1961 Johnson Seahorse 5.5 intermittent/weak spark

ragnar333

Cadet
Joined
Jul 15, 2013
Messages
25
I've got an old Johnson 5.5 that I'm trying to wake from the dead. It is in mint condition but has been in storage for about 5 years. It has been converted to single hose gas tank. I've tried to start it in a barrel but it shows a very weak or intermittent spark. It will occasionally run for a couple of seconds, followed by many pulls with no attempt at starting. I'm just asking those with a little experience with these, where to begin tracing down the source of the weak/missing spark. I'm pretty convinced that it's getting good fuel.

Thanks in advance.
 

kbait

Commander
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
2,446
Re: 1961 Johnson Seahorse 5.5 intermittent/weak spark

Check spark w/tester and make sure you're getting 1/4" blue bolt from both plug leads.. you can open the gap on an old plug to 1/4" and test against head bolt too. If it won't jump 1/4" consistently, pull flywheel and check coils for cracks, pull pointsets and file the faces up nice and shiny and reset to .020" Here's a good read for your ignition system (same ignition system/parts as yours): http://forums.iboats.com/johnson-evinrude-outboards/1972-6hp-evinrude-has-no-spark-531940.html

Good luck!
 

ddwilson

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Messages
116
Re: 1961 Johnson Seahorse 5.5 intermittent/weak spark

I would check the coils for cracks and clean and adjust the points, at the price of a coil might just replace them and the points and condenser. Probably would be money well spent. With setting that long probably due for a new impeller too.
Doug
 

geoffwga1

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Messages
394
Re: 1961 Johnson Seahorse 5.5 intermittent/weak spark

And a carb rebuild.Remove filter bowl and inspect for traces of rubber from fuel lines,inspect fuel lines and replace if suspect(ethanol breakdown).
 

ragnar333

Cadet
Joined
Jul 15, 2013
Messages
25
Re: 1961 Johnson Seahorse 5.5 intermittent/weak spark

Thanks for all the input so far folks. I have checked and cleaned the fuel filter bowl and lines. All of the lines under the cover look new, and were probably replaced when the fuel pump was added for the tank conversion. I was actually quite surprised that everything was so clean and never smelled any "stale fuel" smell while doing the work. I'm going to remove the flywheel and get a look at everything under there later on today. One more dumb question. How are you supposed to stop this motor from running to shut it down? I don't see any stop button anywhere, and there is nothing indexed on the handle for stopping it. Do you just choke it until it stalls?

I actually have a pretty good grasp of working on outboards, and have owned a bunch and worked on them over the years. I just haven't tinkered with anything this old, lol. I'm just doing a friend a favor by trying to get this running for him. It was given to him by one of his older, retired uncles.
 
Last edited:

nwcove

Admiral
Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
6,293
Re: 1961 Johnson Seahorse 5.5 intermittent/weak spark

just for reference sake, the 61 5.5 came from the factory with a fuel pump....no conversion to fuel pump was done.
replace all the fuel lines , or you will be chasing a problem until you do.
properly clean an rekit the carb!
inspect and replace any ignition parts that havent been updated.....clean the points and gap to 0.020.
dont worry about the markings on the tiller.....if it wont shut off when turned turned down in the area of "slow"...choke it, or add a kill switch/safety lanyard.

jmo
 

ddwilson

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Messages
116
Re: 1961 Johnson Seahorse 5.5 intermittent/weak spark

The 5.5 does not have a stop button turn the throttle past slow and it shuts it down
 

ragnar333

Cadet
Joined
Jul 15, 2013
Messages
25
Re: 1961 Johnson Seahorse 5.5 intermittent/weak spark

Thanks again for more great advice. I removed the flywheel and inspected everything under there. I found that both coils were cracked badly. Everything else looks virtually brand new. Just by observing the overall condition of this outboard, I'd be willing to bet that it probably has no more than a couple of hours total of actual running time in it's entire life. I'm pretty sure that I'm the first person to ever remove the flywheel.

Now that I know that it needs coils, does anyone have a "good" part number for these that I can use to locate them?
 

ddwilson

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Messages
116
Re: 1961 Johnson Seahorse 5.5 intermittent/weak spark

If you look at either Iboats or vintage outboard they both have the coils Vintage has a kit with point and condenser along with both coils.
The coils are in the 20 range usually and will fit almost all of the old Johnson and Evinrude motors. The original coils all cracked like that and quit. The coils in my 1959 5.5 were cracked and not working, that is why my uncle gave me the motor said it quit running. I have had it running about 20 years and now lower unit is leaking, hopefully will get that fixed and get it back on the water this fall until then running the 58 10hp all the time.
 
Top