"Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

[bobbyb5]

I recently picked up an old 62 johnson seahorse, 40 hp RDSL-24L. The flywheel turns around about 420 degrees but then comes to a hardspot that stops it from turning completely in both directions. The pistons move freely with good compression. I was thinking that it could possibly be a frozen valve? The starter does not work so I have been manually turning the crankshaft. Also, the propeller does move so I ruled out that it was stuck in gear. I'm a novice of marine motors and am somewhat baffled by the problem so I was hoping that someone could help.

 

[Walker]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

It can't be a valve. There are none. If you can't get it to frre up then I'd start by pulling the head and taking a look at the piston tops and the cylinders. If you don't find a problem there then you'll have to tear the block down.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

Just before you do that, remove the lower unit so you know that it's not a problem in there. Something jammed in a gear tooth will let the engine turn a little more than 360 degrees. Is that a manual shift or electric?<br /><br />Also, does the armature plate, the part that turns beneath the flywheel when you open the throttle move freely? It's not getting hung up and turning with the flywheel right?

 

[bobbyb5]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

The armature plate does move freely and it has a manual shifter. I'm going to keep on working on it so any help is GREATLY appreciated. As for the valves, what does it use? I was under the impression that it was a four stroke engine which would use valves? One other thing to note is that I believe the owner before me used a wrong gas mixture. He was told to use 40 to 1 but inside the motor says 24 to 1 should be used.

 

[Walker]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

Its a 2 stroke with no valves. Do what Paul said and remove the lower unit. 420 degrees didn't register with me when I first read your post.<br />When it get to the stopping point does it hit something solid or is it more of a binding up?

 

[bobbyb5]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

Thanks. My first notion when I started was that a couple of nuts that were missing from the top casing had fallen into the gears but when I removed the case I couldn't see how to get into the lower unit. I'm going to try again, the reason I tried other things was because the propeller moved and while it's in neutral I can't see how it's connected. I'll take the advice and try to get to the lowerr unit. <br /><br />It hits something solid. At first it wouldn't move at all until I gave it a good tug.

 

[bobbyb5]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

I'm having some trouble removing the lower unit. I tried taking the lower parts off but have only succeeded in having sections with the crank shaft in the middle. I must be going about it the wrong way. Any directions on how to remove the lower would be appreciated.

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

to remove the lower DO NOT take out the bottom most screws on the leg! the lower unit bolts are are the ones just below the exhaust shield, which you will have to remove to get to the rear most bolt that comes down from the top. if your not familiar with outboards, i would storgly suggest a service manual

 

[bobbyb5]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

Thanks, to be honest I do need a service manual. I was going to wait to make sure the engine was worth it until I added any investments to it. <br /><br />I'm still not sure what bolts you mean to take off. The exhaust shield is at the top near the carborator right? So I took off the carborator and exhaust shield and then removed visible bolts. To keep on going I would have remove some linkage, the gear shifter rod, and maybe more... I'm hoping there's an easier way to check the gears.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

Sorry I'm not getting back until now. That's why I wanted to know if you had a mechanical shift - to tell you how to remove it.<br /><br />The exhaust sheild is the outer cover between the engine itself and the lower unit. You'll have to remove the back half of that cover by unscrewing about 300 phillips screws to get to the seventh bolt that holds the lower unit on. You'll also have to remove the plate on the side of the midsection (inner part between the lower unit and engine) and completely remove one of the two bolts in the shift coupler you find behind it. After all that, the lower unit should pull off.<br /><br />No easier way to determine where the problem lays. You'll eventually need to replace the water pump impeller too, so nothing is really lost in the exercise.

 

[bobbyb5]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

Thanks. I think I finally got it. It seems the previous owner didn't lubricate the gear box located at the prop. The cintered iron gear throw out bearing broke off and the broken part was lodged in one of the beveled gears causing the output shaft to seize up. I'll replace the two bearings and throw out to hopefully fix it. Thanks for all the help and have a great day.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

That would do it. The part that slides on the propshaft's splined section and engages the gears is known as the clutch dog. It is in fact case hardened steel. Very hard. To break an ear off it he must have flipped from forward to reverse or something really nasty.<br />You're going to need some spagetti and a new o-ring for the seal carrier to put it back together. The old ones always seem to leak. And sealant to gob all over the place.

 

[bobbyb5]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

I'm not sure what you mean by spaghetti. Also, some of the site links don't seem to be working and I can't find all of these parts. I can find the bearings if they're universal but do you have any suggestions on where to look for parts?

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: "Hardspot" when turning crankshaft on 62 johnson seahorse 40 hp

I certainly do. Tell me what exactly you're after and I'll give you some pointers. Some of the bearings are available from bearing houses for substantially less money than Bombardier. On others the Bombardier part is often less than what you'll find at a bearing house.<br />The clutch dog is a fairly common service item (they wear out if people ease the engine into gear). Cost is about $80, and it's available from any dealer.<br />If you're needing new bearings and new gears, you might be better off picking up a used gearcase. They were common to many years and models so they sometimes go on ebay really cheap.<br />All Iboats carries for that l/u is a nice little aftermarket seal kit and water pump parts. The dealer can sell you the same stuff, but seperate. The spagetti is the rubber o-ring type cord that seals the cap. Actually the sealant really seals the cap since all the screw holes run inboard of it.<br /><br />But this is all future work. What you'll want to do right now is determine if it's worth doing. Slap that lower unit back together. Flip the clutch dog so it's good side engages the forward, forwardmost gear, slather the cap with sealant and fire it on. Fill 'er up with outboard gearcase lube (which will lubricate even if water leaks in). Then get the engine running and determine if there's anything else that needs to be done with it. Start with a compression check. There's no sense beating a dead horse.