I need expert help fixing my submerged 1977 Johnson V4 115hp please

[makeshifty]

My boat capsized last spring when a vicious storm hit the lake that I keep my boat on. The entire dock broke loose and while slamming in to the next Dock my boat sunk After 8 hours of pulling this 24' home made house boat back upright, I fogged the cylinders and filled the carbs with cleaner and let it all dry out. With little repair, new starter, solenoid, battery, rectifier and lots of cleaning, I managed to get the engine running strong. Then I rebuilt the rest of the boat and started using it last fall. After taking it out a several times and it working great, it randomly shut off. I cranked it over and it started then died again in a couple seconds. I checked for spark, and i had no spark on all 4 plugs.

A couple days ago I started to dive back into fixing it, in hopes of fishing this spring, but I cant seem to find the problem. I'm running out of test to preform. As far as i can tell, the rectifier and stator test good with an ohm meter, I've disconnected the black yellow wire from the power pack and cranked it, I've removed the red boot that connects the ignition switch and jumped the starter, replaced the power pack and still no spark. I pulled the fly wheel 2 days ago and cleaned the inside with break cleaner and wd 40 and I sanded the lil bit of gunky rusty stuff off that I found in it. I lightly sanded off the coils of the stator and greased them with vaseline. They looked a lil discolored but surprisingly clean and green. They do have 2 cracks with a dab of glue and 1 crack with no glue, but I've heard that doesn't effect the performance and the glue was factory. The sensor coils were pretty rusty so I cleaned and sanded them lightly, then coated them with vaseline as well. I tested the 4 sensor wires to ground. They all gave me the same reading, I'm not sure if there is a specific reading I should be looking for, but the consistency was enough for me to trust them.

After putting the engine back together, I cranked it over with no plugs in and had spark for a few seconds. I got excited and put all new plugs in, only to realize I once again have no spark on all 4 cylinders. After cleaning grounds and connections for a while I cranked the engine over and got spark which visually seemed weak, then stopped all together.

Today I checked for spark, had non and decided to re perform all the electrical diagnostics while getting no spark. with an ohm meter, the stator checks out correct, the rectifier is correct, and the sensor coils give me 4 identical readings....

Where do i go from here? Can fly wheels go bad? I'm at a total loss of ideas. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. I had a rough go of it this past year but I'm determined to get this old beast working right.

Thanks!

 

[Sixmark]

Re: I need expert help fixing my submerged 1977 Johnson V4 115hp please

Well there were different steps you should have taken after submerging it but it's too late for that now. Flywheels pickups can go bad, also have you bothered to check the controls as you mentioned the whole boat was submerged. You could very well have a bad ignition switch, kill switch.

 

[makeshifty]

Re: I need expert help fixing my submerged 1977 Johnson V4 115hp please

I read disconnecting the black yellow wire from the power pack rules out kill switch. Also I read that if I disconnect the red rubber boot that has the ignition switch wires and jump the starter with jumper cables, I should get spark. Is there a better way to test the kill switch and ignition switch? Also Is there a way to test the fly wheel pick ups? Thanks so much!

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: I need expert help fixing my submerged 1977 Johnson V4 115hp please

Unfortunately, an underwater engine besides getting it running as soon as possible which apparently you did, this is just to save the internal components and crankcase ie crankshaft, internal bearings, pistons, etc. Check and repair all terminals at the control box, replace the ignition switch, clean and grease whatever at the control box area. The battery terminals usually need work also.

Have the battery disconnected when doing these repairs.

Next step is to jump on the engine's electrical/electronic and fuel systems... gently blow out the fuel pump and dismantle and clean the carburetors even though fuel has been running thru them. Remove the flywheel and the timer base, clean and grease as needed. Dismantle and clean the electric starter. Test the rectifier if it exists and if faulty, replace it. Check and clean ever individual electrical terminal and repair as needed. Unplug the RED electrical plug, clean thoroughly. I always used either WD40 or CRC666 to spray down various portions of the engine and components, brush it down, then blow it off with compressed air. NOTE not to spray either solution on the starter armature commentator. All connections, rubber plug connectors, etc must be disconnected and cleaned. There's more but I'm sure you're aware of it.

THe flywheel pickups.... you can test them with a ohm meter. The specs will be in your manual.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: I need expert help fixing my submerged 1977 Johnson V4 115hp please

Joe, if water got into the stator thru the cracks can is short the coils? My neighbor owned an electric motor repair company. They used to run some kind of test with a special piece of test gear on armature and field coils which could tell if they would short under high amperage, but read fine with an ohmmeter.

One time my well pump was submerged under salt water for 8hrs. My neighbor disassembled it rinsed it with fresh water and baked in his oven at 200* for an hour to dry it out. It worked fine after that.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: I need expert help fixing my submerged 1977 Johnson V4 115hp please

Keep in mind that weak ignition components tend to fail once they heat up to normal operating temps. Run fine when cold, then quit after 15-20 minutes. There are votage output tests which will further validate the stator and the timer base. Easy to perform at normal cranking rpm's. In addition to the ohms tests. You will need a special "peak reading" voltmeter. You can find out further information from this helpful website: //www.cdielectronics.com/