1959 johnson sea horse 35hp started up and died

[speedoflite2]

My dad went to the lake with his boat today that he just bought. We had it running on muffs with no problems, and this afternoon he went to the lake to try it out. Put it in the water and it fired right up pured great he said. Then still in neutral it just quit as if you turned the key off. (This boat has no key just push button start) Didnt cough spit or sputter. He cranked it over and over but would not fire at all. Brought it home and I went over things with him. Has spark out of both plugs, but one is weaker than the other. Turns over great , fuel primes up and hold pressure. Glass bulb fills up and fuel filter is clean. There is fuel pressure all the way to the carb with no restrictions. I pulled the gas line off the carb and pump primer bulb up and fuel shot thru. Did not try spraying and gas oil mix in the carb as I didnt have a bottle to spray in there. What am i missing here???? If the carb would be gunked up would it just shut down??? It would have spit and sputtered correct?? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance fellow captains of the sea.

 

[lindy46]

Re: 1959 johnson sea horse 35hp started up and died

You need to try spraying fuel/oil mix directly into carb. If it runs that way, you have a problem with the carb, and it should be cleaned/rebuilt. If it doesn't run, you have an ignition problem: bad coil, points, wires, plugs, or a shorting out stop switch. Check the plugs and see if they are wet - if they are, it's an ignition problem.

 

[speedoflite2]

Re: 1959 johnson sea horse 35hp started up and died

will I still get spark if the stop switch is bad???

 

[lindy46]

Re: 1959 johnson sea horse 35hp started up and died

will I still get spark if the stop switch is bad???

No - but it may be the cut-out switch on the port side of the motor. That cuts out the bottom cylinder in case of a runaway. If that shorts out for any reason, it would explain loss of spark to bottom cylinder.

 

[speedoflite2]

Re: 1959 johnson sea horse 35hp started up and died

had bad plug wire as far as low spark and the needle in the carb was stuck. burned the gas in the bowl and then that was it. Cleaned the carb but needle stuck again.

Where can we get a rebuilkd kit fore this 59 johnson????

 

[coolguy147]

Re: 1959 johnson sea horse 35hp started up and died

dont run motor on muffs wont work. use barrel with water or on lake. use tcw-3 marine grade oil 24:1 mix.

suggest to put ina new impelller as a maitenence and u might have more then a kill switch problem. pull the flywheel and when u put it back on torque it to 65-70foot pounds.

i know this motor like the back of my hand restored one my self if u have any questions just ask

 

[samo_ott]

Re: 1959 johnson sea horse 35hp started up and died

You can easily get a carb kit for that engine... I have one or two in my shop...

Sounds more ignition related to me though...

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 1959 johnson sea horse 35hp started up and died

If this motor is new to you, and unless the previous owner documented that the motor had recent servicing, it's always a good idea to assume the motor needs work from the get-go. Basic tune-up stuff is in order. Acquire a manual. Compression check. Carb clean/rebuild. Ignition check-up. Check the lower unit oil. Replace the waterpump impeller. It'll save frustration down the channel...

 

[CATransplant]

Re: 1959 johnson sea horse 35hp started up and died

Same thing happened to my 58. Turned out that the guy who had it before me had replaced the coils and didn't torque the flywheel nut properly. It ran fine for testing, etc., then quit suddenly on the lake with a sheared flywheel key.

It happens, and the symptoms are just as you describe. It's not the first thing to check, but it's not uncommon.