Northshore MA - Engine Tune Up / Repower

[Churak]

Happy Friday everyone! With boat season coming up here in the Northeast, I've been trying to run outstanding items on my aluminum 16 ft project boat to ground so it's ready to go for the season. With my first kid being born in February, my priorities have changed a little bit, specifically my attitude towards my 1994 John 48 HP outboard. It's a great engine for the boat and moves it right along, but it can be finicky to start when it's cold and tuning the idle has been difficult - I've got it to the point where it shifts into gear nicely, but I've had to turn the throttle down a lot so every once in a while I'll have it stall on me when trying to make some low speed maneuvers. Otherwise it's been a good engine in the season I've been able to enjoy it.

With all that said, having a kid is driving me towards two conclusions: I can handle the engine stalling or having hiccups due to less than perfect tuning if it's just me. With the wife and kid on board, it's not something I want to worry about while on the water. Said kid also doesn't allow me the luxury of time to learn and mess around with the engine for long hours myself so I've been trying to find a professional to do a proper tune up.

Here is where I have hit my problem - I have called around to a few places in Northshore MA and either I've been told "Sorry we don't do Johnson" or "We won't work on something that old".

Long story short -

• 1. I'm looking for any information on shops/individuals in the Northshore MA area that would be capable of getting this engine running tight with proper timing, throttle, shift, etc.
  2. Any advice or thoughts about a re-power for the boat and if the outboard I have would be worth anything in a trade or swap. I'm leaning towards a modern 4 stroke that is quieter and better on gas. Replacing the 48 hp Johnson with a similar hp 4 stroke isn't in the cards from a financial or weight perspective, but I think a 30 hp would fit the bill nicely - appreciate any redirection if I'm heading down the wrong path!

Photo of the current outboard on the stand during transom replacement last year

 

[DaleH]

Call Perley’s Marina NOW, in Rowley, MA ... they or any shop could be busy already. They know engines well!

 

[jethro]

A buddy of mine just bought a boat and it needs work, she called just about every place here in NH and they are all booking out to mid June. And some places won't even give a timeframe. I know that isn't promising just letting you know our experience.

 

[Churak]

Thanks for your replies everyone - unfortunately I've had a similar experience to Jethro. Figured I would follow up and let everyone know what I've been working through the last few days.

Servicing:
The engine is old enough that no shops want to touch it, even for a timing / compression / adjustment tune up. Most shops were saying they would only service motor year 2000 and newer. The one exception was Perley's Marina in Rowely, whose cut off is 1995 :roll: - thanks for the suggestion DaleH!

New re-power:
Looking for 25-35 hp range, remote -> Likely as a result of the global supply chain issues and folks itching to get out of their homes, ordering an engine is our of the question if you want to boat some time this summer. Need to work within the stock available in their stores today, which isn't as plentiful as one would hope.


At this point I'm poking around a repower and putting my feelers out there for pricing. Given availability, it might just come down to me finding some time and tools to tune the idle / timing / compression myself for this season. If anyone knows where I can find a cheap sets of tools to help me do that I'm all ears! :lol:

 

[DaleH]

See the PM I just sent ... sent you some info.

 

[jethro]

At this point I'm poking around a repower and putting my feelers out there for pricing. Given availability, it might just come down to me finding some time and tools to tune the idle / timing / compression myself for this season. If anyone knows where I can find a cheap sets of tools to help me do that I'm all ears! :lol:

Yep, learn how to do it yourself. It's the way to go anyway! Even though I can certainly afford to have other people work on my stuff, I don't. You can't find good help anymore and no one seems to have your best interest at heart. Most people are just there for a paycheck. My two main hobbies are snowmobiling and boating, both to feed my love of fishing. When things go wrong, it's in season. Nothing goes wrong with a snowmobile in July when it's easy to get a mechanic to look at it! I do EVERYTHING myself just to make sure it's done right and when I want it done. If I encounter a job where it would cost me $200 in labor to have someone do it, or I could buy the specialty tools for $250 and do it myself, I'll buy the tools.

Gotta be honest, a person can become a pretty damn good technician by spending a few hours on Youtube.