pulled the head bad news what now?

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greg carr

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Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
16
well i pulled the head on my 115 johnson today had low compression on bottem cylender turned out to have scoring on cylender in one area about an inch area the piston had a ding sticking outward on it where it passes over the outlet vents in cylender talked 2 one local marinia said about1500.00 what now and could i maybe do it my self ive never worked on a boat moter but i can work on cars and stuff.
 
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HybridMX6

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
676
Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

I was in the same "boat" as you last October. I've worked on cars, but never a boat motor. Since then, with the help of this forum and an OEM service manual (NOT Clymers, Seloc, or any other generic one), I have completely tore the engine down. Yeah, it's not back together yet, ran out of money for a while, but will be finishing it up in another month or two. If you have worked on cars before and are somewhat mechanically inclined, I am sure you can do this. It will really come down to what you want to do with it, and how much you are willing to spend on it.
Whatever the case, if you end up keeping it, you need to find out what caused it before you run it again once it fixed. Don't want to get it all fixed, not find out what caused it in the 1st place, then have it happen again. Mine had the top cylinder scored pretty bad. Carbs were all gunked up, and I don't even know how this thing pumped water with how much sand I pulled from the midsection/water pump area.
 
iwombat

iwombat

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Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

Sounds like your rings coked up, stuck and got snagged on the exhaust port. A common occurrence if you don't decarb regularly. That powerhead isn't a terribly complex beast. You're looking at about $350 or so in parts & machining to replace the one piston. You will certainly need an OEM manual to get going. Buy one, then read through the rebuild procedures and ask some questions here. Then decide on shop vs. doing the work yourself.
 
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greg carr

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Feb 23, 2009
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Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

i think your right it lookes like thats just what happened
 
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BKS72

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Sep 5, 2008
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Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

HybridMX6 said:
I was in the same "boat" as you last October. I've worked on cars, but never a boat motor. Since then, with the help of this forum and an OEM service manual (NOT Clymers, Seloc, or any other generic one), I have completely tore the engine down. Yeah, it's not back together yet, ran out of money for a while, but will be finishing it up in another month or two. If you have worked on cars before and are somewhat mechanically inclined, I am sure you can do this. It will really come down to what you want to do with it, and how much you are willing to spend on it.
Whatever the case, if you end up keeping it, you need to find out what caused it before you run it again once it fixed. Don't want to get it all fixed, not find out what caused it in the 1st place, then have it happen again. Mine had the top cylinder scored pretty bad. Carbs were all gunked up, and I don't even know how this thing pumped water with how much sand I pulled from the midsection/water pump area.
Click to expand...

Yeah, what he said! I rebuilt mine last summer with some help from an OEM manual and the good folks at this site.

You might also want to consider what the shop is going to do for $1500. If they're only going to repair that one cylinder for that price, you could probably buy almost everything you needed to completely overhaul the motor for the same amount (new mains, pistons, etc). Or, like Wombat said, you could do the same one cylinder repair for about a fifth of the cost yourself.

Again, comes down to how comfortable you are doing it, but there's really not much to the powerhead compared to a conventional 4 stroke motor.
 
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greg carr

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Feb 23, 2009
Messages
16
Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

they said 4 that price it would replace all4 pistons rebuild carbs and new water empeller for about 45.00 more is thise a fair price 1,500 fore rebuild thats is it dident have to be sleved.
 
iwombat

iwombat

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Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

That's a pretty fair price, IF they're offering some kind of warranty on the work.
 
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greg carr

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Feb 23, 2009
Messages
16
Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

30 days on labor and parts warranty from parts store
 
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greg carr

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Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
16
Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

is this moter worth fixing even though its a 79 model i know a good moter is hard 2 find used.
 
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rancher00

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Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
15
Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

I had the same kind of thing happen to me, my 1978 115 johnson was running but not good so I finally took it to a repair shop was going to cost me 1500 to start. Then things got worse all holes were going to need to be bored then the shop found that holes 2 and 3 were cracked which meant sleeving.After searching e-bay and craigs list ended up biteing the bullet and paid to have a rebuilt powerhead installed. The only benefit to the rebuilt powerhead is the one year warranty. but with the 400 in labor and 2300 in parts (no core it wasnt any good). now I just have to wait alittle longer until it warms up for my 10 hour breakin.
 
Mas

Mas

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Messages
1,656
Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

If you're a "gearhead" and money in your pocket, do it yourself. Sounds like fun to me!

I guess you could always consider the money toward an upgrade however??

MAS
 
jbjennings

jbjennings

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Jul 18, 2007
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3,903
Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

I would only fix it if I could do the work myself. I would not think it would be worth it to tie up 1500 dollars in a motor that old. I totally think it'd be worth it to try to do it yourself. Those motors aren't nearly as complicated as you might expect. Get a manual, and ask every night after you finish working about each step, so these guys can help you steer clear of any problems that inexperience might create.
Have you considered looking on ebay for a used powerhead? I think I'd probably take yours apart and have a marine machine shop take care of the boring and such so I'd KNOW what I had. Putting it back together isn't that bad, although keep in mind I've never messed with a motor over 65hp. I'll bet you could get away with fixing it for under $500 if you did the work yourself, and have a reliable motor.
Just some thoughts,
JBJ
 
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rupertmja

Seaman
Joined
Jun 28, 2008
Messages
59
Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

I have a 115 that is half way sorted from being a basket case bag of bits. Two barrells rebored and new pistons etc. I work in my garage. It now has electrical issues - they'll get sorted eventually - it needs anew powerpack. Basically, there is nothing to these engines except that they are rather heavy for one guy to deal with. The main issues I face with doing this is broken-off studs. You always get one or two on an old engine and you can kind of tell which ones are gonna bust by just looking at them.
 
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splitshot

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Feb 10, 2008
Messages
251
Re: pulled the head bad news what now?

tear it apart and fix it !! :D be sure to go thru the carbs,fuel pump, and put a new impeller in the foot while your there so when you get it back together you can drive it and not have to worry :)
 
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