18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

[JoeSlab]

My 18 horse johnson which was running decent several weeks ago decided to take a dump on me 3 weeks back. I got a new fuel pump which seemed to be leaking before and thought that would solve whatever the issue was. It now will fire off if I spray a little starting fluid in the carb (I know its bad for two strokes) But after the fluid burns off it stops. Motor has new plugs that have only seen the water for one use. What is the next thing I should look for???...I took off the carb and cleaned it with some gumout but it really wasn't all that dirty. Also took off the fuel lines to make sure nothing was blocking the flow and they are clean. Anybody have any idea what I might need to look for??


Thanks

 

[lindy46]

Re: 18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

If you pump the fuel line bulb, will it keep running? Sounds like either a fuel pump problem or still crud in the carb.

 

[JoeSlab]

Re: 18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

I'll go out and try that but I doubt thats the case after cleaning all the inlets and making sure there were no blockages in the line....fuel pump is brand new and when I had the hose off it and pulled the cord it pumped gas out.

More info I guess...the motor is a Johnson FD-19D from what I have found its a 65' ???

 

[JoeSlab]

Re: 18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

Pumping the fuel bulb doesn't do anything. I cant get it started without the starting fluid and I don't want to keep doing that as I know its bad for the engine. I've read elsewhere the coils/points might be bad? How do I get the flywheel off so I can get at them?

 

[rjezuit]

Re: 18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

Harmonic balancer puller and (3) 1/4-20 grade 8 bolts. Loosen the flywheel nut, but leave it on. Put on the puller and tighten, it should eventually pop off of the taper.

 

[Al-53]

Re: 18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

use a spray bottle with your mix in it beside the starting fluid....your wiping your oil down with the fluid.......take the drain screw off the carb and pump the bulb..see if any gas comes out....

sounds like either you have a blockage some where or your float is stuck....if you can fire it off using pre mix....I would say you have a fuel problem some where...since its firing in fluid...

have you checked your plugs..are they wet...

get a spark tester ..set the gap to 7/16ths....see if you have a nice blue cracking spark....if so back to the fuel delivery system...

get the checker at most automotive stores under $10..a worthy tool to have...

check your compression also....make sure its with 10% of each other...should be in around a 100 or better....

what year is the motor....and model....

Al

 

[JoeSlab]

Re: 18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

I tried the spray bottle with fuel mix and the motor fired up again so there has to be some sort of blockage somewhere so I'll be stripping the carb down once more and going over it with a fine toothed comb to see if I can find anything.

 

[lindy46]

Re: 18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

Make sure to remove the welch plug on top of the carb and clean inside, especially the holes in there. I use a twist tie wire to clean those small orifices. Then blow out good with carb cleaner.

 

[14ftgrumman]

Re: 18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

Have you got gas, spark and compression?

Get a spart tester and see if you have spark to jump a 3/8ths gap.
Get a compression tester and check compression.
Got fuel to the carb?

If you got all three, it's gotta run.

 

[JoeSlab]

Re: 18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

Well I went back to work on the carb.... lets just say I had a lot to learn when it comes to cleaning them. I thought I did a good job the first time but after reading through some posts on this site I realized I didn't nearly get it good enough. I took it back apart and cleaned every orifice I could find. Sure enough there was some gunk build up in one of the openings that I didn't previously get with my earlier... lame, hurry up attempt to clean the carb. Needless to say I had the motor out saturday night and it has never run this good the entire 3 years I've had it. I even got to use the shutoff switch for the first time! What an amazing difference. Lesson learned....don't do a half @$$ job and you'll come out on top every time. Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[lindy46]

Re: 18 HP Johnson Won't start! Any suggestions????

Glad to hear she's running good now