Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

[hondarider188]

My Johnson seahorse 18hp is only running on one cylinder. It has compression, fuel, and ignition. but it still wont run. Model #FD-14/ Serial #2068096. It's never had any problems before until now but it has not been ran since 2004. and now only it has only half the horsepower.

 

[Monte1961]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

Are you sure its running on just one cylinder? And just how do you know? Post back and let us know.

 

[Monte1961]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

check spark on both plugs. sounds like points need cleaned and readjusted. Good luck.

 

[Monte1961]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

1960 18hp Johnson Evinrude Outboard Motor Model FD-14 It make our life's a lot easier to assist you in diagnosing your issue/s.

 

[1stgenbird]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

My "57 Evinrude 18 started doing that late last season. One coil was bad. Replaced it and runs fine now.

 

[hondarider188]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

to check if it was running on one cylinder i pulled off the top spark plug wire while it was running and it didnt change in performance at all. and i did switch the sparkplugs and it still ran off the bottom cylinder.

 

[lindy46]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

So when you pull the bottom wire with the motor running, does the motor immediately die?

 

[hondarider188]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

Yeah, if i pulled off the bottom plug it shut off. but with the top off it still ran

 

[lindy46]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

So you know the rear coil/points/wire/plug is good. Check the front coil for cracks, and see if the point set is clean and gapped properly.

 

[hondarider188]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

Yeah, last night I pulled off the flywheel and the rear coil/points/wire?/plug were all good. what i did is i switched the rear coil with the front and it still had spark on bottom(both coils work). Then i switched the condensore's and same thing it had spark on bottom but not top.(But one thing i noticed was that the top plug didnt have the spark it did the day before, so I'm wondering if the top never had spark and i was mistaken) and with everything working i am going to replace the plug wire and see if that works. I will also make sure all points are set and clean.

 

[Monte1961]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

Sounds like a plan! Post back and let us know!

 

[hondarider188]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

Turns out it wasnt the wire so next i will try and switch the contact points.

 

[lindy46]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

So if you replaced the wires, the only thing left is the points. Why not just spend the $25 and get a tune-up kit?

 

[hondarider188]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

Because i want to be sure thats what it is and not something in cylinder or something before I spend the money.

 

[Monte1961]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

My Johnson seahorse 18hp is only running on one cylinder. It has compression, fuel, and ignition. but it still wont run. Model #FD-14/ Serial #2068096. It's never had any problems before until now but it has not been ran since 2004. and now only it has only half the horsepower.

Well here according to your post, you stated that it has compression. Just for sh*t and giggles, What are your compression readings? Post back.

 

[hondarider188]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

Well here according to your post, you stated that it has compression. Just for sh*t and giggles, What are your compression readings? Post back.

I dont actually have a gauge but if i plug it with my thumb the top and bottom feel the same with the bottom running it should be right.

 

[Monte1961]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

I dont actually have a gauge but if i plug it with my thumb the top and bottom feel the same with the bottom running it should be right.

Ok thats not the correct way. Beg, barrow, buy, steel a gauge and test it the right way.

 

[nwcove]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

a very rough "baseline" compression test can be done without a guage. but not with your thumb! pull one plug, then slowly pull the starter cord, make note of how it feels when it comes up on compression, then replace that plug and remove the other, pull the cord slowly again and see if theres a big difference in the feel of compression. if theres a big difference from top to bottom, you will feel it! if the difference is relatively small , only a tester will tell the tale.

 

[hondarider188]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

a very rough "baseline" compression test can be done without a guage. but not with your thumb! pull one plug, then slowly pull the starter cord, make note of how it feels when it comes up on compression, then replace that plug and remove the other, pull the cord slowly again and see if theres a big difference in the feel of compression. if theres a big difference from top to bottom, you will feel it! if the difference is relatively small , only a tester will tell the tale.

I cant feel any difference in the compression as nwcove suggested,
But switching the contact points didnt work so I swithched plug wires, I did before replace the plug wire but it didnt work. anyway when i switched it i got spark on the top. so i put the wire i had tried before to replace it with and made sure i had a good solid connections and it worked to. But i am still not getting the strong spark and consitency i need to run good but its better than no spark at all So any help still would be great.

 

[nwcove]

Re: Johnson 18 only running on one cylinder?

do u have a multi tester? volts, ohms, etc? there is a couple of good articles you can find here, showing how to test coils, what #,s to look for etc. google how to test outboard coils. it can answer some of your questions