I had one that ran perfect up to about 2000 rpm's. Would not plane out. Multiple people looked at it. Ended up being exhaust had carbon buildup and only had a pencil size hole open. Pulled head and cleaned and run perfect. Only best gas and oil had been run through it. Previous owner had trolled ALOT.
New boat...Final update!!!
- Thread starter megalomaniac
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megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
EXCELLENT thought!!!! Will check that this week! Thank you!
I would be surprised if compression is your issue, but I bought a boat with a 50 hp mercury on it years ago. The seller hooked up a water hose and showed me how good it cranked, idled, and revved up. First time I took it out I learned that "under a load" was completely different. You guessed it. Low compression. I got taken by a scheister.
I also had a 2002 Johnson 115 that started doing something similar to yours. It would get to 2500 rpm and stay there forever pushing water and not plane out. Ended up being the cdi (brain box). It was a 2 stroke, but I'm just mentioning it because the symptom is similar.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Been reading about TON of folks troubleshooting same problem with same or similar outboards... motor fires right up, idles perfectly, revs up in neutral, but RPMs limited under a load. I have a sneaky suspicion that the motor is in 'limp' mode or 'failsafe' mode. After seeing the debris in the cooling channels in the head and thermostat pocket, I'm thinking I had reduced water flow in the head causing temps to run a little high... Not so high to trigger the alarm and shut the motor off completely, but enough to keep it in failsafe mode to prevent complete overheating. I REALLY think its going to run perfectly once we put the carbs back together and reinstall... not from the carb refreshing, but from cleaning the snot outta the water jacket.
Regardless, have a compression tester coming in tomorrow and after putting it back together, I will check fuel pump, check spark/ compression on each cylinder, then run it in a bucket using my buddies portable gas tank, fuel line, primer bulb, and fuel connection to motor. Then will run on the lake using the accessory tank and line to see if I get full RPMs. If so, I will then switch back to my internal tank and lines and run it with those just to be sure there isn't a collapsed or restricted fuel line in the boat itself.
If it won't run wide open, then I may have to take it to a honda mechanic on the coast to check the computer brain.
I called the prior owner just to get some more information from him which might help troubleshoot. We had seen where 1 carb had been pulled at some point (had a different gasket than the other 2, so knew at one point they had been worked on).
Super nice/ helpful. Apparantely 3 or 4 years before it sat, he went way back into the marshes and sucked up a bunch of mud/ grass into the lower unit. On the way back from that trip, motor went into failsafe mode and would not plane. He took it to a mechanic who naturally thought it was the carbs. The mechanic told the prior owner that he cleaned the carbs and then ran fine. I suspect the mechanic just pulled the top carb, found it clean, and didn't disassemble the other 2 carbs. Probably just flushed the cooling system and then motor ran fine.
Regardless, prior owner said motor ran just fine for a year or two, then he let it sit for about 6 to 9 months. When he went to take it back out, motor fired up, idled, but zero response to throttle in neutral (the rusted/ seized throttle cable I fixed a few weeks ago). He never got that addressed, and then the boat sat for another 1.5 years until he sold it to me.
Best part... he gave me his best fishing honey holes on the east side of the MS coast! Super nice of him to do that!
Regardless, have a compression tester coming in tomorrow and after putting it back together, I will check fuel pump, check spark/ compression on each cylinder, then run it in a bucket using my buddies portable gas tank, fuel line, primer bulb, and fuel connection to motor. Then will run on the lake using the accessory tank and line to see if I get full RPMs. If so, I will then switch back to my internal tank and lines and run it with those just to be sure there isn't a collapsed or restricted fuel line in the boat itself.
If it won't run wide open, then I may have to take it to a honda mechanic on the coast to check the computer brain.
I called the prior owner just to get some more information from him which might help troubleshoot. We had seen where 1 carb had been pulled at some point (had a different gasket than the other 2, so knew at one point they had been worked on).
Super nice/ helpful. Apparantely 3 or 4 years before it sat, he went way back into the marshes and sucked up a bunch of mud/ grass into the lower unit. On the way back from that trip, motor went into failsafe mode and would not plane. He took it to a mechanic who naturally thought it was the carbs. The mechanic told the prior owner that he cleaned the carbs and then ran fine. I suspect the mechanic just pulled the top carb, found it clean, and didn't disassemble the other 2 carbs. Probably just flushed the cooling system and then motor ran fine.
Regardless, prior owner said motor ran just fine for a year or two, then he let it sit for about 6 to 9 months. When he went to take it back out, motor fired up, idled, but zero response to throttle in neutral (the rusted/ seized throttle cable I fixed a few weeks ago). He never got that addressed, and then the boat sat for another 1.5 years until he sold it to me.
Best part... he gave me his best fishing honey holes on the east side of the MS coast! Super nice of him to do that!
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Got the trolling motor serviced yesterday with all new seals and O rings. The little stainless pin that goes through the shaft to engage the prop was completely seized and both ends fell off. Soaked it in penetrating oil for a while and used a punch to try to bang it out, but no go. I didn't have any carbide bits, so it took me about 10 min to drill through the pin with one of my stainless bits. Once I did that, I was finally able to get the rest out with a punch and replace with a new one. Im thinking it's possible the old corroded seals may have provided some resistance to the shaft spinning, as the prop now spins MUCH more freely than before. Hopefully it gets me a little more speed on the water. Prior owner can't recall how fast the trolling motor would pull the boat before, but he did mention that trolling speeds were much higher when motor was trimmed up mostly out of the water. We will see...
You probably already know, but it's wise to keep a couple of these on the boat. If one shears off while fishing it will save the day. My buddy came over to fish at the house one day and used my pond boat and 30 pound thrust Minn Kota. He was a couple hundred yards away from my backyard and hit a laydown with the prop and sheared the pin. I looked out and saw him swimming behind the boat pushing it back to my yard.
Growing up Dad and I spent a lot of time in Bangs Bayou and Bangs lake. Don't know how it is now but back in the 70s we caught a lot of fish in there.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Never fished out of Bayou Cumbest, but some of his hot spots are in that area! Will be nice to hit the east side of the coast if/when they open the Bonne Carrie spillway and destroy the fishing on the west side.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Carb gaskets and jet tubes came in... we reassembled the carbs and then reinstalled the assembly. Checked compression on each cylinder... 115psi equally between all 3 cylinders on a cold motor, so compression is fine. Tested the fuel pump... works perfectly. Fired the motor up in the tub of water... purrs perfectly on idle ( didn't even need to adjust the needle jet) and screams up to the Rev limiter under throttle in neutral. Ran it around 1600 rpm for a while, then went back and forth from idle to around 5000rpm... VERY responsive, no hesitation!
Hopefully optimistic for tomorrow as i test it in gear in the local lake. Don't want to get the cart in front of the horse, but I may be fishing Saturday!
Hopefully optimistic for tomorrow as i test it in gear in the local lake. Don't want to get the cart in front of the horse, but I may be fishing Saturday!
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Took the skiff to a 10ac small lake. She is running perfectly! Jumps right up on plane, no hesitation in throttle acceleration. Running a tad rich when in idle, so will have to adjust the idle jets a tad, but overall I'm very comfortable taking her to the marshes when weather cooperated! Hit 27mph, but didn't have room on the small lake to fully tweak the motor tilt and trim tabs for optimum speed before running out of room to run.
Been a fun project, and glad there were no major issues along the way!!!
Been a fun project, and glad there were no major issues along the way!!!
How did the trolling motor run?
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
2mph top speed... super quiet. For some reason spot lock is working (had 10mph variable cross wind and held boat perfectly, so hopefully I won't have to spend $200 on a new head unit). A little disappointed with top speed.
I won't know if that will be adequate until I actually fish a crazy hard rising or falling tide. Should be fine for 80% of the time. Can't justify spending $1500 on a new trolling motor that may or may not improve top speed.
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megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Paid $5000 for boat, motor, trailer.
Another $1150 for labor and parts we couldn't do ourselves
Another $500 or so for parts, fluids, grease, etc that we did ourselves.
So... about $6650 into the whole rig... which is worth around $15k or so in current condition. Extremely pleased overall!
(Of course this doesn't count about 40 hours total labor... which would be $4000 at today's rates
)
Another $1150 for labor and parts we couldn't do ourselves
Another $500 or so for parts, fluids, grease, etc that we did ourselves.
So... about $6650 into the whole rig... which is worth around $15k or so in current condition. Extremely pleased overall!
(Of course this doesn't count about 40 hours total labor... which would be $4000 at today's rates
)Awesome job on your refurb! Hope it brings you and your son a lot of pleasure!
Cool! I can't wait to read your first report!
bjohnson
Well-Known Member
Been keeping up with this thread and now I want to go rescue a boat lol
