My Johnson's Dead

[beber]

A few weeks ago I posted that I bought a skiff with a blown motor, and was going to repower it. Well I found a good deal on a 35 hp Johnson Seahorse, I heard it run and it ran great, shifted etc.

The only issue was the ignition key was busted out of there. So this weekend I bought a new ignition key, wired it, hung the motor, ran the controls, hooked up the steering, everything was going great.

So I took the boat into the driveway and tried to fire it up on a set of ear muffs. First turn of the key she turned over fired up, started to run, and died. No big deal, I adjusted the choke, (manual choke) and turned the key. Again she fired up ran for 10 seconds and died. I thought this is pretty typical of old 2 strokes, third times the charm, turned the Key and nothing, nada, not a single thing happens.

When I turn the key, the starter doesn’t engage, no sounds are made, nothing happens. I thought maybe it was in the ignition key, so I took that apart and just directly connected the two wires to make it start, and nothing happened. Can anyone help point me in the right direction as to what happened? I only found one inline fuze on the motor and that wasn’t blown, so I don’t know where the problem could be. Thanks for the help.

[Capt. Chad B., PE]

Check your battery connections and grounds. Does the solenoid click?

[beber]

Originally Posted by Capt. Chad B., PE

Check your battery connections and grounds. Does the solenoid click?

Battery conections and grounds are good. Battery is brand new, just bought it yesterday. Solenoid does not click but has juice on both ends.

[WETDREAM]

Try tapping on selenoid while turning key. might be stuck and will need replacing. Thats what happened to my crab boat motor. 1962 35hp evinrude. still going strong

[med]

based on the title of this thread I had a completely different impression of this problem......

[MikeyJ]

Originally Posted by med

based on the title of this thread I had a completely different impression of this problem......

Me to...was gonna suggest Viagra...........Mikey

[Dunk]

Originally Posted by WETDREAM

Try tapping on selenoid while turning key. might be stuck and will need replacing. Thats what happened to my crab boat motor. 1962 35hp evinrude. still going strong

I agree, sounds like the solenoid crapped out. You can try jumping straight to the positive post on the starter with jumper cables. Ground to the base of the starter. The starter should crank the engine. If the key is in the on position the engine should lite, but you don't need it to because you are just by passing the soleniod to test it..

A 1962 would be a 40hp. The last 35hp around that time was built in 1959.. Classic old horses, unbelieveable low end guts.. We had a 59' 35hp Johnson. In 1960 they upped them to 40hp engines. In 50' they started with the 25hp Big Twin. In 56' it was 30hp and I'm pretty sure in 57 it went to 35hp. Your horse might be a little older than you think.

[fraid.knot]

check the wire connection to the starer motor had a 86 even. had same problem conect would get lose and nothing takes a minute or to and its fixed thats what I would check first if you have spark on both sides of the silonoid usual ok try the starter conection .

[BayRat]

KISS. Make sure the damn shifter is in neutral. Wiggle the shifter while starting, after Viagra i guess.

"Solenoid does not click but has juice on both ends"= no idea what ends that might mean.....Ya got power to the right terminals, or ya don't.

[BayRat]

Originally Posted by Dunk

You can try jumping straight to the positive post on the starter with jumper cables. Ground to the base of the starter. The starter should crank the engine.

Yes. Every boater should know how to jump the solenoid on the water to get home in an emergency. No jumper cables needed. There are two big terminals on the starter solenoid, one probably goes strait to the batt positive, the other goes right into the starter. Anything metal (screwdriver, keys etc..) pressed hard jumping the two terminals will crank the engine (if the starter is good ).

There is always a third wire connection on the solenoid that is smaller. +12v to that is what makes the solenoid jumper itself. Normally it gets that from the key switch. If the shifter is mis-ajusted it won't let the B+ pass. Any other wires on the solenoid are just b+ (12v) feed wires to accessories. The ground is through the mounting/bolts. All the tools in the world will not get you home if you don't know the simple starter circuit.........

[WETDREAM]

Per Dunk................A 1962 would be a 40hp. The last 35hp around that time was built in 1959.. Classic old horses, unbelieveable low end guts.. We had a 59' 35hp Johnson. In 1960 they upped them to 40hp engines. In 50' they started with the 25hp Big Twin. In 56' it was 30hp and I'm pretty sure in 57 it went to 35hp. Your horse might be a little older than you think.

Thanks for the info Dunk. The boat is a 62 and it is a 35hp evinrude. so yur probably right...it is older than I think. I'll have to get the serial #'s off her when i uncover next spring and do a little research. that motor just keeps going and going. $600 boat+motor+trailer 10 yrs ago.... heck I haven't even change the water pump in yrs...never flushed it or winterized....original thermos and all. just replaced a selenoid a yr or so ago...the thing just won't die.....great little crab boat. A motor 50+ yrs old!

[the grinch]

Originally Posted by WETDREAM

Per Dunk................A 1962 would be a 40hp. The last 35hp around that time was built in 1959.. Classic old horses, unbelieveable low end guts.. We had a 59' 35hp Johnson. In 1960 they upped them to 40hp engines. In 50' they started with the 25hp Big Twin. In 56' it was 30hp and I'm pretty sure in 57 it went to 35hp. Your horse might be a little older than you think.

Thanks for the info Dunk. The boat is a 62 and it is a 35hp evinrude. so yur probably right...it is older than I think. I'll have to get the serial #'s off her when i uncover next spring and do a little research. that motor just keeps going and going. $600 boat+motor+trailer 10 yrs ago.... heck I haven't even change the water pump in yrs...never flushed it or winterized....original thermos and all. just replaced a selenoid a yr or so ago...the thing just won't die.....great little crab boat. A motor 50+ yrs old!

Your just asking for trouble not doing maintenence, it''ll bite ya out on the water, invest a little time and get her up to snuff!

[WETDREAM]

I agree Grinch. I'm Really good about taking care of my 250 yami on the 23' wellcraft DE bay. I should and probably will invest a little work on the crab boat next yr. I'm just not too worried about breaking down where I crab on the chester river. I can.. if need be.. just get out and walk the boat back to the dock

getting parts for a 50 yr old motor might be a problem

[beber]

Originally Posted by BayRat

KISS. Make sure the damn shifter is in neutral. Wiggle the shifter while starting, after Viagra i guess.

"Solenoid does not click but has juice on both ends"= no idea what ends that might mean.....Ya got power to the right terminals, or ya don't.

I checked the nuetral safety switch and it is in neutral so that works.

What I meant about the solenoid, was some one made a comment that there was a bad connection some where between the battery and the motor. However, thats not the case because I pulled my volt meter out and ther is 12.8 volts between the hot side of the solenoid and ground.

I wish I had a repair manual for this little motor.

Can some one better explain to me how to bypass the solenoid to test it?

[MOODS]

There is a inline fuse that provides power to the starter solenoid. It should be on the engine harness in black rubber. Try that. Another method is to run jumper cables directly to you starter. First hook them up to the battery and ground the - to your engine. Then gently touch your + lead to the post on your starter it should spin your starter, if it does not and your jumper connections are good you need a starter.