About 2 months ago I bought a '97 Johnson 225 ocean runner on a 22' bay quest for $3,500. The owner thought the engine was blown and for that price I was willing to send it to a shop and have it rebuilt. At the shop they tested the compression and all was good. They said it just needed a power pack and a stator (sounds great to me so far too). After 2 weeks in the shop and $1,300 I put the boat in the water it ran fine for about two hours then began to kill when backing down to idle. Next day I took it out for about 4 hours and the dying at idle began to worsen so much that now it wouldn't run at all then it wouldn't even start. Back at the shop they said they found water in the gas tank, then they cleaned out the carbs, swapped some parts around from another 225 ocean runner that they know works, took the intake off so that they could check the reeds, and then consulted with another mechanic from another shop because they were stumped. Now they say that with the carbs laying on a flat surface they are able to see warpage where the carb mounts to the engine and the carbs are sucking air. They are saying the carbs are made out of plastic and are a bad design from Johnson. They are going to try to use some carbs from another used engine and see if that works. If not they said I will have to buy new carbs at $150 each x6= $900. Has anyone ever heard of this "bad plastic carb design by Johnson" or am I being taken for a ride?
