starting problems

[baconbiscut]

well my 1955 5.5 hp johnson is acting up heres the story. my great uncle sent me this motor with only 14 hrs on it when i got i wouldn't start when i put it inthe bucket so i thought i should check the spark plugs and i did. They looked like crap . the spark plugs i took off were j-6j type plugs whitch champion dosen't make anymore it least i think. so scroll through the book at walmart looking for a spark plug that would work on my motor. and found one the name of the spark plug was J8C. I went back home and ajusted the gauge of the spark plug to 0.30 and put them in and it fired right up.so a week or two later my friend let me borrow his jon boat and the motor ran great better than expected. so after i was finished using my friends boat i returned it to him and put the motor back on the mount. every so often i wold run it but one day i was talking to my dad on the phone bragging about my motor when he said. Since the last person who used left it sitting in his basment for 10 years he said i should probably change the lower unit oil. I went to the store and bought everything i needed and put the new oil in.After i had done this i went to put the motor back in the bucket to get it start and it just wasn't going to happen . please help with my problem as i plan to go fishing this weekend.

 

[F_R]

Re: starting problems

Hate to tell you this, but if that motor still has the original coils in it, they are no good. Remove the recoil starter and the plate off the top of the flywheel and you will be able to see them through the inspection hole, all cracked and broken up. New coils are readilly available and wil make it run like new. Next job is the water pump impeller. Again, if it is the original, it probably will fail soon.