I picked up a CD-20C 1963 Johnson 5.5 HP outboard. It is not seized and the inside looks pretty clean, with newish fuel lines and plug wires which feels pretty good to me for $50. Now on to the problems: It does not give any indication that it wants to start. Previous owner claims it ran for a few minutes last time he had it at a lake, before dying. Here are some observations and questions:
1) Gasket around thermostat cover was blown open. Fixed temporarily with some gasket material cut to shape.
2) Fuel in the transparent glass bowl was yellow, rather than the bluish my fuel turns when I add oil. Is the blue a universal color additive and was straight gas put in there?
3) I get some spark on the #2 lower cylinder, but none on the upper. Looking through the inspection port on the flywheel shows seriously cracked ignition coils, which should get replaced. But as long as I'm getting spark on #2 I should get a t least a cough, shouldn't I?
4) Compression test using my cheap tool yields 30 psi on both cylinders. I read somewhere that these twin low readings imply a head gasket leak so I am taking the head off for inspection.
4a) How much force should it take to remove the cylinder head once all bolts have been removed? I'm 99% certain this motor has always been in fresh water. After removing 10 bolts and trying some light hammering and prying it won't come off. How much force should I expect this to take? Am I missing a fastener somewhere?
5) Impeller is obviously pretty high on my list to check and change. For this motor this requires powerhead removal, so I am waiting on doing that until I at least get a cough out of the motor.
6) There is definitely fuel in the carburetor bowl.
1) Gasket around thermostat cover was blown open. Fixed temporarily with some gasket material cut to shape.
2) Fuel in the transparent glass bowl was yellow, rather than the bluish my fuel turns when I add oil. Is the blue a universal color additive and was straight gas put in there?
3) I get some spark on the #2 lower cylinder, but none on the upper. Looking through the inspection port on the flywheel shows seriously cracked ignition coils, which should get replaced. But as long as I'm getting spark on #2 I should get a t least a cough, shouldn't I?
4) Compression test using my cheap tool yields 30 psi on both cylinders. I read somewhere that these twin low readings imply a head gasket leak so I am taking the head off for inspection.
4a) How much force should it take to remove the cylinder head once all bolts have been removed? I'm 99% certain this motor has always been in fresh water. After removing 10 bolts and trying some light hammering and prying it won't come off. How much force should I expect this to take? Am I missing a fastener somewhere?
5) Impeller is obviously pretty high on my list to check and change. For this motor this requires powerhead removal, so I am waiting on doing that until I at least get a cough out of the motor.
6) There is definitely fuel in the carburetor bowl.
