Hello, I am new to outboards, just bought my first boat a few weeks ago. An 89 Stratos F/S w/Johnson 110HP V4 VRO. Need help to troubleshoot motor. Took it out several times without major problems. Being a newbie and all, the first time took it out I forgot to plug the drain plug on and flooded most of the boat. Will never forget that again! Most times it will take 2-3 attempts before the engine will start. I added fuel cleaner and sprayed carb cleaner to clean the carb. Now it starts up in 1-2 attempts. I got comfortable and felt that I can trust the engine since it runs just fine after that cleanup.
Friday evening went out a couple miles in the ca delta and ended up dead on the water. Engine was running fine that day however just before I got to my destination while slowing down, the eingine started to run foul. Sounds like sparks misfiring?? and then I could not go full speed anymore. It started bogging down. Tried putting in nuetral and reving it up to clear the engine but doesn't work. Put it in gear and tried to go forward again but no good. I felt something was wrong so kept engine running slowly for a couple minutes until reach my fishing spot. Then turned motor off. Ran around on the trolling motor for an hour or so and tried to start main engine but now motor would not start. Engine turns but will not start.
It keeps cranking but won't start. Tried many attempts, choked, nothing works. Checked s/plugs for spark and yes there is spark on all 4 wires. Took off s/plugs and cranked engine because maybe engine is flooded from all the start attempts. Cranked and fuel keeps spitting out from inside the s/plug holes from the bottom 2 cylinders. The top 2 cylinders are not spitting out fuel like the bottom 2. Had another set of s/plugs so tried changing out the s/plugs with the new set after letting engine sit for 5 minutes and still won't start. Checked fuel line, oil line, pumped all to make sure they are tight. Engine cranks but still won't start. Gave up and called a friend to tow me back 1:00AM !!! What a friend, thanks.
Next day, opended up engine cover and I see alot of new fuel/oil around the area under where the VRO unit is and round the top of the lower unit. What could be the problem? Any help is appreciated. First thing I am going to do is compression test all cylinders. What else should I check? Thanks for reading all this.
Friday evening went out a couple miles in the ca delta and ended up dead on the water. Engine was running fine that day however just before I got to my destination while slowing down, the eingine started to run foul. Sounds like sparks misfiring?? and then I could not go full speed anymore. It started bogging down. Tried putting in nuetral and reving it up to clear the engine but doesn't work. Put it in gear and tried to go forward again but no good. I felt something was wrong so kept engine running slowly for a couple minutes until reach my fishing spot. Then turned motor off. Ran around on the trolling motor for an hour or so and tried to start main engine but now motor would not start. Engine turns but will not start.
It keeps cranking but won't start. Tried many attempts, choked, nothing works. Checked s/plugs for spark and yes there is spark on all 4 wires. Took off s/plugs and cranked engine because maybe engine is flooded from all the start attempts. Cranked and fuel keeps spitting out from inside the s/plug holes from the bottom 2 cylinders. The top 2 cylinders are not spitting out fuel like the bottom 2. Had another set of s/plugs so tried changing out the s/plugs with the new set after letting engine sit for 5 minutes and still won't start. Checked fuel line, oil line, pumped all to make sure they are tight. Engine cranks but still won't start. Gave up and called a friend to tow me back 1:00AM !!! What a friend, thanks.
Next day, opended up engine cover and I see alot of new fuel/oil around the area under where the VRO unit is and round the top of the lower unit. What could be the problem? Any help is appreciated. First thing I am going to do is compression test all cylinders. What else should I check? Thanks for reading all this.
