1989 johnson 140 VRO?????

[mbecke2]

So I just got my boat back from the mechanic who charged 520 dollars and gave me back my boat in the same condition it was before I brought it in. He repaired a reed gasket and changed spark plugs. Great mechanic huh. Then he tells me the motor needs a powerpack. So I replaced the powerpack and it did not help. SO heres the deal. We noticed when we squeeze the primer bulb a little bit of gas dribbles out the top of the VRO. Also the plastic nipple was broke and JB welded on the VRO where the gas hose connects. So on the water the motor started and idled ok and i went to take off and it ran ok and got on a plane but didnt go as fast as usual. I had full throttle and was goin maybe 25 when usually go 43mph. So it ran like this for bout 30 seconds and then bam it bogged down and killed. Then ran like crap and I barely got back to the launch. It would start and kill in idle. Sometimes I would get it to idle then put in gear and it would kill. I noticed if I put it in gear and got it to run when I pushed the key in for choke it would try to take off. Then I noticed at the boat launch while idling I could hear a tick tick tick sound from the cylinders. Sounded like metal on metal like a rod. Didnt sound good. Is this a sign that the vro is suckin air?? Im tired of throwing money away at the motor, but it used to run perfect before all this trouble. Thanks for any replies.

 

[noelm]

Re: 1989 johnson 140 VRO?????

I think you may be chasing a few things here, you have a great reliable motor and I would think it is well worth finding a good mechanic and getting it fixed once and for all, if you want to tackle it yourself, buy a genuine manual, not a cheap CD copy, a genuine one and we wll take it from there, it does sound like you will need at minimum a carby kit and carby rebuild before we even start at the VRO system, but it all fairly easy if you are mechanicaly minded and have some basic hand tools (and know how to use them)

 

[fshrgy99]

Re: 1989 johnson 140 VRO?????

my 89 140 vro had a fuel line leak. while researching my poor performance I discovered that a fuel leak equates to an air leak while the engine is running. This will cause the vro to inject far too much oil. The clicking may have been the vro pumping way too much oil into the mix. my recently acquired motor is running better now ...but still will not idle well. i intend to continue to track down air,oil and vacuum leaks in those 20 yr old hoses.

 

[71Windsor]

Re: 1989 johnson 140 VRO?????

if you had gas coming out of any where its time to check the carbs and do a good rebuild. not a tough challenge even for a novice. there are hundreds of carb rebuild threads on here take some time read through and gain some knowledge. the main thing on rebuild is getting them all to be in sync when your done. basically all the butterflies move together and open at the same rate. also i would disable the vro on your engine and switch to premixed fuel it reliable and fool proof. plus you will 100% know your engine is getting the oil that it needs. in the top secret file there is a how to for doing away with the vro. but if you choke your engine and it ran better you are on the right path when blaming the carbs. start there. check all your lines from tank to carb for cracks or leaks. this ethanol gas really takes its toll on older fuel lines. i replaced my lines 3 years ago and found a bunch all ready this year with some cracks.

 

[fshrgy99]

Re: 1989 johnson 140 VRO?????

I too had a mechanic blame gummed up carbs and had all 4 rebuilt. The result was a $750 bill and a motor that would not idle. In fact the mechanic said he didn't know why it wouldn't idle and returned it to me with the idle set at a slow cruise. I could hardly get it to go into gear and then only with grinding in the gear box. Docking was a nightmare! That's when I discovered and fixed the air leaks. The gas line would leak when the primer was pumped. That spot(s) would suck air when the engine was running. Replace your hoses on the gas side and on the oil side. Check all your clamps. I'm not saying that it's not your carbs or reeds, I'm just passing along what I found. These VRO's sucking air will cause huge performance problems.
BTW, I bought a factory manual and fired the mechanic.
d

 

[boobie]

Re: 1989 johnson 140 VRO?????

Buying a factory manual and firing your mechanic are the best things you did.