Starting "ye ol Johnson"???

Well I beleive that the moment of truth is at hand. The impeller is back on, the water lines now are all blown out and clear, the sparkplugs have been replaced, the pull cord is now able to retreat back into it's living quarters, the carb is cleaned (I think), gas tank cleaned out, fuel filter cleaned, I think that is everything. <br /><br />Oh yeah, the barrel is under the down spout and they're calling for thunderstorms tonight.<br /><br />Now is there anyone who can walk me thru the starting process. I would think it's very similar to starting a mower, but you don't know if you don't ask.<br /><br />(please correct me if I'm wrong)<br />1. mix gas 24:1<br />2. fill the tank<br />3. place motor lower unit in the water<br />4. open vent on gas tank lid<br />5. prime motor (how many pumps would you advise<br /> for a completely empty bowl?)<br />6. pull the cord<br />7. PRAY!!<br />8. CUSS!!<br />9. repeat #s 6,7,&8 as needed<br /><br />Once the motor is running I'll need to adjust the know on top to set fuel mixture (lean, rich)<br /><br />Have I forgotten anything?<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Lost

Re: Starting "ye ol Johnson"???

Pump the bulb until it gets firm. If you pump it too much, you might force gas out of the carb.

Re: Starting "ye ol Johnson"???

well, You pretty much got it covered.<br /><br />Do not forget to clamp down the motor to your barrel, or have it clamped to you boat wile in the barrel, I have seen them ride up out of the barrel before if not secured.<br /><br />when priming, the bulb should get firm, if it dosent, something is wrong, also, wile priming for the first time after a carb rebuild or long storage, do it with the cover off and look for fuel leaking around the carberator wile you pump it.<br /><br />You also missed Pull choke between prime bulb and pull chord.<br /><br />And if Im not mistaken, Its pray, pull cuss,repeat. not pull pray cuss, would hate for you to do it the wrong way ;p<br /><br />You didnt mention actualy hooking up the gas, but I asume you got that covered if your priming ;p<br /><br />when running in a barrel, you should try to have the anti-cavitiation plate under the water by at least a few inches. try to resist winding on it wile in nutral or even in gear for that matter when in a barrel. ( sidenote.. wile working on my 15, and running it in a barrel, I twisted up to half throttle real quick like and before I could twist it back, I blew more then half the water out of my barrel, it went off like a water cannon hehehe )<br /><br />Good luck.

Re: Starting "ye ol Johnson"???

TD-20 1949 engine? If that has a pressurized tank (two hoses going to engine) then you have to *close* the vent & then prime it. If your vent was open you'd never pressurize the tank afterall.<br />EDIT: Ooops - that's a gravity feed from a built in tank isn't it? Never mind what I said.

Re: Starting "ye ol Johnson"???

Thanks guys! I guess Paul beat me to the punch. I should have told you all the particulars of the motor. Paul's correct, 1949 TD20, 5 HP Johnson.<br /><br />As to Ken's reply, I haven't seen a choke on this motor anywhere. Maybe I'm missing it or something. Any help? There is one lever, or knob that runs into where the fuel lines seperate to feed the individual cylinders, would this be the choke? <br /><br />Thanks Again,<br />Lost

Re: Starting "ye ol Johnson"???

Hi Lost<br />Just a couple of things. Turn on the fuel rooster. The carb bowl will fill it's self. Did you reset the needle valves? If I recall the low-speed is 1 1/2 turns out fron litely seated, and the high-speed is 3/4 turn. The high-speed is the one at the front of the block angeled down. while priming DO NOT put your face down to see what is going on. You may get a squirt of gas in the eyes (not good). You will be able to hear and feel the prime. One or two good shots should do. Any more than that and you'll just have gas every where. Don't forget to slide the speed control to some where near the start position, this may very a little one way or the other. Should be no need for pullin your guts out and swearing it doesn't help any way. You should have some sign of life with in three nice little tugs. Since it' been a while you ma <br />y have to reprime and give three more tugs. Once you get it running and warmed up a little, slide the speed control to fast and dial in the high-speed needle. Then go back to slow and dial in the low speed. Let us know how it goes.

Re: Starting "ye ol Johnson"???

hi my dad has a johnson seahorse TD 20 ser .670444 is this motor made in 1949?<br />also is it a 5hp <br />and what would be the gas/oil mixture<br />thanks

Re: Starting "ye ol Johnson"???

James, yes, Your motor works just like Lost's. <br /><br /> JB did you edit my post here? Petcock and fuel **** are not dirty words. some one needs to get there mind on motors and out of the gutter!

Re: Starting "ye ol Johnson"???

Im sorry JB. I see now that the computer does this little job automaticly. I will try and choose my words better in the future.