1988 johnson 120 powerhead removal

[muddyfishin]

trying to pull the power head and of course down to the last two bolts and they dont want to budge. ive torched them however they are the long bolts that go through the exhaust adapter into the powerhead so im not sure the heat is getting to the threads..any tips? advice ? knowledge is much appreciated 120 ph.jpg

 

[muddyfishin]

[No message]

 

[Faztbullet]

Ohhh ...long shaft salty dog.You can drill hole thru adapter to bolt and fill with some transmission/acetone mix and let soak.

 

[muddyfishin]

yea shes a salty dog alright, that exhaust gasket is shot and has salt build up all around the base, im going to try with an air impact next however I will keep your method in mind

 

[muddyfishin]

no luck with the air impact,,soo I suppose I need to drill the adapter,, but how close to the bottom of the powerhead do I need to be with the hole? as close as possible? really dont want to screw anything up on this motor in the process,

 

[Faztbullet]

Below the cowling mount all the way to bolt with a 3/16 bit .Dont drill thru bolt or it will snap.

 

[muddyfishin]

ok so below the rubber mount like halfway up the length of the bolt?,, im just curious as the threads are up in the power head

 

[muddyfishin]

so those bolts started coming but ultimately the heads snapped off both, once the block is off I should be able to extracrt them from the engine with a pipe wrench..next issue. ive got my engine hoist hooked up with the puller and ive made sure all bolts are removed have pressure on the lift and cant break the seal between the block and the adapter.. can anyone help me through this, I have been whacking the block with a 2x4 and sledge with pressure and cant get it to break, anyone have this issue?

 

[Bosunsmate]

On some engines there are also little bolts/nuts far forward or aft that hold the powerhead to adaptor.
Also have you dropped the LU?
A stuck Driveshaft in the bottom of the crank in a salty can hold them up too
Definitely being in this circumstance when none of the above was the issue and i needed to lift it and whack it with wood too by the join

 

[muddyfishin]

I did remove the nut and bolts at the front of the engine as well, and I am getting no separation what so ever, I tried more pressure but that was a no go, I started lifting the boat so I backed off..i suppose my next step is to try to free the driveshaft by dropping the LU.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Yep definitely do that. Then you can also leave it hanging for a while on the noose. Just make sure its lifting straight up

 

[muddyfishin]

so the other day I went and removed the lower unit, which wasn't bad at all , infact the driveshaft did not feel stuck what so ever and sure enough was not my problem.i believe this powerhead is just stuck due to salt corrosion and years of use. I put her on the hoist again and still no movement.. I believe the 2 snapped bolts are greatly affecting this as they are basically 6-7 inch studs stuck in place but what choice do I have now... im going to wrap a strap around the bottom of the mid section and slip a bar under my engine hoist legs with the bar through the straps so that the mid section is pulled down ward while I lift up on the powerhead,,going to be a sketchy morning but idk what other options I have as I looked up on marine engine website that the exhaust adapters are obsolete other wise I would hack the thing off

 

[racerone]

No new ones available.-----But plenty of good freshwater used ones around !!

 

[muddyfishin]

yea I suppose ebay might have some available, didn't even think of that for some reason, haven't bought used parts in a while,, and this engine is going to be a fresh water only once im done with it lol

 

[Bosunsmate]

Just drill those studs up closer to the powerhead. I do mine horizontally in about an inch below the base so the base plate for the gasket is always flat. And the engine has always pulled off when ive done that (albeit with some lifting of it up but it still came apart no drama).
To tidy the engine up later, i just put filler in those holes as they dont do any main load work
So keep at it

 

[Bosunsmate]

ok so below the rubber mount like halfway up the length of the bolt?,, im just curious as the threads are up in the power head

This is where the issue is. It needs to be right up near the top. You can then lift off the powerhead and remove the bolts with a vice grips. Removing the rest of the bolt stuck in the adaptor can be done by banging down on them or drilling horizontallly in again. One bolt took three drills in to get it all out. But it does eventually work, main thing is to do the top ones and get your powerhead off first of course

 

[muddyfishin]

well, ive drilled across those bolts and believe they are drilled completely across, maybe they are hangin on by a thread on one side, but I cant tell and dont wanna lose anymre bits or keep chewing unnessacary holes in the adapter plate., ive got a hell of a lot of pressure on the engine and still no movement , soaked all studs in pb blaster using heat on the studs wwhile trying not to burn and rubber or wires, thi g is becoming a major headache , could it be easier just to disconnect the adapter plate from mid section and cut the adapter off from the powerhead?.. all this to do some pston rings. I dont know where to go from here besides destroying my adapter plate lol

 

[Bosunsmate]

Post some pictures of the area where you have drilled the holes

 

[muddyfishin]

 

[muddyfishin]

pretty much same thing on starboard side, definitely went through the bolt center and sides however there may be some material holding it together,, these are the bolts furthest back on the motor and when I hoist on the engine im not even seeing any separation towards the front of the powerhead,, the 2 studs up front and the one on the back have old salt build up which is what I believe is causing the headache under the powerhead, previous owner said it sat in his driveway for 2 years and when I had it running I discovered that base gasket had some leakage