1996 Johnson 50hp - Engine failure

[karl.d]

Today I went fishing out of Port Sheldon and had some engine troubles. Started out fine, went out through Pigeon Lake and through the pier heads, no problems so far. While we were heading out at about top speed in 40 FOW, it felt like the motor lost power for a split second. Then it happened again about 5-10 seconds later, so we slowed down. After another 5-10 seconds the engine quit. Didn't choke anything at first, so as to not flood, but it would not start. Then when I tried the choke, it sounded like it almost wanted to start but wouldn't commit.

So I took the cover off and made sure nothing obvious was loose, and after that it started up fine. I figured it was a loose spark plug wire so we started heading out to deeper water and the same thing happened again less than a minute later. A couple of times I got it to start for 3 or 4 seconds, but it would always quit again. At least we had these troubles on a calm and sunny day. Had to get a tow into the dock.

Hooked it up to the hose in the driveway at home and it started up fine... Spark plugs are clean and the water filter was replaced a few weeks ago. It is a 1996 Johnson 50hp, oil injected.. Oil and gas were full.. Is there anything I've left out?

Does anyone have any ideas what my problem might be? Thanks..

[Mister ED]

Sorry to hear that Karl ... as you know you missed a very nice dayout there ... on the other hand, as you stated, at least you had the troubles in better than decent weather.

I'm battling a similar issue on my Yamaha, but a couple things to check first:
Was the primer bulb collapsed? Soft? If you pumped it did the issue go away? The fuel system could possibly be getting air locked. Do you have another tank, hose and conector that you can try it with? This would rule out any issues with your tank and lines going to the motor.

Fuel pump (or lines between connector and pump) would be my next thought.

I suppose the the float could be sticking closed as well (assuming it is a single carb).

That is where I would look first, and I'm sure more experienced wrenches will chime in with more ideas.

[Beave]

I've had issues like that twice in the past. Both ended up being fuel delivery problems.

Once I had a bad y-valve that wasn't sealing when flipped to my kicker. The result was a loss of vacuum on the fuel line. The other time some sort of a bug managed to get up into my carb and make a cocoon down in the intake.

I'm going to guess you don't have a bug in your carb. However, your problem does sound like a fuel issue. Is your fuel filter clogged with dirt? Sounds like you already checked the water filter. Did you get all the hoses reattached tightly? You may have a gunked up jet on the carb or something. If you've verified you have spark, I'd look at the carb next.

Does it run well at idle or

[TONGA]

check out your fuel system first if your boat has a built in tank don't overlook the anti siphon valve.
If the fuel system checks out and this turns out to be an ignition problem the bad news is that things like switch boxes and coils have a bad habit of fixing themselves when they get cold. so you have to be ready to troubleshoot when she acts up.
This is when being able to run her long enough in the driveway for the problem to show itself is a real plus(if you are running her on muffs keep a good eye on them as they often slowly work their way off)

[karl.d]

They oil and gas bulbs were firm when I was having the problems out on the water... I unplugged the gas connection from the motor and sprayed out a little, so there was fuel getting that far at least. I was wondering about some sort of fuel blockage inside the motor..

[shorty27]

Its sounds like the exact thing that happened to me this spring. I took the fuel filter off, it had picked up some water some how. Then added some fresh fuel and ran like a champ.

[outdoorsman69]

Sounds like a power pak issue. Easy fix but the pak may run ya $100. +

[Sportfishermans SVC]

Got a few different possibilities. I had the same problem on a yamaha I was running just this morning, loose bolt on the coil was causing a grounding problem on one cylinder. Not likely that you will find something like that but that is just an example.

You could have a coil or powerpack going bad but I would be prone to lead towards fuel. You may have a small amount of water or debris in the carbs. When this happens you will often find that you run great on a flushette but when you get it to the lake it dies right out. I was servicing a little 8 hp chrysler that had this exact issue recently. I would run it in a test tank and it was fine but on the water it wouldnt run at all. I dont know if you have ever had the carbs serviced but if not keep in mind that you have had 10 years of running to get debris in there.

Lastly, check your connections/hoses for cracks or leaks and fuel filter.

GOOD LUCK!

[karl.d]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys..

We had some voltage issues this spring, and finally figured out our battery was low on water. Ran a number of trips this way... Could this have triggered my current problems if it is a power pack or coil?

[karl.d]

Took it into the shop on Tuesday... Heard back today, the fuel system checked out fine, and they ordered a new power pack. $319 for the part..

[Mister ED]

Good to hear that you will have your motor running again Karl. I actually think that is the issue with my Yamaha also:sad: (I have ruled out most everything else). I have been holding off on taking it in, as it is not a cheap part ... as you found out. The CDI for mine runs $450:rant: .

[double trouble]

sometimes you can find them through ebay. the companies parting motors may not list one directly ,but if you call them ,they may have one lying arround . sometimes new old stock that they may be willing to part with.or on old one from a parts motor.i buy my j-e parts from johnsons marina out of minnesota.
they have wonderful customer service and a 25 percent discount from list prices and no mi. tax.they have worked on j-e motors for 40+ years and are good at diagnosis over the phone.they saved me a bundle on coils and power packs over the last 10 years.

[slammer00]

This is werid. We have the same problem from the sounds of it as karl.dykema had. We fished saturday morning and it ran out find...we went to pick up and run and the engine wouldnt fire up. So we had to run in on our 9.9 kicker. Our main engine that is acting up is a 1996 150hp Johnson. So today we changed all the plugs and went thru some things and got it to fire up but it wouldnt stay running for long and when it did fire up we knew something didnt sound rite and we think its probably the coils. I am taking it in tomorrow and hopefully can get it fixed before our walleye tourny on saturday.

[double trouble]

here is a link to your power pack for $85.99. thats a pretty good markup at $319.00

http://www.boatpartsexpress.com/shopexd.asp?id=2090

[karl.d]

Hm... Thanks for the link. I will check it out.

here is a link to your power pack for $85.99. thats a pretty good markup at $319.00

http://www.boatpartsexpress.com/shopexd.asp?id=2090

[TONGA]

$319 for that little 50 :yikes:

[TONGA]

Wait a minute. do you mean $319 for just the switch-box? or do you mean $319 for trouble shooting/parts/and labor?
One other thing that part for $85 is probably after market like sierra and the boat shop is probably using the real thing.