1977 Johnson 115, running on top 2 cylinders

[JFe915]

Hello,
I just bought a boat. I'm having a strange problem with my motor and I'm hoping it will be very obvious to one of you.

I start the motor and its just running on the top 2 cylinders. I can't figure it out. Anyway, while its running on 2, I start messing with the wiring harness, by just moving it around and stuff, then magically the thing goes to 4 cylinders and sounds beautiful. This goes on for the next 10 minutes, but then goes back to 2 cylinders after I hear what sounds like an arc of electricity somewhere under the flywheel. Any ideas?

For your information, this motor hasn't ran in 5 or 6 years. I would say I'm a beginner with boat motors, but I'm definetly mechanically inclined, any help or clues would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

 

[fisherman912]

Re: 1977 Johnson 115, running on top 2 cylinders

Sounds like you may have a wire shorting to ground or a loose connection. When it gets dark, move the harness around like you said and look for spark arcing to the block. If nothing seen, your next step may be to pull the flywheel to check the wires under there.