Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

[Guvner]

Unfortunately my dealer told me I had everything in the package after looking at it. No having done it before I didn't notice it only had one plate gasket, one thermostat cork gasket, one plastic valve and the rest of the stuff was there. I decided to go ahead and change both stats using the original gaskets and seals just to see if the problem went bye bye. It didn't even leak but after a few minutes the warning buzzer was back on and the the rear left sensor was again tripped on. Laser temperature readout was about 8 degrees warmer on the side that was tripping. I guess I'm starting to think I might just have a weak water pump more than a clogged water jacket. The pisser is throwing water out but not really sure how much stock to take in that.<br /><br />Going to take a gauge off the other boat and check it. Any pressures I want at an idle you guys think I should be seeing?<br /><br />Is changing the pump a big deal for the home mechanic. I have one here in a box I bought thinking this was the pump at first. Do you drop the bolts off the bottom? Does lower unit just slide down allowing access to the pump? Does it have to have the oil drained? <br /><br />Thanks... Gary

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Took the plunge after watching this string for a couple hours with no answers... I took out my beloved Clymers (worthless as there is that I know of manual) and followed the simple directions. It said to remove the pin on the shifting rod after moving it to reverse. Did that but was wondering what good that did as I couldn't really see anything I undid other than a safety for the pin. I'm supposing Clymers left something out very important that needed to be removed to allow the lower unit to drop out once the bolts that it specified were removed. <br /><br />It will come down about 5/8 inch and even rotate but the shifter rod is the sticking point. I can see the upper part of the shaft causing the linkage to rotate to the rear of the engine until it will go no farther also stopping the travel of the lower unit coming out of the power head. Really stupid but I'm quite sure Clymers has forgotten to write something. I can see the water pump I want to get to.<br /><br />Any help out there??? In need of a water guru... Thanks... Guvner..

 

[Walker]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Did you remove the "pin" from the front or from the side??? The correct pin has to be removed from the side.

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

There was a pin that looked indentical to the pin shown in a FIG in the Clymer book. It came from the side I would say. As you were on the left side of the motor looking at it with the engine in front of you left to right the pin came out of a small shaft that was pointing in your direction. It's a large pin. 1.5 inches or so in length. There was a washer it kept in place as well as a bushing that also went into it's little housing that had a grease fitting on it.<br /><br />Thanks for the reply... Guvner..

 

[Walker]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Okay, try pushing the entire shaft towards the other side of the motor. If I understand what you are saying, your engine disconnects the shift rod by pulling a retaining pin out and pushing the shaft in to release to shift rod.

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Will try that in the morning. I gave some half tries at just that earlier but I wasn't sure of myself on it. The book didn't tell me the mechanism for releasing the shifting rod so I was less than confident. I assumed it had to be some kind of cam action but could never find a good picture of it with enough detail. I even went to Ebay and looked at lower units for sale... [grin]<br /><br />Thanks... Guvner..

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

For those who want to know... Nothing worked in the way of pushing in the linkage even though I guess new it would have. I finally got a flashlight and looked underneath. Had to move the two little vaccuum hoses (I didn't follow them to see what they really were..) out of the way but then I could see where the linkage hooked. Pressing in just didn't quite allow the linkage to slip out. I took a long, fine screwdriver and pushed the darn linkage out of the shifting rod the final 1/64 of an inch out of there and then I unbolted it again the rest of the way and it dropped just fine... <br /><br />Just want to pass that on to others who might get as frustraded by the Clymers manual as I do. What a worthless piece of junk it is. Almost unbelievably vague where it doesn't need to be.<br /><br />My 2 zincs... Guvner.. <br /><br />Ps.. Onward to rebuilding the pump to see if I get any further on my overheating problem.

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Installed the new water pump since I had it. Motor is still overheating or at least the left side of the engine sensor goes off. My surface digital laser temp read it going up to 219 degrees. For some reason I didn't hear the warning buzzer but it did seem that the cooler side was up to 189 degrees also. Much cooler but I'm wondering what is up as far as what temperature I really want to have. Anyone use this type of surface temperature indicator? <br /><br />Any other thoughts about what could be causing the engine to overheat? Or is it? How hot is hot?<br /><br />Thanks... Gary

 

[steviecops]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Maybe you should go back to the dealer to get the rest of the kit! ie, the other gasket, seal and valve.<br />Good luck<br />Steve

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Yea... Maybe... But a common sense look at the thermostats using the existing gaskets, new springs and the one out of two new valves he did supply I put in on the troubled side with no good results. I thing the two new thermostats would have worked properly using the original gaskets. Didn't even leak.<br /><br />Anyway... I found the temperature ranges. I think the temp senders are set around 210 degrees. <br /><br />Anyone else out there with an opinion?<br /><br />Thanks... Gary

 

[Walker]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

How are you running the motor?? Ear muffs or in a tank??

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Ear muffs. If I didn't have such a good thermometer showing me the differences I'd be a lot less worried. If you hit your skin with the laser it reads your body temperature and it's accurate as hell. The guys at the dealership were telling me they use the same thing and it was their choice of tools. <br /><br />I wish I had run all these tests when it was running perfectly with no heat buzzer so I knew what was normal. Looking at the temperature senders I presume you take them out by removing the first part of the head. Looks like it anyway. Not that I think that is the problem but just musing... Guvner..

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Ran a compression test... Surprising results... Side not causing problems and running cooler is 90 lbs on top and 115 on bottom. Other side is 125 lbs. each top and bottom. Removing lower unit again and will try to blow out an apparent obstruction as there doesn't seem to be much else to do if the head gasket on that side is fine. <br /><br />On the compression readings I just got. What is the normal actions needed to determine whether it is valves or pistons? It seems to be on that side but I'm not sure if that points of a valve or head gasket problem. Any advice?<br /><br />Thanks... Gary

 

[Walker]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Guv, your motor doesn't have valves. Also there are little rubber pieces in the water passages behing the cylinder heads called deflectors. their purpose is to channel cooling water the right direction around the cylinder walls. These could be out of place or swolen to such proportions to entirely block circulation.<br />When running on muffs be sure to give plenty of water from the faucet. The head covers also conceal rather narrow water passages on the top of the heads that can become restricted from corrosion buildup.

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

I knew they were reeds and not conventional valves. I just ran both water and air in reverse and then just air to push the water back in the same direction with a little velocity. <br /><br />Then I went both ways. Something came out going in the direction the water pump pushes about 5 minutes into blowing in every which way direction. Didn't see what it was but something came out. Hope it was the problem. If that is true I just have to find out about my low cylinder compression. How bad is that for this 88 HP 1989 moter?<br /><br />Anyone?<br /><br />Thanks... Guvner..

 

[DJ]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Get your engine to stop overheating and then do this.<br /><br /> http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=000016 <br /><br />That may help with your compression issue.<br /><br />The engine should run about 150 degrees.<br /><br />Crossflow V=4's quite often give erroneous temp results on the muffs.

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Thank you... The prior paragraph detailing my flushing definitely ended the overheating problem. The engine sensor was staying at 130 degrees even after 15 minutes. Not sure if that is good or bad. I hope the time it went up to 221 didn't hurt anything. Wasn't there long but think it made it up there once. I'm presuming if something bad happened it would have already happened and showed up on the compression test on that side.<br /><br />Great carb cleaning information. I was wondering what would be a way to do that. I will get on that right away. Thanks very much Admiral.<br /><br />As far as how I did the flushing. I removed the lower unit and sent both air and water up the water pump tube and also into each hole coming out of the heads going into the thermostat housing. Just removed the rubber hose and aimed it outside of the engine compartment. Worked out real well. <br /><br />Gary

 

[DJ]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

guvner,<br /><br />150 degrees would an absolute maximum.<br /><br />It probably would be a good idea to re-torque your head bolts.<br /><br />The decarb info. I posted is for decarbing the cylinders and rings, not the carbs.

 

[Guvner]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

Since I don't trust my Clymers... What is the recommended torgue on the heads?<br /><br />Thanks... Gary

 

[Walker]

Re: Warning horn on 89 Johnson is not thermostat..

18 to 20 foot/lbs.