain

Cadet

Cadet

Lieutenant

Cadet

Cadet

Captain

Cadet

Lieutenant

Cadet

Lieutenant

Cadet