1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

[BigdreamsII]

I'd like to first say thank you for having such a great forum. I am now the owner of my second starcraft, and I've been a continuous lurker on this forum every time I'm ready to work on my boat. I'd be lost without this forum.

Well I just got a 1966 Starcraft 16' boat with a 1979 55hp Johnson. I was told that it ran good by the previous owner. I believed him because he was elderly and very knowledgeable it seemed. I finally get the boat in the water for the first time after purchasing and it fires right up. Just seconds later it dies, so I push the warm up lever a little further up and try again. This time I get it to idle and I let it idle for about 5 minutes. During this time its revs up on its own and has a mind of its own. It finally idles down and seems fine so I decide to put it in gear, and take it for a test run. All seemed well until I got out of the no wake zone and gave it throttle. As soon as you give it throttle it dies instantly. I thought instantly high speed jets.

Long story short I ordered rebuild kits and rebuilt both carbs today. Low speed and high speed jets completely cleared, and i did the test to make sure the floats were seating properly. Now I just tested on the hose with new plugs, carbs rebuilt, and fresh fuel and it is running worse it seem. If you give it any throttle it makes a "puff" or "spitting" noise from the left side of the engine behind all the linkage. Once its does this noise it idles down drastically and usually dies. It seems like it will run fine when you rev it up but it just tends to go crazy once you let off the throttle either wanting to dies or idling high.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

 

[BigdreamsII]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

Update I checked compression today. 148psi in both cylinders. Also checked spark and it seemed fine. Will fire up on either cylinder. Engine starts up and revs to probably 3000rpm then slowly lowers down before eventually dying completely. It will rev up fine and it will stay running if you use the warm up lever.

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

Did you do a lynk & synk of the linkage?
What and how did you idle at?

 

[BigdreamsII]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

Well I found the problem crack running from one side of block all the way to the other. Also a hair line crack in the intake. Guess a different engine is in order. Just hate it was sold as a running boat...

 

[bonz_d]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

Sorry to hear that. Are you in an area were you might be able to find another Johnnyrude? I know prices are at a premium right now but those engines are out there.

Have 3 of them right now. A 1975 50hp that runs like a champ and looks like a champ that was beaten up too many times. A 1983 Johnson 60hp that is what I'm running on the boat right now and a 1987 50hp VRO Johnson that I picked up for a good price because I wanted the Power Tilt n Trim that was on it.

The 1987 was supposed to have a bad cylinder with low compression. Couldn't resist, put a battery to it andgot an even 145# on both cylinders. Hooked a gas can to it and it started right up. Still has a few small neglect issues to be gone through but I think I found one that someone didn't know what they were doing. It's on my to-do list soon.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

Well I found the problem crack running from one side of block all the way to the other. Also a hair line crack in the intake. Guess a different engine is in order. Just hate it was sold as a running boat...

Id pour a stiff one then give that elderly person a phone call, otherwise id always regret not doing it.
Ive done a few such calls, they can be quite good fun

 

[BigdreamsII]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

Id pour a stiff one then give that elderly person a phone call, otherwise id always regret not doing it.
Ive done a few such calls, they can be quite good fun

Well I did crack open a few beers...
Got ahold of the old man, supposedly I'm being sent 300$ in the mail. Doesn't make up for spending two days scratching my head. Spent a 100 dollars on misc stuff to rebuild carbs and do the plugs. It's better than nothing though, so I can't really complain. (If it shows up in my mail box)

The only motor in a decent price range is a 100hp evinrude late 70's model for 850. Little too much power for the boat but I think I could brace up the transom a bit and build some better storage in the back as well. Other option is a complete fiberglass boat that has a running 65hp and seats I could use for 1000. Figure I can get what I need out of it and sale the bare boat and trailer for 4-500.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

Good one, he deserved some comeuppance
Careful if you put too higher hp motor on your boat. I did on mine, ended up cracking the hull and the next boat i did it too would porpoise pretty much the whole time.
If you had a bit of spare time and were game to give it a go you could ring up a wrecker and see if you can get some crankcase halves for it.
You would need to measure your cylinders and check the one you were getting were the same width.
Your last option sounds good. What year 65?
You could sell the 55 for parts, those gearboxes are worth quite a bit here.

 

[BigdreamsII]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

Good one, he deserved some comeuppance
Careful if you put too higher hp motor on your boat. I did on mine, ended up cracking the hull and the next boat i did it too would porpoise pretty much the whole time.
If you had a bit of spare time and were game to give it a go you could ring up a wrecker and see if you can get some crankcase halves for it.
You would need to measure your cylinders and check the one you were getting were the same width.
Your last option sounds good. What year 65?
You could sell the 55 for parts, those gearboxes are worth quite a bit here.

The 65 looks like it's early to mid 70s. The boat is on my street so I'll be sure to here it run for a good while. Might try to get him to take it out as well. I really don't want to get that involved. If it was a huge savings I would. There's a power head with intake and everything for 350 on ebay but it's for a 1972-1975 I belive. Not sure if it would work

 

[BigdreamsII]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

Well the boat with the 65hp evinrude is sold. Back to either the 100hp evinrude for 850 or a 40hp johnson which looks like a mid 80's model for 850.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

If that 40hp is a mid 80's model, pre VRO, then it's still way overpriced by at least $350.00

The 1983 60hp that I bought I paid $600.00 and that is because the 2 cylinder 60hp is hard to find in this area. So even that was a premium price as far as I'm concerned.

The 1987 50hp I paid $350.00 for and that was only because that is the going price for a working, complete tilt n trim.

The 1975 50hp was almost free it was that cheaply bought.

One that truely made me laugh the other day, I saw the exact same 60hp Johnson on craigslist for a mere $1100.00! At that price I might have to sell mine too.

 

[BigdreamsII]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

85hp evenrude
Thoughts? Thinking about going to get it this weekend. Seems good and comes with two stainless props and a whole engine for parts.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 1979' 55hp Johnson issues before and after carb rebuilds

85hp evenrude
Thoughts? Thinking about going to get it this weekend. Seems good and comes with two stainless props and a whole engine for parts.

Hard to tell, all i can read is that its a runner, doesnt say that it runs good.
I cant see if it has trim and tilt so would be a heavy lift if it doesnt.
GOod it comes with a spare parts motor but hard to tell whats good on the parts motor thats still there to use.
If you are still keen id make sure you did a compression test and also try and get him to idle it, check it doesnt stumble at idle and that it doesnt overheat. Make him run it for like 10 minutes/