1979 Johnson 100HP Javlin Outboard Starting Help needed!! (pardon the
length - wanted to get all the details in about my experience working
this out).

Fellow Johnson (and or Evinrude) 1979 Javlin 100hp Outboard owners and
OB mechanics,

I just bought a extremely nice 1979 Crestliner 15' Open bow boat, motor
and trailer. When I bought the boat, it was in the water, off the
owners dock, all covered up. Looking at the boat, I did all the
preliminary checks I could and the interior was well kept and clean. I
came in almost unannouced, I let the owner know I would be by sometime
that evening and got there early like 5:30pm right after work. I
mention this so that it would eliminate my thoughts that the owner may
"pre start" the motor in a warmed up condition when asked to "hear the
motor running" before the purchase.

Well the motor was cold, I asked the owner to start the motor making
sure that it did run ok. Here's how he started it and it seemed normal
at the time.

1) pumped bulb to the motor insuring good gas flow pressure.

2) He mentions "I may have got the mix alittle to rich (too much oil)"
and if you decide you like the boat to mix it a bit "lean" to help with
the starting of the motor.

3) turns the ingnition key "on"; and lifts the small (high idle) lever
next to the FNR Control Arm (w/power trim button).

4) the motor "fires" like once and stalls immediately (still cranking);
stops cranking; and retrys with the high idle lever about 1/2 way up
and this time the boat "fires" and he immediately forces the high idle
lever all the way up and the motor is now running fine at high idle -
not missing at all; no sputters; nice and clean. He lowers the idle to
normal and we continue with my Q&A session about the boat. I'm
convinced it runs good as he stated it did - although it was just a bit
rough starting.

At this point, I'm thinking VIOLA the guys got a slightly bad mix and
it's just a bit hard starting. The owner states that these motors
"foul" plugs all the time and you might have to change the plugs. That
did not make sense to me unless this he's been overdoing the oil every
time in the 50:1 mix ratio.


DAY1-I buy the boat and take it out the first time. I pump the bulb. I
turn the motor on, it fires once (like above), but this time it will
not fire again; running the battery down, trying all kinds of high idle
lever positions (up, medium, low). The old owner did mention "I had to
replace the battery; if that has low juice it won't run very well." So
I pack up and take the boat home and charge the battery for 24hrs.

DAY2-The battery is fully charged; I have Starting Fluid in hand as
well as a can of Marnine CARB Cleaner. I pump the bulb. I try the motor
and the idle leaver first - would not fire; I pop the top to the motor
and spray a shot of Starting Fluid in each carb (4) intakes; restart
and the motor runs fine (the high idle leaver working great controling
the low-high idle speed).

I enjoy a nice hour on the boat and felt I ran all his "RICH" gas out
of the tank (tank indicator was on E) and re-filled the tank with 5gal
PREIMIUM + the on the button 50:1 mix. I turned off the key, filled up,
and went to restart the "WARM" motor, it does the exact same thing,
fires once and will not re fire (still cranking). The high idle leaver
does nothing in getting the motor to run.

I pop the top and spay the starting fluid in the carbs and BAM the
motor fires up and stays running very smooth, not a miss, when I turn
the key on to restart. I enjoy the rest of the day on the boat, take it
in to the dock, turn of the key and restart it (to check to see if it
will restart) and it DID! It restarted without any problems - WOO HOO!
Must of got the mix right I was thinking and it's working good; restart
problems is gone for good!

DAY3-I take the boat out with the intent to work on the motor; clean
the carbs w/Marine Carb Cleaner (Merc Silver), and check the restart.
The battery again was charged for a good 6hrs prior (to make sure I had
a good bat). Going to start the motor the same behavior takes place, I
pump the bulb, turn key, fires once, and quits. High Idle leaver does
nothing. I get the starting fluid out and the motor starts up great!! I
take it out warm the motor, add 5gal US PREMIUM + OIL (perfect 50:1)
mix, this time I clean the carbs with the aerosol carb cleaner. Stall
the motor with a full can of carb cleaner; waited 15min (per the
instructions) and BAM the motor restarts on the 1st try. The boat
smokes for about a minute (carb cleaner) and then goes on to run
perfectly for the rest of day. So I take the boat in, turn it off and
try to restart, and it fails again (just like it did before).

What I have here is an intermittent starting problem and I can't seem
to shake. I popped the top again, forced on the "manual choke" and the
motor "fires" once gain. I turn off the choke, and cannot get the motor
to fire even with the high idle control leaver in various positions. It
seems this motor needs STARTING fluid always to start? but runs
EXCELLENT after that.

Could this be a spark plug pbrm - even though it runs great at low idle
(will not stall), med, and high speeds? The mix is right. Seems almost
like a low voltage condition at startup but need to veryify that or see
if any others here have experienced the same intermittent "hard
starting" motor behavior and what can be done to get the motor starting
the 1st time "every time."

Thanks!