55hp Johnson: No water from telltale holes.

[Calglass19]

Hi all.

just got a '69 Starcraft Jupiter, '69 Johnson 55 (Mod: 55ESL69A) and a '76 Johnson 6 (6RL76A) hanging on the back. The 6 runs like a champ, the 55 needs new fuel and new plugs. (It misses here and there.)

I was testing things out with my muffs, and the 55 wasn't showing water from the telltale. So I took the bottom end out to change the impeller. It was like brand new. New housing and all, no scratches anywhere. So I put it back in and searched the forums. Someone mentioned a thermostat, so I put a new one in. This time I ran the engine in a 55gal drum instead of muffs. (Someone said some motors. Won't pull water on muffs. Still no water from the telltale holes.

While it was running I had my eye on the HOT light, it stayed out. The head and block warmed up some, but never really got hot to touch.

Is this correct?
Will the telltale on this engine only spit when it gets hot enough to open the thermostat?
Any other thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Daviet]

Re: 55hp Johnson: No water from telltale holes.

Your engine doesn't have a tell-tale from the factory, I think you are talking about the exhaust ports below the power head. You normally only get spits of water out of them. If the power head did not get hot enought that you cannot hold your hand on it you are ok.
You can install a tell-tell, do a search there are several posts on how to do it.

 

[Calglass19]

Re: 55hp Johnson: No water from telltale holes.

Thanks for the info, it never got hot. I could have held my cheek on the cylinder head if I wanted to.

I'm leaving for fishing in 2 weeks and was starting to worry. This boat has been sitting covered in a garage for nearly 20 years. I have to get it ready to go and chase all the gremlins out before I leave.

Oh, BTW, the odd punctuation and weird spelling in my first post are the result of posting that thread from my Blackberry. The text is microscopic on those screens and that makes proof-reading nearly impossible.

Thanks again.