Johnson 15hp 2-stroke. Post purchase checks & service.

[gpsguru]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

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Unfortunately I'll have to find a way to shave a bit more weight from my kit for tool offset... the Johnson needs imperial spanners so I'll need to add those to my otherwise metric toolkit.

Go and buy a few 'Metrinch' spanners in the required sizes, it saves taking both metric and imperial in your 'portable' toolkit

I have a few, and they do exactly what it says on the tin.

[smallribber]

One there not too far from you. You could have another go

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...4246445809499/

[Fenlander]

Good of you to think of me but I've completed the Johnson exploration loop. You could buy it though... I've heard there's a good service guide online.

As I said elsewhere we may scratch away at the 15hp itch over the winter. Mrs F has already come up with this... quite a run to get it home though but a bargain at £1365 and the absolute lightest 15hp at 33kg.

[Dadeo]

Argh. I am sorry that the little Johnson overheated. I played in fresh water with plenty of Evinrude/Johnson and Chrysler 2 strokes in the 1970s. Yours is a prime example of why it's so necessary to fully flush these old motors in salt water. There is nothing you could have done to prevent this, other than a complete tear down before use. In fresh water they all seemed to last forever and parts are still widely available. My next door neighbor is a marina who bought up tons of OMC parts.The guy does no online business, he uses the parts in his rather busy repair business. He's the kind of guy who you'd now send your motor to for a complete powerhead tear down and rebuild. In fact he rebuilt my Dad's 1963 Evinrude Starflight 90 horse after it over heated. But its a long ways from the UK to NY state.

[Fenlander]

Thanks for your comments.

Funnily enough the last older used outboard I bought (Yamaha 15 2T) I took the head and exhaust plates off to prove the waterways were clear. They were and my thread describing that work attracted one negative response suggesting it was wasted work.

Had I done the same with this Johnson it would have been saved from failure.

It's made me far more thoughtful about 20yr old outboards. If I bought another I'd return to my previous forensic level checks.

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

They were and my thread describing that work attracted one negative response suggesting it was wasted work.

Never, who would have suggested such a thing!

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Thanks for your comments.

Funnily enough the last older used outboard I bought (Yamaha 15 2T) I took the head and exhaust plates off to prove the waterways were clear. They were and my thread describing that work attracted one negative response suggesting it was wasted work.

Had I done the same with this Johnson it would have been saved from failure.

It's made me far more thoughtful about 20yr old outboards. If I bought another I'd return to my previous forensic level checks.

Im surprised you let the resident clown cloud your usual good judgement, nothing wrong with going the extra mile to ensure everything is good. Listening to the no maintenance numpty probably cost you a good engine
Such a shame!

[Fenlander]

My comment wasn’t so much that I’d taken notice of Mr “That’ll do”…. But more that had I had greater reason to have doubted this Johnson’s history a little more I would have stripped it further and seen the issue hence avoiding failure.

So yep perhaps nine times out of ten further investigation might prove there was no problem… but this Johnson was that small percentage chance where cost and disruption would have been prevented by a couple of gaskets and another hours work.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

My comment wasn’t so much that I’d taken notice of Mr “That’ll do”…. But more that had I had greater reason to have doubted this Johnson’s history a little more I would have stripped it further and seen the issue hence avoiding failure.

So yep perhaps nine times out of ten further investigation might prove there was no problem… but this Johnson was that small percentage chance where cost and disruption would have been prevented by a couple of gaskets and another hours work.

I've seen him baiting you for your attention to detail but this episode just goes to show its worth the extra effort & you know your equipment is the best that something this old can be. Its just a pity he constantly promotes his 'no maintenance' pish & the odd newcomer might actually take him seriously.

[Dadeo]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Thanks for your comments.

Funnily enough the last older used outboard I bought (Yamaha 15 2T) I took the head and exhaust plates off to prove the waterways were clear. They were and my thread describing that work attracted one negative response suggesting it was wasted work.

Had I done the same with this Johnson it would have been saved from failure.

It's made me far more thoughtful about 20yr old outboards. If I bought another I'd return to my previous forensic level checks.

Buying a used motor gets more risky with age and more risky the less you know its history. But sometimes time goes by and you forget about your own things, especially when they always work, like my little 2003 9.9 Merc.

The Merc has been on one boat or another at our family's lake house for 20 years. While its always gotten new sparks, fresh lower unit oil and fuel filter cleanings at each winterization, it wasn't until this year I'd realized that I've never greased the dozen or so fittings and mechanical bits that were greased at the factory, never checked the throttle and shift cables cables, and could not remember when the water impeller was checked.

I got out the grease gun and bought a large tube of Merc's 2-4-C w/ Teflon. The lake is so clean and our seasons are so short that the water pump impeller was perfect. But the tilt and steering fittings were full of black goop and water. Most of the internal engine control linkages were dry. The plastic protective coating on the throttle and shift cables were worn thru where they go in the engine. I wrapped them tightly in electrical tape and added a vinyl coating. I also replaced the friction shims and washers in the tiller fittings and removed the propeller and regreased the shaft.

It was surprising how much easier it is now to tilt the motor, twist the throttle, shift, steer and adjust the tiller.

[smallribber]

Originally Posted by beamishken

I've seen him baiting you for your attention to detail but this episode just goes to show its worth the extra effort & you know your equipment is the best that something this old can be. Its just a pity he constantly promotes his 'no maintenance' pish & the odd newcomer might actually take him seriously.

People learn things based on years of experience of many things. It is helpful to share these with others and both sides of the discussion aired.

Sometimes the old tried and tested adage If it ain’t broke don’t fix it is very true.

People are of course entitled to express their opinion. Would you not agree.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Easedalenovice

People learn things based on years of experience of many things. It is helpful to share these with others and both sides of the discussion aired.



Sometimes the old tried and tested adage If it ain’t broke don’t fix it is very true.



People are of course entitled to express their opinion. Would you not agree.

Folk are entitled to say what they want, however you seem hell bent on saying the opposite of what is usually accepted as good practice. You seem more interested in causing an argument than offering generaly good advice.
Many of your posts & opinions are clearly aimed at causing friction with the folk who know better. The worrying thing is the folk who don't realise your the resident $hit stirrer might actually think the pish you spout is true. Its no wonder you get booted off regularly.

[Fenlander]

>>old tried and tested adage If it ain’t broke don’t fix it is very true.

That is only ever applied to servicing and preventative maintenance by the lazy.

Much better for the tasks in your life to remember "if a job's worth doing it's worth doing well".

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

>>old tried and tested adage If it ain’t broke don’t fix it is very true.

That is only ever applied to servicing and preventative maintenance by the lazy.

Much better for the tasks in your life to remember "if a job's worth doing it's worth doing well".

Exactly! Even just the process of dismantling & resembling an engine or parts of it isn't wasted effort. It means when you do need to strip it it will actually come apart without a dozen snapped or rounded off bolts because last time you greased the good ones & replaced the bad ones as part of your strip down. As an example there are many engines wrecked because the driveshaft corroded into the crank because the owner made his impeller last 10 years to save the cost & hassle of fitting a new one. Zero preventative maintenance & a fix it when its broke approach is rarely a sensible option for anything mechanical & especially so with boat engines.
There are some folk who shouldn't touch mechanical items because they make things worse, maybe EN fits into this category but clearly you have the time & ability to do a proper job! keep doing it well[emoji106]

[PeterPun]

Wow, what an unpleasant plot twist. In the past I've looked for videos about cleaning waterways by flushing and by total disassembly and mechanical scrubbing. From what I saw, if the waterways are blocked by corrosion or silt build-up its just better to get rid of the motor. You can never reach into all crevices and consistently clean everything. A large peace of deposit can still make its way to some tight spot, block water channels and cause complete or local overheating. And the possibilities for cooling to fail are so many - intake blockage, impeller, internal blockage etc. I've experienced overheating due to plastic wrapped around water intakes. Didn't completely trash the motor, but still there was foul smell of burned plastic. Current outboard has a warning light but only for oil pressure, and you still have to look that way while navigating, which is not very optimal. Water discharge is also useless if blockage affects partially the flow, if your attention is at the sea or if you're sitting on the port side. There must be a better way.. Just looked into cheap thermostats and buzzers, and this looks like a good winter project. Thermostat is waterproof and comes with a thermocouple so the only remaining question is where to put the measurement and how reliable the elements are. There are 95dB buzzers so it will be loud enough, even from under the hood. What do you think

[Fenlander]

With a previous outboard, Yamaha 15hp 2-stroke, I wanted to be 100% sure regarding the waterways and checked this by removing head and exhaust plates. This of course risks snapping a bolt, there's the cost of the gasket sets and some folks might not feel comfortable with that level of dismantling but you do get to see all the potential blockage areas. You can use a hose to put water up from the pickup pipe to check that's clear, add in a new impeller, check the pee outlet is clear and you have the whole cooling system well covered. See posts 53/54 here...

https://www.rib.net/forum/f36/yamaha...e-81611-2.html

But yes for those of us with older or more basic outboards a simple add on overheat alarm would be a further reassurance. There are the simple Chinese devices on Ebay like this but from experience their waterproofing is poor. Wonder if the alert could be heard if the unit was under the outboard cowl in the dry...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404212832...Bk9SR_DMoqbxYg

This unit from Australia looks far more robust with a separate alert buzzer which might be easier to hear... but it needs an external 12v supply...

https://engineguard.eu.com

Interesting thought to raise thanks.

[PeterPun]

Your suggestion looks just like my tachometer. Will research further.
There are also these pre-set bimetal thermostats which can be glued to the motor head and serve as a backup to the electronic one. The only issue is probably to select the correct temperature for the specific point, as they are ordered by temperature.
As for the buzzer, looks like there are also waterproof ones.
My motor has 6A alternator that I don't use, so no need for extra battery and overheating can only happen when motor's running

[Tommy c]

Have you got the hood catch handle Fenlander?
My lad has broke his

[Fenlander]

Sorry it's taken a couple of days to get back to you, the few parts I had left over are in the back of the garage loft and I had to move a few things to find them.

I don't have this part but I will PM you with a list of the few bits I do have.