Sport Today

I am planning to buy a friend's Smoker Craft 14ft aluminum johnboat with a
Johnson Super Sea-Horse 35 hp outboard with a jet drive. My problem is that
I have not worked on an outboard before. I am mechanically inclined though.
The engine has not been run for about four or five years. Where should I
start? He also stated that a pin had fallen out on the timeing mechanisim
and allowed the timeing to become incorrectly adjusted. How do you set the
timeing on these? He said that to accelerate the boat adjusts the timing.
Does this sound correct? Anthing that I should check with the jet drive?
Where can I find a manual at a good price and also parts if I need them? I
am completely lost.
Thanks in advance,
Clueless

Got to west marine they have the book for you, as for as the timing pin is
concerned, if its anything like the Johnson v4 then you will have no
problems with it. Just get a new pin (actually retainer for the pin) for
abuot 2 bucks.
Good luck

    You don't seem to be getting much response so I'll have ago but Joe the
OMC tech will be better; certainly if he comes along (he usually does;-))
saying anything different go with him, further that's an oldish motor & I
don't have a manual around on it, also we never had that jet drive model so
I'll just give what they say about the old 35HP engine's  instructions for the
oldest I have (1980?), if something doesn't look as described then it's an OMC
model thing & you're back on your own; very sorry.
(i)    Take the cover off & watch as you or if remote someone works the
throttle back & forth for you (engine off of course) you'll see that as the
throttle is moved from idle to wide open throttle (WOT), through a series of
levers etc  the main thing that happens is the big plate up under the flywheel
moves around (advancing the spark timing), after some movement, it runs into a
little roller that then starts to open the carbs throttle plates.

(ii)    Obviously if a pin of whatever is missing then that timing plate under
the flywheel won't move or the roller is missing or one of the connecting
linkages is adrift, so you need to physically fix whatever that problem is
first then;

(iii)    you will need to reset the synchronisation which is the point at
which the throttle plates just start to move as the throttle is advanced by;

(iv)    From idle slowly advance the throttle till the timing plate ramp just
touches the little roller then very gently open the throttle a tiny bit more
till you can see the throttle plates just start to move (in other words take
the slap out of the system) then

(v)    Stop; the roller should be centered between the two marks on the timing
plate, if not you need to

(vi)    adjust the relationship between the carbs throttle plates & the timing
plate, this is done by loosening the clamp down at the end of the little
roller's linkage where it marries into the carbs spindle linkages (2 carbs yes
so this one clamp is the next out from the carbs actuator lever??) A doddle
yes?

    A general comment is OK???  if it hasn't been run for a long time & wasn't
fogged (flooded with thin oil) when stored it might suffer rust damage to the
internals mainly the needle bearings. If so not much you can do about it,
other than make sure you mix plenty of TCW3 in the fuel, just be aware it
might only be a short life engine.

    Good luck

K

Hello Clueless,

I have almost the identical rig.

I have a 14' Lowe Jon boat with an Evinrude 28hp 2 stroke outboard with a
jet pump. Mine was all new last year.

You need to get the serial number off your motor and determine the year.
Then get a good manual from a boat dealer or marine store?

I bought the Clymer "Evinrude/Johnson Outboard Shop Manual" 2-40hp,
1973-1990  (#B732) by Intertec Publishing for ~$30US.

That 2 cylinder motor is very light (~120#) and has come in many HP
configurations over the years. 20, 25, 28, 30 and 35hp (maybe more?)

The best thing you can do is what I did first. Find a real good OMC
(Johnson/Evinrude) mechanic that wants to work on you motor.

You might be able to do it all your self if you have time.

That 35hp motor will be ~24hp at the jet pump (-30% power) if it is in
perfect condition, tuned properly and the pump is shimmed to the right
tolerances. (0.006"?)

The jet pickup needs to be at the exact right height in relationship to the
bottom of the boat. Too deep slows the boat and too shallow causes
cavitation (the jet pump sucks air and motor over revs)

This boat will go great with one person and OK with two if they don't weigh
over 400# combined weight.

Don't add any more weight to that boat than you need or it will have trouble
getting up on plane. Less weight means more speed. More weight means less
speed.

If you don't like the performance with the jet pump, get a standard lower
unit with the propeller drive and it will go great with two people.

--
Bill Kiene
Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA, USA
www.kiene.com

Thanks for the help. I am still not sure what I should do to better my
chances of having the engine start and of not damaging it when I first try
to start it since it has been sitting. Also, K. Smith mentioned needle
bearing......can I just replace them before I start the engine and lessen
the chance of damaging the engine. Thanks agian.
Clueless

    Probably with the plugs out put some oil in there also a bit down the carb
throats with the throttle open then turn it over quite a few times, this will
give everything a good coating but might make it a tad hard for that initial
start, but well ........

    Put plugs in the leads, earth against something & make sure there's plenty
of spark when you crank it, put the plugs back in, prime full of fuel (the
squeeze bulb), ***& good luck ;-)

    The main bearings are ball bearings & the big ends are needle rollers, both
can get easily pitted with rust, they can be OK even if a bit pitted but others
aren't it's just ....... there's nothing you can do about it really, to replace
would mean complete disassembly & it's not worth that. So I wasn't being a
doomsdayer just letting you know it's a "possibility" that's all. Some start up
having been left yrs & yrs & go on for yrs & yrs, some don't; but hey it's OMC
that applies to their new motors straight out of the box;-)

K