70's Johnson seahorse 35 issues?

[Dylan Beaudry]

So, i bought a boat for 200 bucks and got it on the water after installing seats, a new impeller, and e few other basics to get it floating.

And sure enough, it float and drives. But with 35 horses you'd assume it could push 3 people on a 14' aluminum StarCraft Holiday more than 15mph. It definitely performed like it was underpowered, stalling when you throw it in drive when the throttle isn't all the way forward and the like.

Im assuming its the usual 2 stroke stuff like the carb, varnished fuel, fuel filter. But is there other parts i should do?

Already flushed and replaced the oil of upper and lower components, and replaced the impeller. Have a spark plug set on order too.

Let me know any bits of wisdom that could help this or any engine perform a bit better.

 

[racerone]

Explain---" oil in upper components "---At any rate it sounds like it is running on 1 cylinder.-----Post compression values and do a spark check.

 

[airshot]

How big are your 3 people and what else are you carrying onboard ?? My neighbor weighs 375 lbs so three of him would be a bunch of weight !!

 

[Dylan Beaudry]

How big are your 3 people and what else are you carrying onboard ?? My neighbor weighs 375 lbs so three of him would be a bunch of weight !!

Certainly. Im 190, as are likely my friend and father. We have an oar, 3 generic life jackets, 2 gallons of fuel, a fishing net and an electric trolling motor. Probably a total of 590 lbs. Though the weight is one thing, but there is a clear lack in power from the motor. Its not supposed to stall like it did and it cant even get us on plane even with everyone putting weight to the front. Its definitely not a weight issue, though i know its not helping either.

 

[Dylan Beaudry]

Explain---" oil in upper components "---At any rate it sounds like it is running on 1 cylinder.-----Post compression values and do a spark check.

Oil in upper components as in lubricant for exterior moving parts, used water repellent grease and oil on the power unit's moving parts to protect them from temporary submersion and wear. A lot of the launches in Minnesota are steep and require you to launch your boat by backing up fast and braking hard so it not uncommon for your engine to get soaked or submerged. So ifs good practice if you're in Minnesota to grease and oil the upper with water repellent lubricants. I often forget its not well known since most other states have few enough lakes that the launches can be well maintained. The DNR has it tough here year round.

I dont have a compression test kit but it doesn't feel or sound like its pulling a dead cylinder. It could be a compression loss like you said, after all the engine is old and im probably still breaking up lacquer and old fuel. Ill look into that on Saturday before my next launch as well as checking the carb and installing the new plugs and fuel filter if they arrive on time, im planning on running the tank out of it's old fuel and adding in premium stuff with a bottle of seafoam.

 

[jimmbo]

Oil in upper components as in lubricant for exterior moving parts, used water repellent grease and oil on the power unit's moving parts to protect them from temporary submersion and wear.

All those parts on the exterior of the Motor were engineered with getting wet in Mind

A lot of the launches in Minnesota are steep and require you to launch your boat by backing up fast and braking hard so it not uncommon for your engine to get soaked or submerged. So ifs good practice if you're in Minnesota to grease and oil the upper with water repellent lubricants. I often forget its not well known since most other states have few enough lakes that the launches can be well maintained. The DNR has it tough here year round.

Steep Launches and backing down them fast, is kind of Stupid. No, just make it Stupid.
Motors are engineered to get wet, if some moronic reckless Launching Technique submarines it, all the grease in the world.... Sounds like you need smarter, more Intelligent Politicians in your State

I dont have a compression test kit but it doesn't feel or sound like its pulling a dead cylinder. It could be a compression loss like you said, after all the engine is old and im probably still breaking up lacquer and old fuel. Ill look into that on Saturday before my next launch as well as checking the carb and installing the new plugs and fuel filter if they arrive on time, im planning on running the tank out of it's old fuel and adding in premium stuff with a bottle of seafoam.

There are far better Snake Oils than SeaFoam on the Market. if the carb needs cleaning, this stuff isn't gonna do any good, except make a lot of Smoke to lead you to think something is happening

Do the Compression test, before wasting any more time and/or money
Can the Spark jump 3/8" on both plug wire?
Dump the old Fuel or put it in the Mother in Laws Car/Truck, and mix up some fresh stuff, with TCW 3. @50:1 Don't waste money on Premium, the motor doesn't require it

Speaking of Oils. Have you checked the Gearcase for water, and/or changed that Oil?

 

[Dylan Beaudry]

All those parts on the exterior of the Motor were engineered with getting wet in Mind


Steep Launches and backing down them fast, is kind of Stupid. No, just make it Stupid.
Motors are engineered to get wet, if some moronic reckless Launching Technique submarines it, all the grease in the world.... Sounds like you need smarter, more Intelligent Politicians in your State


There are far better Snake Oils than SeaFoam on the Market. if the carb needs cleaning, this stuff isn't gonna do any good, except make a lot of Smoke to lead you to think something is happening

Do the Compression test, before wasting any more time and/or money
Can the Spark jump 3/8" on both plug wire?
Dump the old Fuel or put it in the Mother in Laws Car/Truck, and mix up some fresh stuff, with TCW 3. @50:1 Don't waste money on Premium, the motor doesn't require it

Speaking of Oils. Have you checked the Gearcase for water, and/or changed that Oil?

Ok, well im not a fan of being called an idiot right off the bat. Or the incorrect assumption that seafoam doesn't work when its been proven for decades. Or even correctly assuming that our state legislature is beyond repair.

First, i dont know if you know this, but electronics and water dint mix, so using a water repellent of any sort to prevent them from mixing usually helps. And give a shaky 2 stroke 50 years for the iron core of the choke solenoid to rust and all the enamel waterproofing to chip and degrade, Suddenly your waterproof engine isn't so waterproof anymore. My water repellent of choice just happens to be a thin brushing of water repellent grease which is hundreds of times cheaper than repairing or replacing the parts on this engine.

And higher octane (premium) fuels, combust faster and cleaner, which in combination with whatever engine cleaner you believe is best it will break down varnish and prolong however much life is left in the engine.

As far as cleaners go, im sticking with sea foam. Sure, theres better options. I know, everyone knows. But it has been proven for decades to work and ive used it on old snowmobiles for years, and what you might not know is that sea foam is sold at gas stations, right next to the GAS. ONE TRIP. Im not doing 2 trips for a $200 boat.

And the old fuel? Im running it through, that stuff is expensive. If the whole boat, trailer, fish finder and engine is $200, dividing that up, the engine is probably 50 bucks. Thats the same price as a tank of gas. So, its gonna drink every drop of that expensive sludge and hawk down a ton of premium and sea foam until it stops misbehaving.

As far as plugs go, I said im waiting for them. That means i ordered them. Along with a fuel filter. So they're going in and the test can come after that. And if you read my whole post instead of the first half of each, you would've read that i did check and change my lower unit oil. Its not wasting money when its maintenance that should be done in the first place. And i have no plans on getting a new engine unless its more powerful and cost no more than the boat. Because of that, If the engine ends up having compression issues or a piston is split in half, im still gonna use this engine because doing any sort of repairs is leagues cheaper than getting another outboard.

And the reverse throw boat launch maneuver is tried and tested by us Minnesotans, dont talk down on it. It's never failed to get anyone's boat on the water. And the launch is steep, not the drive leading to it. So you speed up to 15-20mph and keep backing until you see the trailer dip, then smash the brakes and whoop! The boat is launched. While I was qeued up at the launch, 3 out of the 5 trucks ahead of us did it, and the other 2 were loading their boats back on to the trailers. the people of the land of 14,380 mismanaged lakes know what they're doing. Ive seen our DNR do the exact maneuver since they're precious about getting their government pickups wet.

 

[jimmbo]

Higher Octane Fuels actually burn Slower, Cooler, which is how it reduces Detonation, and actually have fewer BTUs in any given Volume. As for Detergents, Regular has enough to keep an engine Clean.
SeaFoam(Naphtha and Light Oil) really does nothing, as I said, there are better Snake Oils for removing Carbon from behind the Rings

Launching like that would get you a Reckless Driving, Dangerous Driving, possibly Criminal Charges, in most places. I would rolling on the ground in Hysterics if the boat came off early and landed on the Ramp, without even getting wet, or there is a bit of Sand or Gravel on the ramp, or the Ramp is a little slick, and the Tow Vehicle ends up in the drink

 

[Ronniewhite]

If your hell bent on burning your old sludge gas you could atleast mix it with new gas and your seafoam. Also I would suggest taking the advice of people on hear instead of asking for help and then arguing with them. They know what they are talking about.

 

[Dylan Beaudry]

If your hell bent on burning your old sludge gas you could atleast mix it with new gas and your seafoam. Also I would suggest taking the advice of people on hear instead of asking for help and then arguing with them. They know what they are talking about.

Mate, he called me an idiot and told me to sabotage my family's cars with the old fuel. What about that should i just let slide?

Higher Octane Fuels actually burn Slower, Cooler, which is how it reduces Detonation, and actually have fewer BTUs in any given Volume. As for Detergents, Regular has enough to keep an engine Clean.
SeaFoam(Naphtha and Light Oil) really does nothing, as I said, there are better Snake Oils for removing Carbon from behind the Rings

Launching like that would get you a Reckless Driving, Dangerous Driving, possibly Criminal Charges, in most places. I would rolling on the ground in Hysterics if the boat came off early and landed on the Ramp, without even getting wet, or there is a bit of Sand or Gravel on the ramp, or the Ramp is a little slick, and the Tow Vehicle ends up in the drink

Im going to assume the boat launches on your planet look a bit different than ours. I also think you may have watched too many cartoons if you think it just flies off the trailer like wiley coyote off a cliff. You may be overestimating 15mph as well as how dangerous it is, i believe i mentioned the DNR literally employs this trick regularly here. In fact, im willing to bet they coined it. And like i said already, I know there are better products than sea foam, so let me say this once more just to hammer it in. Seafoam is sold at gas stations, gas stations sell gas, i can buy them both at the same time in one trip. And despite your wrong opinion of its effectiveness, it seems to have been proven over and over again to work by professionals. Anyway, you're entitled to your own opinions and seem to be stuck on making some point beyond my human comprehension, so to spare my mortal sanity from your eldritch knowledge im putting a cork in it here. This forum site is abominable, filled with old shits who'd rather nitpick the useless crap than actually lend some useful knowledge. And i thought millennials were hard to deal with online, its the retirees ive got to watch out for. God forgive me for even thinking about using good fuel. Welp guess ill go eat goat shite and cry a river.

 

[racerone]

Thread should be ----CLOSED

 

[saltchuckmatt]

Mate, he called me an idiot and told me to sabotage my family's cars with the old fuel. What about that should i just let slide?

Im going to assume the boat launches on your planet look a bit different than ours. I also think you may have watched too many cartoons if you think it just flies off the trailer like wiley coyote off a cliff. You may be overestimating 15mph as well as how dangerous it is, i believe i mentioned the DNR literally employs this trick regularly here. In fact, im willing to bet they coined it. And like i said already, I know there are better products than sea foam, so let me say this once more just to hammer it in. Seafoam is sold at gas stations, gas stations sell gas, i can buy them both at the same time in one trip. And despite your wrong opinion of its effectiveness, it seems to have been proven over and over again to work by professionals. Anyway, you're entitled to your own opinions and seem to be stuck on making some point beyond my human comprehension, so to spare my mortal sanity from your eldritch knowledge im putting a cork in it here. This forum site is abominable, filled with old shits who'd rather nitpick the useless crap than actually lend some useful knowledge. And i thought millennials were hard to deal with online, its the retirees ive got to watch out for. God forgive me for even thinking about using good fuel. Welp guess ill go eat goat shite and cry a river.

Maybe you misread or misinterpreted how you were being dealt with. 99 percent of posters go away thanking everyone for giving them good free advice. It's easy in an online situation to take things the wrong way.

With that being said, let me list the things that are well known in the industry.

Never run old gas through an outboard or really any motor.

High octane fuel is not needed in older Evinrude Johnson two strokes. They were designed for lower octane and the fuel is cheaper so save your money.

Buy non ethanol fuel. Way more stable and not as hard on your rubber parts.

Seafoam is not needed and probably does nothing. If your motor is running funny in more cases than not cleaning and or rebuilding the carb is in order. No "new in the can product is going to fix that" omc carbon guard is a better product to clean out an older 2 stroke.

Slingshot/shotgun boat launching is also done around my parts, just make sure you do it safely and the outboard in general should be able to handle light spray and splashing. Lots of excellent rubber connectors in those old reliable motors....they built them well

New filters and plugs is an excellent idea but learn and read up on your motor so it can be reliable for years to come.

Sorry your experiences were bad here but sometimes it's best to cool off or "laugh it off" until things blow over.

I hope you enjoy your boating. Happy fishing!

 

[oldboat1]

Get a spark tester at an auto parts store, and test/measure spark as indicated above. Weak spark needs to be corrected (eg. coils may need to be replaced.) I agree with the advice that the motor may be running on one cylinder.