1999 johnson 200 ocean runner question

[evilgli]

ok, sorry but i will try to describe this as best as i can. i purchased this boat/engine in may of this year. engine started/idled fine and seemd to run fine on sea trial, topped out at 6200RPM. did compression test before buying and all cylinders were right at 100psi warm engine throttle wide open.. had ngk spark plugs in it.

after i purchased i installed NEW, champion recommended spark plugs, fuel filter in engine compartment, omc fuel primer bulb, racor water seperator filter, whole water pump kit, had 15X17 stainless OMC prop checked and redone. looking under cowling and you would say this engine has low hours, its very clean. all vacuum lines look great..VRO is still hooked up and operating as it should, only run XD30 OMC oil in engine.

now that this is out of the way, here is my concern.. engine starts and idles fine, a little cold natured but i have yet to see a OMC that isn't..after say 2 minutes it idles fine and will idle fine all day. i have had this engine in the water 6 times since buying, the last being this past sunday running 40 miles offshore of oregon inlet and trolling all day and running 40 miles back. well when pulling out of boat launch and no wake zone i go full throttle and when engine gets to around 2800RPM it seems like it boggs every so slightly and then clears up and runs all the way to 6200RPM no problem, back down to 4500RPM and cruise for a while no problem. run 40 miles out offshore between 4000 and 5000RPM and never a problem, had to vary engine speed due to sloppy conditions. get 40 miles out and start trolling which ended up around 1800 to 2000RPM and engine would surge slightly, almost like it's losing spark on a couple of cylinders just for a milli-second and then fine, (don't know if this is concern, just using example).. did this all day, if you go up to 2200RPM doesn't do concern.. about 7 hours later it's time to come home. go to full throttle and same thing seems to bog slightly around 2800 RPM and then is fine. ran about 5000 RPM most of the way back this time and had a shot of 6200RPM for say 10 to 15 minutes with no problems.

ok, so while i was trolling and it surged i tried pushing in on key to choke engine with no change from that, never tried messing with primer bulb, but i don't think it's fuel related, but i'm no expert. my question is, is this normal for this engine, (i also have a 1996 johnson 150 ocean runner, that doesn't do this at all)..i have heard of magnets coming loose from the flywheel, don't know if this is it? just wondering if some of you engine gurus have some input or seen this concern before..i will be using this engine alot offshore and want it to be right..thanks for any input

[THEFERMANATOR]

The bog after idling is pretty well normal on the big loopers, but from your description it sounds like you may need to do a link and sync and adjust the idle mixture slightly. The late 94+ engines have adjusteable idle circuits and can require adjustment from time to time as fuel changes.

[evilgli]

ok, sorry but i will try to describe this as best as i can. i purchased this boat/engine in may of this year. engine started/idled fine and seemd to run fine on sea trial, topped out at 6200RPM. did compression test before buying and all cylinders were right at 100psi warm engine throttle wide open.. had ngk spark plugs in it.

after i purchased i installed NEW, champion recommended spark plugs, fuel filter in engine compartment, omc fuel primer bulb, racor water seperator filter, whole water pump kit, had 15X17 stainless OMC prop checked and redone. looking under cowling and you would say this engine has low hours, its very clean. all vacuum lines look great..VRO is still hooked up and operating as it should, only run XD30 OMC oil in engine.

now that this is out of the way, here is my concern.. engine starts and idles fine, a little cold natured but i have yet to see a OMC that isn't..after say 2 minutes it idles fine and will idle fine all day. i have had this engine in the water 6 times since buying, the last being this past sunday running 40 miles offshore of oregon inlet and trolling all day and running 40 miles back. well when pulling out of boat launch and no wake zone i go full throttle and when engine gets to around 2800RPM it seems like it boggs every so slightly and then clears up and runs all the way to 6200RPM no problem, back down to 4500RPM and cruise for a while no problem. run 40 miles out offshore between 4000 and 5000RPM and never a problem, had to vary engine speed due to sloppy conditions. get 40 miles out and start trolling which ended up around 1800 to 2000RPM and engine would surge slightly, almost like it's losing spark on a couple of cylinders just for a milli-second and then fine, (don't know if this is concern, just using example).. did this all day, if you go up to 2200RPM doesn't do concern.. about 7 hours later it's time to come home. go to full throttle and same thing seems to bog slightly around 2800 RPM and then is fine. ran about 5000 RPM most of the way back this time and had a shot of 6200RPM for say 10 to 15 minutes with no problems.

ok, so while i was trolling and it surged i tried pushing in on key to choke engine with no change from that, never tried messing with primer bulb, but i don't think it's fuel related, but i'm no expert. my question is, is this normal for this engine, (i also have a 1996 johnson 150 ocean runner, that doesn't do this at all)..i have heard of magnets coming loose from the flywheel, don't know if this is it? just wondering if some of you engine gurus have some input or seen this concern before..i will be using this engine alot offshore and want it to be right..thanks for any input

forgot to say that it is has acted this way all 6 times in the water, nor just last time.

[evilgli]

The bog after idling is pretty well normal on the big loopers, but from your description it sounds like you may need to do a link and sync and adjust the idle mixture slightly. The late 94+ engines have adjusteable idle circuits and can require adjustment from time to time as fuel changes.

first, thank you for the response, can you help explain how to do the link and sync and what am i looking for when adjusting idle mixture? and where is the idle mixture adjustment, is it on each carb or just one?

i will also say it likes to blow out pretty good blue smoke for a couple of seconds once started, then goes away.. like after coming back in the 40 miles and tied up to boat launch, shut down engine, go get trailer and dunk it, start engine to drive boat on trailer and some blue smoke and then clears up, i would assume this is normal? again my 150 doesn't do this.. thanks again

[evilgli]

well. i'm about to take this engine to a shop to figure out what is going on with it... have not used it much since lat time i posted.. fuel tank was almost empty to i put 100 gallons of fresh fuel in it yesterday and 6 cans of seafoam.. ran the engine tonight on muffs for about 2 hours.. removed engine cover and what i would call (air filter box) so i could see in the carbs while running..well i would adjust throttle controls to run about 2500RPM (in neutral) and watch the engine surge up to 4000 RPM and then back down to 2500RPM, the whole time it sounded like it was loading up and occasionally i would see the port side middle carb have flames behind the butterfly....as stated before engine idles fine and revs and runs wot just fine..basically i'm trying to determine if this is a carb problem, or a ignition problem..don't have a manual and don't know which one to buy...use this boat offshore and want the engine right...i'm partly afraid to take to a shop because i have a feeling the first thing out of there mouth is going to be lets (rebuild the carbs)...great if this is the problem, but wasted money if not the problem and it seems that most shops think this is the cure for everything anymore..any help is much appreciated.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Flames behind the butterfly doesn't sound good, that sounds like a broken reed and some other issues. An extreme lean condition could cause it to let some flames up into the crankcase, but you shouldn't be able to see them through the butterfly. The issues you describe though in your posts sounds to me like a normal carbed 2 smoker running though. They all smoke some and load up and cough a bit, this is one of the big reasons why people get kicker motors for trolling. The big outboards just don't do well at low RPM's. I would say cleaning the carbs couldn't hurt, and get you a manual that walks you through setting the timing and linkage and see if that helps it.

[evilgli]

thanks for the reply ferm, think i'm going to pull the carbs and check out the reeds on the cylinder..makes sense to me that i may have a faulty reed because it runs perfect at the top end and no other cylinder is doing it, so i doubt it ignition related because it's only on 1 cylinder.

[Jetty Rocker]

I had a VRO pump that was over oiling that gave me similar symptoms. You may want to have the shop complete an oil pump output test. Since mine was over oiling I disconnected it and premix my gas instead of buying a new one that cost @$400.

[evilgli]

i want to thank you guys for your input into this matter..so..THANKS GUYS. the knowledge here is awesome and you are a great bunch of guys..

well with my work schedule, my HOA not allowing me to keep the boat at my house (i thank my wife everyday for that), and 2 kids i decided i don't have enough spare time to diagnose what is wrong with my engine..so it went off the to the local OMC guru today to get repaired..once i get informed what is going on with it..i will let you guys know.

again thanks for the help, Paul

[bradford]

Good luck, keep us posted with what the mechanic says.

[evilgli]

Well i just got the call from the OMC guys..compression checked out fine, igniton system checked out fine..engine was run in a test tank and found both thermostats stuck open causing engine to never come out of fast-start. and they also said that the sync and link was out. they replaced thermostats and properly setup sync and link and say the engine is running like it should now..they said they also put a test wheel on the engine and ran at WOT and said engine in also running fine up there as well..

so i will see how she runs when i get it back in the water, but i remember fast-start cutting out last time i had it in the water..but what do you guys think? they said with the engine not comming up to temp because of the thermostats, that the engine could run lean and that is where i was seeing the flame behind the butterfly..they also explained the the big loopers like to have temperature in them to run well..

[THEFERMANATOR]

Running too cold will make them run rich, not lean. And they don't like to run cold. The big OMC loopers are the most cold natured engine ever built I think. And the fast idle will kick out after about 2-3 minutes regardless of engine temp.

[evilgli]

that is what i thought as well, colder engine should run rich not lean..maybe he was just backwards..i didn't know this about the fast-start..but i was pretty sure it kicked out last time i ran the engine..thanks for the info and i will post back once i get boat back and get to run the engine again and see how it does.

[reelapeelin]

i want to thank you guys for your input into this matter..so..THANKS GUYS. the knowledge here is awesome and you are a great bunch of guys..

well with my work schedule, my HOA not allowing me to keep the boat at my house (i thank my wife everyday for that), and 2 kids i decided i don't have enough spare time to diagnose what is wrong with my engine..so it went off the to the local OMC guru today to get repaired..once i get informed what is going on with it..i will let you guys know.

again thanks for the help, Paul


Good move...:party: