1974 Johnson 135 powershift ii

[apapoolfool]

I recently acquired a 74 Johnson 135 powershift ii... I think. model 135ETL74B. Motor seems to run well, but had no hole shot to plane out. The prop seems fairly new, the guy I bought it from said he just drift fished with it. I want to pull my kids around on tubes so I bought a 2 degree less prop, figured he wanted speed but not torque for hole shot. 15 was on it, dropped to 13. I get to reading about a powershirt on this motor, now wondering if it's a 2 speed just stuck in high gear? It's on a 96 Four Winns 170 Horizon.

 

[racerone]

Powershift refers to the fact that the shift system is powered by oil pressure to make it easy for the operator.-------And no it is not a 2 speed unit !!-----------Having to go to a 13" pitch prop may indicate there is something wrong with the motor.--------Do a compression test and check for spark on all leads.-------Sounds like serious performance issues with the motor.

 

[apapoolfool]

Thanks! That's in the plans, just never heard of a "powershift" goes in and out of gear just fine. Had 5 on board with virgin run, probably 1100 pound load. Took about 100 yards to plane out, guessing 35 mph at WOT... speedo was unhooked at that time. Boat looks nice, seats recovered within 2 years, new 20 gal tank and new carpet. Have a 115 Merc hanging off a 72 or 73 Mark Twain that runs fine if I have to go that route. Gas smells old, like last years and no stabil added. Thinking I'll go with Johnson full synthetic, premium gas and a can of Sea Foam and see if that cleans things up. Bottom carb was a tick from wide open as well, adjusted that.

 

[apapoolfool]

Bottom carb was a tick from wide open as well, forgot to add that.

 

[racerone]

Unless the boat is really big you should not have to go to a 13" pitch prop.----Check out the motor or have it run on a dyno to see how it is performiong.----Note, if you had say a plugged carburetor jet you would be starving one cylinder of fuel and OIL and that can be expensive.

 

[apapoolfool]

Something worked, idle to plane in about 100 feet now. Loaded up with 7 people, guessing 1300# (try to get a woman to give up her weight) with a full tank and had no problem getting on top of the water. Speedo still not working right, air leak or crud in the tailpiece as it won't register over 15, 1/2 throttle or wide open 15 is the limit. Probably won't lose any sleep over that malfunction.

 

[emdsapmgr]

I'm surprised you had to go down to a 15" prop for skiing. With that hp, it should pull skiiers up with a 17 pitch, too.