need help before starting motor

[texunter]

newbie here and i need help: i bought a 1974 johnson 50 that has been sitting for god knows how long. im hesitant about trying to start it without doing some preventive maintenance so i dont ruin it. this is my first motor and ive never so much as cracked the case on one so i need help from the seasoned boaters. thanks ahead of time as i know you guys have plenty of suggestions, teddy

 

[StratosRob]

Re: need help before starting motor

Clean everything Make sure you lube the cylinders with sea foam (autozone)Pull the plugs to do so. Dont want them to be dry. Compression, fuel (carb Clean put freash in fuel)

 

[StratosRob]

Re: need help before starting motor

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=6195

 

[burroak]

Re: need help before starting motor

The basic drill is to check the lower unit for metal and water contamination. Check the compression next. The good numbers that you are looking for are on this site, do a search. If you have a good LU and good compression, check for spark. Joe Reeves has a straight forward method, do a search on this site. If the spark is adequate, rebuild the carbs - it's just something you gotta do. After attending to these item, report back. This is a great resource for specific problems. Good luck.

 

[texunter]

Re: need help before starting motor

as i said, im new to all this so please dont make fun but how do you check the lu and how do you change the oil?

 

[kynolan2183]

Re: need help before starting motor

Ok here is how to get started.

Get a pump bottle put sea foam in it.
Pull the plugs
Squirt in about four good pumps into each cylinder, do this every day until you start the carb rebuild. Put plugs back in but not tight, you just don't want any crap getting in.

Now start the other stuff

Other stuff
Get your motor ID numbers and goto www.maxrules.com
Call him, He will set you up with the book on the motor and your carb kits.

Don't worry about draining the lower unit yet.
You need the book if you have little or no experience with boat motors.

Order of operations.
1 get carb kits and all new hoses
2 get fuel pump kit
3 get book
4 read book it will show you the general maintence stuff like draining the lower unit
5 get new fuel line connection stuff (wally world has this stuff)
6 get plastic tank and muffs
Iboats has all of this stuff also.

My notes
I would not worry about checking compression yet you are a ways away from that.
In most cases a motor that old is in ok shape because if it had any major problems it would be in the junk pile. This motor is 33 years, old same age as my wife and she has some minor problems. She still is not worn out, but i tryin'

Kyle

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: need help before starting motor

Texunter, you need to read this FAQ http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=158086 on how to bring a motor out of mothballs. I think you will see there's several things to which you need to attend, many more than can be outlined in a couple of sentences of a post. As mentioned in the article, you really need a manual. And don't worry about being made fun of either, I would feel just as displaced if I got an airplane and needed help with it. But whether it's an airplane or a boat motor, a manual is an excellent place to start.

 

[texunter]

Re: need help before starting motor

thanks for the comedy relief Kyle! that was funny. ok so ill go to wal-mart and get sea foam, muffs, and get a manual. thanks fella's!