OLD JOHNSON 35 HP RUNNING ROUGH

HI EVERYONE,<br /> I AM IN NEED OF SOME HELP FINDING OUT WHAT YEAR THE ENGINE IS AND WHY IS IT RUNNING SO ROUGH. THE MODEL# IS RJE19 AND THE SEREIAL IS 1608684. IT SAYS 35 HP JOHNSON SEA HORSE ON THE COWLING. THE ENGINE STARTS RIGHT UP ON THE FIRST TURN OF THE KEY, BUT IT IS ACTING LIKE IT IS RUNNING OFF OF ONE CYLINDER. ONE OF THE PLUG WIRES HAVE BEEN CHEWED UP BY SOMETHING BUT IS STILL INTACKED. ANY IDEAS ON WHAT THE PROBLEM IS AND HOW TO FIX PLEASE, OR WHERE I MIGHT GO TO GET THE ENGINE REPAIRED IN ILLINOIS. THANK YOU

Re: OLD JOHNSON 35 HP RUNNING ROUGH

Bass Caddy, I think this motor is a 1957. How long has the motor been sitting? Make sure both plugs fire on the good spark plug wire, I had this happen to me a couple of weeks ago. One plug would not fire on my RDE-19 (should be basically the same motor) Changed plugs and it runs great now. Get a manual these motors are not that difficult to work on yourself. Good Luck!

Re: OLD JOHNSON 35 HP RUNNING ROUGH

Bass Cady<br />welcome to the board!<br />1957 is correct! 24:1 fuel oil mix with tcw3 oil, plugs .030 points .020. around here finding a shop to work the old dogs is hard, they say its to old for them to work on. First you need a manual, (it will save you more than it costs) you can get that here at I-Boats http://www.boatmotors.com/manuals.html . Is it getting good spark on both? if not pull the flywheel and look at the coils (if they are cracked they are bad) and points. If the engine has been setting, the carb needs cleaned and rebuilt, and the impeller needs to be changed. not hard to do on these engines. I have the rde-19c and use it often. also the plug wires MUST be coper wire not the automotive stuff.<br />Richard

Re: OLD JOHNSON 35 HP RUNNING ROUGH

you say one of the spark leads is "chewed up"? check that it is not arcing out through any break in the insulation, if it is, then this needs to be corrected first, then look at plugs and so forth if problem is still there.

Re: OLD JOHNSON 35 HP RUNNING ROUGH

This sounds like what my '58 johnson 35hp was doing. The magnets inside were hitting the coil mounting and grounding out or something like that. Check and see if there is any rubbing being done on the magnets inside the flywheel, and also look at the coil mounts. Just my opinion.