90 Johnson

[blugoose]

I bought a 14' Bass Tracker topper it came with a 8 horse Johnson. Motor is very clean and seems to have been well maintained. I bought the boat to use on local lakes that are electric only so I did not really care about the outboard.

Today we tried to get it started, the previous owner said it had sat for 2 yrs. but that he did run the carbs dry before storing.
I'm sure my problem has come up before but I can't find it. It started after several tries ran pretty good but the stream is very weak , have to replace the impeller and maybe rebuild the water pump.

Like I said it started after choking it like crazy and finally ran at idle when we shut it down and tried again we had to choke it again I know once they warm up you should not have to choke them to get them running.

Any ideas.

Thanks
Duane

 

[bassboy1]

Running the carbs dry usually doesn't get all of the fluid out, and while it doesn't hurt anything on smaller 2 cyl. outboards with single carbs, it is a BAD practice on motors with multiple carbs. But, again, it rarely will completely clear the carb of fuel. My guess is you had just enough in there to varnish and partially block a passage. Take the carb off, purchase a rebuild kit and manual, and go from there. Yes, after sitting that long, go ahead and replace the impeller. However, a lot of these small Johnson and Evinrude twin cyls. never do have a strong indicator stream at low RPM. On my 1988 Evinrude 4, until you give it some throttle, it just trickles down the side of the motor.

 

[CarlF]

I trust that you bought a new tank (or hooked up an existing "clean & fresh" tank & are running new gas? If not, that alone may be the problem. 2 year old gas will be all gummy & nasty, probably have condensation in it too.
Before you do a complete rebuild, try treating fresh gas in a tank you know is clean with SeaFoam and running it for a while. There is a chance it will clean things up & you wont have to invest in a complete rebuild.
Even if you have to put a little $$ in it, these old johnson/evinrudes are some of the best small outboards ever made, it is worth it.