Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

I have a 115hp Johnson 4 cyl 2 stroke engine. It will start and idle in
the driveway but not in the water?

I recently acquired Neptune 1800 with a '94 115hp Johnson (J115TLERC),
and I have had a lot of fun playing with it. Obviously I'm no pro, but
I'm not too bad with mechanics. I have taken the boat out on the water
about 8 times, and always had to struggle to get it started. Usually
once I recharged the battery and fooled around with the gas lines
(swapped out the primer bulb, new hose clamps, replaced the filters,
replaced sparkplugs, played with the choke) it started up and ran fine.
It's been a few months since I had the time to work with it, and now I
can't get it to run reliably.

The engine usually has to be started in the driveway and let idle for
10-15 mins to clear it out and get it running consistently. I've found
if I put it in neutral and leave the throttle forward slightly to give
it a little gas before I start it up, it runs quite well. It will idle
in the driveway indefinitely.

When I put the boat in the water, the engine would start with the extra
gas, but if i eased up on the throttle, it would die at 1000 RPMs (just
a bit from idling) and wont start without the gas.

What can i do? I suspect the fuel line is responsible for it being such
a struggle to get it to start on dry land but I imagine theres another
problem thats keeping it from starting in the water. I took it into the
shop in November to have them do a small amount of maintenance. They
cleaned the carbs, tested the pressure & sparks and adjusted the
linkage. Compression and spark was listed as 'Okay'.

Now, the engine will start if I am giving it gas, even in the water. We
had it running at 1000rpms for 10 minutes or so at times before we'd
slowly try to drop it into neutral, but it would die when the rpms went
below 1000.

Anyone have any ideas?

Also, how much money am I looking at if I were to take it into a
service shop?

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

I'd look at things like plugs, fuel filter, engine timing, is the fuel
bulb mounted in line in the right direction, thermostat, are all
cylinders firing, before I brought it in.

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

I would suggest running the motor in the driveway in a 55 gallon drum
on trash can. If you are running it with just the flush muffs it does
not create the same back pressure as it does running in the lake. I
would make sure all your idle and timing adjustment are made with the
correct back pressure.


Paul

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

OldReliable wrote:
I have a 115hp Johnson 4 cyl 2 stroke engine. It will start and idle in
the driveway but not in the water?

I recently acquired Neptune 1800 with a '94 115hp Johnson (J115TLERC),
and I have had a lot of fun playing with it. Obviously I'm no pro, but
I'm not too bad with mechanics. I have taken the boat out on the water
about 8 times, and always had to struggle to get it started. Usually
once I recharged the battery and fooled around with the gas lines
(swapped out the primer bulb, new hose clamps, replaced the filters,
replaced sparkplugs, played with the choke) it started up and ran fine.
It's been a few months since I had the time to work with it, and now I
can't get it to run reliably.

The engine usually has to be started in the driveway and let idle for
10-15 mins to clear it out and get it running consistently. I've found
if I put it in neutral and leave the throttle forward slightly to give
it a little gas before I start it up, it runs quite well. It will idle
in the driveway indefinitely.

When I put the boat in the water, the engine would start with the extra
gas, but if i eased up on the throttle, it would die at 1000 RPMs (just
a bit from idling) and wont start without the gas.

What can i do? I suspect the fuel line is responsible for it being such
a struggle to get it to start on dry land but I imagine theres another
problem thats keeping it from starting in the water. I took it into the
shop in November to have them do a small amount of maintenance. They
cleaned the carbs, tested the pressure & sparks and adjusted the
linkage. Compression and spark was listed as 'Okay'.

Now, the engine will start if I am giving it gas, even in the water. We
had it running at 1000rpms for 10 minutes or so at times before we'd
slowly try to drop it into neutral, but it would die when the rpms went
below 1000.

Anyone have any ideas?

Also, how much money am I looking at if I were to take it into a
service shop?

Did they do a link and sync?

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

They did do a link and sync, and while they don't have the exact
compression numbers the guy said that they were good for my engine, so
thats not likely to be a problem.

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

So you suggest I should run it in gear in the trash can full of water?
Will the prop create too much water movement and shred the can if it's
given too much throttle?

What kinds of adjustments to you recommend I make once I get the
specific numbers?

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

"OldReliable" wrote in message
ups.com...
They did do a link and sync, and while they don't have the exact
compression numbers the guy said that they were good for my engine, so
thats not likely to be a problem.


I would look at carbs. If they did that much work, should be some
warrantee.

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

I checked them earlier, they were real clean. The shop only had an hour
to work on my boat because I'm a very poor young professional.

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

OldReliable wrote:
I checked them earlier, they were real clean. The shop only had an hour
to work on my boat because I'm a very poor young professional.

My '74 135hp Evinrude sometimes stalls when put into gear if you don't
give in ANY throttle at all, and always has. I've done a link and sync,
rebuilt the carbs, etc, etc. I have just learned that it is the nature
of the beast. I turned the idle up just a tiny bit, and it's helped.

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

I am only suggesting adjusting the idle and timing at idle. Not to do a
full throttle run. If you run full throttle you could blow all the
water out of the can.


Paul

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

"OldReliable" wrote in message
oups.com...
I checked them earlier, they were real clean. The shop only had an hour
to work on my boat because I'm a very poor young professional.


If they only had an hour, they did not remove and rebuild them. I would get
a book and look at doing it myself.

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

wrote in message
ups.com...

OldReliable wrote:
I checked them earlier, they were real clean. The shop only had an hour
to work on my boat because I'm a very poor young professional.

My '74 135hp Evinrude sometimes stalls when put into gear if you don't
give in ANY throttle at all, and always has. I've done a link and sync,
rebuilt the carbs, etc, etc. I have just learned that it is the nature
of the beast. I turned the idle up just a tiny bit, and it's helped.

It's a touchy engine and needs a richer mixture if the thermostat is bad
which is almost always the case. They last about one season in salt water.

My fix is to do without the thermostat and bend the floats slightly to make
the mixture richer. Now the only time it stalls is when it's very hot,
after pulling a skier for 15 min.

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

Jeff Rigby wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

OldReliable wrote:
I checked them earlier, they were real clean. The shop only had an hour
to work on my boat because I'm a very poor young professional.

My '74 135hp Evinrude sometimes stalls when put into gear if you don't
give in ANY throttle at all, and always has. I've done a link and sync,
rebuilt the carbs, etc, etc. I have just learned that it is the nature
of the beast. I turned the idle up just a tiny bit, and it's helped.

It's a touchy engine and needs a richer mixture if the thermostat is bad
which is almost always the case. They last about one season in salt water.

My fix is to do without the thermostat and bend the floats slightly to make
the mixture richer. Now the only time it stalls is when it's very hot,
after pulling a skier for 15 min.

Interesting. I don't, however see how bending the floats in the carb
makes it run richer. The carb will still only pull a given amount of
fuel from bowl unless the jetting is changed, correct?

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

How complex is cleaning and rebuilding a carborator? I can handle a few
screws and what not, but if it's something thats easy to foul up, I
might do better trusting a professional. Also, how much should I expect
it to cost? My mechanic charges $77 an hour here but is highly
recommended. Whats the going rate in the south east (north carolina)?

Repair question: boat idles in driveway but not in water.
 

On 18 Jan 2006 14:12:34 -0800, "OldReliable" wrote:

How complex is cleaning and rebuilding a carborator? I can handle a few
screws and what not, but if it's something thats easy to foul up, I
might do better trusting a professional. Also, how much should I expect
it to cost? My mechanic charges $77 an hour here but is highly
recommended. Whats the going rate in the south east (north carolina)?

With good directions and specifications, I'd give it a shot.

Here is some info on cleaning specific motorcycle carbs, but many of the
tips are worthwhile for *any* carb.

http://users.rcn.com/kochc/moto/carb/carb.html

Compressed air is a *key* ingredient!
--
John H

******Have a spectacular day!******