1999 johnson 200 ocean runner question

[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..

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by 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

Good move...