1990 28 hp johnson outboard on pontoon

[rainy lake boater]

thanks in advance to all who reply. I have a 1990 j28eslesm johnson with 2 issues. I just rebuilt the lower drive reverse gear and driveshaft which snapped last year while in forward gear. i launched it and it seemed to run fine for a while until the overheat alarm went off. I removed the lower unit and discovered the impeller detent pin was missing. I put another one in and put the drive back together. at idle the water wasnt coming out the upper inspection hole. at high idle it did. so i took it for a ride and seemed to run fine until again the alarm went off. my suspicion is the old detent went up into the upper unit some how....the other issue is that it starts fine when cold. run it for awhile, shut it off, then is very difficult to start. Does this sound like the rings are worn out? what else can it be? I am trying to decide if its worth rebuilding or piecing it out and buying a 35 or 40 hp motor for it.

 

[rainy lake boater]

Re: 1990 28 hp johnson outboard on pontoon

bump

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1990 28 hp johnson outboard on pontoon

I assume you are talking about the impeller drive key, it should not be big enough to cause any problems. It would be interesting to know where it went.
It sounds like you should have replaced the water pump or the impeller while you had it apart.
On the hard start when warm, take a look and see if there is fuel running into the carb when you shut it down and flooding the engine. When was the last time the carb was overhauled?

 

[rainy lake boater]

Re: 1990 28 hp johnson outboard on pontoon

it looked good when it was apart, but i have a new impeller kit coming. Not sure about the carb, got the boat last year.

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1990 28 hp johnson outboard on pontoon

The tell-tale is an indicator that the water pump is pumping, it should have a steady stream at idle.