I have a 1975 Johnson 115 that has been running good until the last two trips out. On both trips it started normally and I took off and ran it up to WOT at about 5400 rpm. I throttled back to turn around and the motor died. On the first trip it cranked again and I limped back home. I took the lower carb off and found the float clip had come loose again so I put it back on and squeezed it tight to the needle. On the second trip it would not crank back. It was acting like it was only firing on two cylinders, but would not crank. I had to get towed back in, and loaded the boat on a trailer. When I got home it ran rough like it was running on two cylinders and would die. I suspected clip again, but when I removed the bottom carb there was fuel in it and the clip was still in place. I then took off the top carb and it was also correct. I replaced the carbs and ran out of time so I left it for the day.
Today about 5 days later I pumped the bulb to get gas to the carbs and cranked the motor over. It fired and ran rough for about 20 seconds and then smoothed out and ran normally. It was on muffs and was idling at about 1000 rpm. I had suspected a spark issue, but all four cylinders had good spark. Compession is between 110 and 120 for all four. Gas is fresh and bulb is staying hard. I have added a tell tail and it is pumping normally. The water from it did feel hotter to me when the motor was running bad, but that cold be my imagionation. The heads did not feel excessively hot, but were pretty warm after the wot runs. The carbs have recently been cleaned and still look great.
I really do not trust things that fix themselves so before I put the boat back in I am trying to get my kicker running again. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what might be causing the trouble? Any suggestions on what to check?
Today about 5 days later I pumped the bulb to get gas to the carbs and cranked the motor over. It fired and ran rough for about 20 seconds and then smoothed out and ran normally. It was on muffs and was idling at about 1000 rpm. I had suspected a spark issue, but all four cylinders had good spark. Compession is between 110 and 120 for all four. Gas is fresh and bulb is staying hard. I have added a tell tail and it is pumping normally. The water from it did feel hotter to me when the motor was running bad, but that cold be my imagionation. The heads did not feel excessively hot, but were pretty warm after the wot runs. The carbs have recently been cleaned and still look great.
I really do not trust things that fix themselves so before I put the boat back in I am trying to get my kicker running again. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what might be causing the trouble? Any suggestions on what to check?