I have a 73 Johnson 6hp Seahorse. This motor was on my dad's first boat, which he purchased when I was going into 6th grade. Boat, Motor, Trailer, Trolling Motor, Battery, Paddles, Life Jackets, and some fishing gear for a total of $600. We used the mess out of that old rig for 20+ years. My dad upgraded 3-4 years ago and I inherited "The little 6" as we call it.
The motor has been giving me fits of some sort or another since I received it. But, I know it is a good motor overall so I am not giving up on it. My dad had the carb rebuilt the summer before I got the motor (4 or 5 years ago). It ran great after that rebuild, but the next season when I got it is when all my issues started. The fuel pump cap was cracked and I had that replaced. Then I had issues with the cheap fuel line/bulb assemblies. When I finally got those issues fixed the motor would start ok and idle ok, but would never run full throttle. It would lull or surge at full throttle and I estimate it was never reaching more than 1/2 to 3/4 rpms that is should run. In addition to limiting rpms, the motor was very slow to build to the top rpm range I could get...very slow. But, I kept thinking it was from lack of use from when my dad had it. So, I ran several tanks with sea foam mixed in and installed new plugs. Essentially the performance never improved.
This season I was pleasantly surprised that the motor started easily and idled great but it still had the high end issue. Until this weekend when all of the sudden it was very hard to start and when it did it was missing and spitting and ran generally horrible. Took it out one more time to try and couldn't start it at all.
So, with lots of reading on here, and a healthy dose of youtube videos, I tore the carb apart last night. I will post some pics below and would love to hear if you guys are seeing anything I'm not. I was shocked to find the bowl and general carb body fairly clean and no sign of varnish or sticky residue. However, the idle port packing washers were completely deteriorated and I have yet to get all of them out of the threads. I'm thinking a carb dip soak might help?
I also noticed the brass jets are whitish in color. They almost look and feel like ceramic or something non-mettalic. Is this normal? Will that affect fuel delivery? The jets themselves didn't seem to be blocked. But, when spraying out the carb with cleaner, notice the stuff in the bottom of the yellow plastic bowl. I think this is mostly from the washers mentioned. But, I am wondering if it could also be from the black fuel lines? I am not sure if the lines on the motor are ethanol resistant. How do I know if they are or not? I am considering replacing anyway just to be sure.
Last question, I can barely see into the intake with the carb removed. It looks like there is a black buildup of something in the intake. I can't get a good pic of it, but is that normal? I'm scared to try to clean that bc I think loosening the buildup would just push it into the motor. Any suggestions on what I might be seeing?
The motor has been giving me fits of some sort or another since I received it. But, I know it is a good motor overall so I am not giving up on it. My dad had the carb rebuilt the summer before I got the motor (4 or 5 years ago). It ran great after that rebuild, but the next season when I got it is when all my issues started. The fuel pump cap was cracked and I had that replaced. Then I had issues with the cheap fuel line/bulb assemblies. When I finally got those issues fixed the motor would start ok and idle ok, but would never run full throttle. It would lull or surge at full throttle and I estimate it was never reaching more than 1/2 to 3/4 rpms that is should run. In addition to limiting rpms, the motor was very slow to build to the top rpm range I could get...very slow. But, I kept thinking it was from lack of use from when my dad had it. So, I ran several tanks with sea foam mixed in and installed new plugs. Essentially the performance never improved.
This season I was pleasantly surprised that the motor started easily and idled great but it still had the high end issue. Until this weekend when all of the sudden it was very hard to start and when it did it was missing and spitting and ran generally horrible. Took it out one more time to try and couldn't start it at all.
So, with lots of reading on here, and a healthy dose of youtube videos, I tore the carb apart last night. I will post some pics below and would love to hear if you guys are seeing anything I'm not. I was shocked to find the bowl and general carb body fairly clean and no sign of varnish or sticky residue. However, the idle port packing washers were completely deteriorated and I have yet to get all of them out of the threads. I'm thinking a carb dip soak might help?
I also noticed the brass jets are whitish in color. They almost look and feel like ceramic or something non-mettalic. Is this normal? Will that affect fuel delivery? The jets themselves didn't seem to be blocked. But, when spraying out the carb with cleaner, notice the stuff in the bottom of the yellow plastic bowl. I think this is mostly from the washers mentioned. But, I am wondering if it could also be from the black fuel lines? I am not sure if the lines on the motor are ethanol resistant. How do I know if they are or not? I am considering replacing anyway just to be sure.
Last question, I can barely see into the intake with the carb removed. It looks like there is a black buildup of something in the intake. I can't get a good pic of it, but is that normal? I'm scared to try to clean that bc I think loosening the buildup would just push it into the motor. Any suggestions on what I might be seeing?