Looking for advice- 65ESL72 issues

[GrizzleDizzle]

First boat, looking for some advice! 72 SS16

Hey everyone, looking for some help with my “new” 1972 Starcraft Supersport 16 ft. Purchased about a month ago. Has original 1972 Johnson 65 hp electro-shift motor.

I’ve taken her out about 6 times since I bought her. Initially ran pretty well overall, started very easily every time, idled smooth. The only issue I noticed initially was the motor was pretty loud and The boat had quite a bit of vibration especially when the throttle was wide open. But easily got up to 30-35 mph and seemed pretty solid for a 48 year old motor.

Now- keep this in mind- I have never owned a boat and I have zero experience with outboard motors. I’m learning as I go. Since I bought it I’ve changed the lower unit gear oil (type C), greased every zerk fitting I could locate on the motor, greased the steering rod. This week I changed out the spark plugs, all three of which were fouled, and greased the prop shaft.

Today we took the boat out on the lake, and from the moment I started it up I knew something was off. Idle was rough, stalled a few times before we finally got moving. Even at low throttle the motor was vibrating heavier than ever before. After a few laps around the lake we decided to do some fishing, shut the motor off. When I tried to start it back up it kept stalling. Tried so many times I think I killed the battery and had to flag down some good samaritans to tow us back to the ramp.

So...maybe I’ve got at least a couple of issues here. I suspect that the vibration may be a prop issue, which should be easy enough to fix. But the stalling is a bit more intimidating. Fuel filter? Carb rebuild? All of the above? I guess my question is: What are the most important maintenance tasks I should be undertaking? I’m sure there are plenty of things I should be doing but I have no idea where to start.

thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[jbcurt00]

Best to discuss motor problems in the Johnson outboard forum, rather then here in the Starcraft forum.

https://forums.iboats.com/forum/engine-repair-and-maintenance/johnson-evinrude-outboards

 

[racerone]

One of the first things that should have been done is a new water pump impeller.----Tested your overheat horn?------It is now time to start with a compression test.---Post your numbers.

 

[HypnoCraft]

One of the first things that should have been done is a new water pump impeller.----Tested your overheat horn?------It is now time to start with a compression test.---Post your numbers.

Agreed, a compression test will rule out one of your cylinders being toast which could be causing stalls and such. As far as the vibrations, is your propeller in really good shape or is it all bent? Bent or damaged propellers can cause large vibrations. So can bent propeller shafts.

Also, check for spark on all your cylinders.

 

[GrizzleDizzle]

Best to discuss motor problems in the Johnson outboard forum, rather then here in the Starcraft forum.

https://forums.iboats.com/forum/engine-repair-and-maintenance/johnson-evinrude-outboards

Sorry- I thought about that after I posted initially. I’ll move the topic to the Johnson forum.

I’ll pick up a compression tester this week and check the cylinders. I ordered a new impeller and a fuel pump today, I’ll be putting those in this week. As for the prop- it’s not obviously badly bent Or anything, but it IS pretty knicked up.

Thanks to all for your responses, I sure hope I can get this thing running soon!

 

[GrizzleDizzle]

[h=2]First boat, looking for some advice! 65ESL72[/h]
(posted this yesterday in the Starcraft forum, moving it here to a more appropriate spot)

Hey everyone, looking for some help with my “new” 1972 Starcraft Supersport 16 ft. Purchased about a month ago. Has original 1972 Johnson 65 hp electro-shift motor.

I’ve taken her out about 6 times since I bought her. Initially ran pretty well overall, started very easily every time, idled smooth. The only issue I noticed initially was the motor was pretty loud and The boat had quite a bit of vibration especially when the throttle was wide open. But easily got up to 30-35 mph and seemed pretty solid for a 48 year old motor.

Now- keep this in mind- I have never owned a boat and I have zero experience with outboard motors. I’m learning as I go. Since I bought it I’ve changed the lower unit gear oil (type C), greased every zerk fitting I could locate on the motor, greased the steering rod. This week I changed out the spark plugs, all three of which were fouled, and greased the prop shaft.

Today we took the boat out on the lake, and from the moment I started it up I knew something was off. Idle was rough, stalled a few times before we finally got moving. Even at low throttle the motor was vibrating heavier than ever before. After a few laps around the lake we decided to do some fishing, shut the motor off. When I tried to start it back up it kept stalling. Tried so many times I think I killed the battery and had to flag down some good samaritans to tow us back to the ramp.

So...maybe I’ve got at least a couple of issues here. I suspect that the vibration may be a prop issue, which should be easy enough to fix. But the stalling is a bit more intimidating. Fuel filter? Carb rebuild? All of the above? I guess my question is: What are the most important maintenance tasks I should be undertaking? I’m sure there are plenty of things I should be doing but I have no idea where to start.

thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[GrizzleDizzle]

link to new post:

https://forums.iboats.com/forum/eng...ds/10921955-looking-for-advice-65esl72-issues

 

[racerone]

Install a new water pump impeller.----Test overheat horn.-----Test compression and post the values here.------Install new fuel pump diaphragm.-----Make sure carburetors are CLEAN.

 

[GrizzleDizzle]

A few suggestions that came out of the original post change water impeller, check compression. I’m hoping to have both completed later this week. Also ordered a fuel pump.

I find it interesting that the motor stalled out and the vibration became terrible after changing the spark plugs- when I bought the motor I knew I’d need to do a lot of maintenance at the very least, just didn’t know where to start. Had planned on taking it to a professional for a full service in the offseason, right now I’m trying to get some use out of it before the end of summer.

 

[racerone]

A diaphragm / fuel pump repair kit is all you would need.

 

[GrizzleDizzle]

Install a new water pump impeller.----Test overheat horn.-----Test compression and post the values here.------Install new fuel pump diaphragm.-----Make sure carburetors are CLEAN.

Thanks Racerone. This may be a stupid question, but when you suggest cleaning the carburetors, does that mean just clean them- or does that mean clean them and install new gaskets and all (rebuild)?

 

[racerone]

I will rephrase this.-----Make sure carburetors are clean.----If you have a plugged / partially plugged high speed jet you would starve one cylinder of gasoline and of course OIL.--------You motor might suffer from this.-----Sorry---It is up to you to commission this motor or get help at $100/hr.

 

[GrizzleDizzle]

I will rephrase this.-----Make sure carburetors are clean.----If you have a plugged / partially plugged high speed jet you would starve one cylinder of gasoline and of course OIL.--------You motor might suffer from this.-----Sorry---It is up to you to commission this motor or get help at $100/hr.

Thanks again, I hear what you’re saying. I’ll report back with my progress!

 

[GrizzleDizzle]

So, it’s been a busy week and I haven’t gotten to mess with my motor much...but I’m planning to spend a lot of time on it this weekend. I did change out the fuel pump (discovered that the old one was leaking pretty badly) and bought a compression tester but haven’t checked compression yet. I’m going to rebuild the carbs this weekend and figured I’d change out the fuel lines while I’m at it.

When referencing the parts guide for this motor, I noticed it shows a spring inside one of of the lines that connects to the fuel pump. I haven’t looked inside the line currently connected on my motor, but assuming it has one- is that something that can be reused, or should I add that to my list of parts to be ordered? I did a few online searches and can’t find much that would explain why that spring is in there.

 

[GrizzleDizzle]

[No message]

 

[racerone]

The " spring "prevents the line from kinking !!!-----Re-use the spring material.-----It does not do any " springing " it was convenient off the shelf material to use.

 

[GrizzleDizzle]

Thanks, Racer. I changed out all of the fuel lines and the motor was running great on muffs. Monday I put the boat in the lake and it wouldn’t run for more than 30 seconds without stalling!
I tied up to the dock and took off the cowling to try adjusting the low idle speed and realized it’s running nicely with the cowling off but stalling within 10 seconds of replacing it. So based on some forum searches on this site I’m guessing my next move is to replace the exhaust gaskets.

this motor is really putting me through the paces, lol

 

[GrizzleDizzle]

So, I’m waiting on my exhaust gaskets to arrive and figured I’d take advantage of some free time today to change out the water pump impeller. Lower unit came off without a hitch, but holy cow the impeller is destroyed. Like just a rubber hub surrounded by a pile of 100 tiny rubber pellets. No wonder the motor was running like garbage.

The upper housing for the water pump is actually melted in quite a few places and all the O rings are eaten up, so I’ll need to replace them. The bottom wear plate looks good so I’ll salvage that- but hoping someone can offer some advice: under the bottom plate, there was an old dried up (and ill fitting) gasket...but my OMC manual doesn’t show it or mention that one is needed there. Does anyone recall whether this motor should have a gasket there?

 

[F_R]

The original aluminum pump did not have a gasket, but I believe the replacement 385447 plastic kit does use a gasket. I think the gasket goes between the plate and pump housing, but better wait for verification on that.

 

[racerone]

Here we have an interesting kit.----A gasket that does not match the bottom pump plate.-----No hole in the plate.----But earlier 3 cylinder versions did use a plate with a hole.------So a somewhat universal kit.-----That factory kit if available would have instructions.----I say gasket fits underneath the plate.----I have seen a number of badly damaged impellers this season.-----I think there are still some folks out there that think you can run an impeller dry !!!