1984 Johnson 115 Spark issues

[Scovbert]

Ran the motor twice for 30 seconds each time when I got home from work. It idles rough and still has “steam”. Took videos, just trying to figure out how to upload.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Far out, all that wet stuff on that plug wont light?
And youve had the LU off for a day or two with no water connected.
You could pull the bottom carb and the inlet reeds and see if theres a whole lot of water in there but if you were going to do that id run it with the LU back on again that way if water is getting sucked up under that seal helped by exhaust etc then it will be really obviously water wet in there

 

[Bosunsmate]

If it was really wet i suppose water spray from there could affect the other cylinder through the exhaust port but itd have to be a lot of water getting in

 

[Scovbert]

Didn’t try to light the fluid again but last time when the lower unit was installed it didn’t light. Still working on these videos.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Didn’t try to light the fluid again but last time when the lower unit was installed it didn’t light. Still working on these videos.

You need to try and light that now that the LU is off. If it doesnt light instantly then thats why you are getting steam.

 

[Scovbert]

I’ll try that next

 

[Scovbert]

So I disconnected all the plug wires and cranked the engine several times pulled the plugs and they were barely wet. I primed the pump first of course. I tried to light the very small amount of liquid on each plug and it seemed flammable but hard to tell with such small amount. I opened the throttle and cranked the motor in hopes of getting a bit more fuel on the plugs, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.

 

[Bosunsmate]

gees freaky, its a morphing enemy.
Now that all the water will of gone how is it running without the LU on? Any steam?
That plug you pulled the other day was sopping wet.
If it isnt sopping wet now then i think run it and see how it goes ie steam. If it doesnt steam then it seems like water was getting in and the only thing i can suggest, apart from a missing of a crack in the cylinder walls/exhaust area, is to replace the lower crank seal and that oring.
I wouldnt bet the farm on it but thats what id do

 

[Scovbert]

It’s raining here again, but I’ll run it in the morning and see how it runs now that there’s potential the water is all gone. I’ll see if there is steam after it runs for roughly 30 seconds. Thanks as always for the input!

 

[Scovbert]

I ran the motor again today with no LU. Ran rough as usual, missing. Yesterday there was very little fluid on the plugs when I disconnected them so the engine wouldn’t fire, today after it ran the plugs were wet again. I tried to light the plugs and it didn’t seem to light. I’m getting to the point where I’m not sure if I should pull the reed housing or just pull the power head. Maybe I should throw in the towel and bring it to a mechanic, although financially it’s a little out of the question at the moment.

one thing I never checked was the fuel pump, but it seems to be delivering fuel to the carbs.

 

[Bosunsmate]

If the plugs are wet and its not lighting then somethings contaminating the fuel.
Was it just the bottom plugs that didnt light or the top ones too?

 

[racerone]

What fuel pump is on this motor ?----Original VRO or something else ?

 

[Scovbert]

If the plugs are wet and its not lighting then somethings contaminating the fuel.
Was it just the bottom plugs that didnt light or the top ones too?

The top ones really didn’t have a lot to light as they had been igniting properly. Most of the fuel has been burned off. Cylinder 3 was wet and showed almost no signs of ignition and cylinder 4 was wet and shower possible intermittent ignition at best. Neither would light. Top two looked as you would expect.

 

[Scovbert]

What fuel pump is on this motor ?----Original VRO or something else ?

It is the original VRO pump but the VRO has been bypassed.

 

[Scovbert]

Plug3 and plug 1

 

[Scovbert]

Plug 4 and plug 2

 

[Bosunsmate]

Id reinstall the LU, run it for a couple of minutes to get some water in the system. Having the LU on puts back pressure on the powerhead so is thus more likely to suck water up through the lower seal with it on
.Then pull the reeds and look at the bottom chambers in the crankcase, hopefully you see some water saturation in there and it would then be self evident to pull the powerhead and replace the bottom seals.
If it isnt wet in there then beats me as if it was due to a crack in the combustion chamber or exhaust housing then it would definitely of evaporated by now.
And what you are describing is not how two stroke fuel acts, it should burn instantly even with a accidentally high oil content.
You follow all that ok?
The good news is it seems to not be a crack in your cylinder- but I wouldnt say thats confirmed yet but looking less likely

 

[Scovbert]

I follow. I’ll replace that o ring and reinstall the LU. Just seems odd to me water would still be in there but I don’t know. I’m also going to check the timing and fuel pump. Thanks again!

 

[Bosunsmate]

If the bottom, inlet manifold crankcase area sucked in a lot of water then it sticks around in there a long time.
I cant think of any other reason for the steam but more unusually the fuel not lighting.
If it is water id keep hurrying as you dont want those bearings sitting in it too long but they should be getting some oil with every crank you do

 

[Scovbert]

I put the lower unit back on today with a new o ring on the driveshaft and i replaced the exhaust gasket as that was in really bad shape. I also Checked out the water pump while I was in there and it was good. I tried to run it again with no significant change. I did find that the carbs were slightly out of sync so I made the proper adjustments based on the manual. This helped a good deal but I was still getting a slight miss and high idle. I pulled the intake manifold and first thing I noticed was the gasket was brittle and fell apart very easy. After further inspection the reed valves all looked good and only thing I noticed was one lower reed housing gasket wasn’t seated very good. I found no signs of water in the case, some fuel equal in all four cylinders. I’ll clean everything up good and replace intake manifold gasket and see what happens.