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Posts: 1086
| Calling all motor gurus and/or hopefully maybe someone tied to Johnson/Evinrude/Bombardier. If this is not the place to post this type of thread (not a muskie board persay), please direct me to where I should send this info. Just posting this here due to the great network of people and good knowledge base that is here.
I apologize in advance for this lengthly post..but I want to be thorough and detailed with my description in order to hopefully get help to finding the solution to my problem.
I have a 1997 90 hp Jonhson outboard motor, two-stroke, oil injected, carbed motor that's really got some sort of mysterious "issue." It's Johnson's 90 ELEU motor.
Motor runs and starts great and operates flawlessly...with EXCEPTION of wide open throttle (WOT).
Once I open this motor up, ripping across the lake at WOT...the motor running at 5,000 rpms...running about 36-37 mph pushing at Crestliner 1750.....about a minute or so into the run...the alarm will sound, the "hot" light on the tach will light up and the motor will start to surge as if a sensor has tripped the motor into something like a "limp home mode" cutting either the fuel or cutting the spark to the motor as to not overheat the motor and not do any internal damage to the motor.
I just purchased this boat, used, back in either Sept or August of last year, 2005. The previous owner did say he knew of this problem and took this boat and motor to a local marina that he had purchased the boat from and has had all of it's service done by this marina. They looked that problem and at that time they replaced either one or two thermostats. I have the work order. That was done on June 7th, 2005.
Previous owner at that time thought the problem was fixed. But being the previous owner didn't have time for the boat any longer, decided to put it up for sale instead. I come by and buy the boat in Aug or Sept of 2005. I take the boat for a test drive and we find the same problem to exist. I told the previous owner, pending the problem is fixed by him or reduce the sale price, I'll take the boat. He didn't want to mess with it, reduced the sale price, and offered to at least take the boat to the marina, talk to the marina, show him his records, etc and ask the problem be fixed for me, the new owner.
Marina calls me to say the boat is "fixed" I show up, pay for the service which consisted of new thermostats...again..and now new water pump kit, new impeller and inspection of the cooling system. They deemed the problem fixed and the boat to be good to go.
I get the boat out on the water that day...rip it WOT..and find the problem to not be fixed. I put a call into them immediately. They tell me to bring it in. I ask how soon they can get it back to me. They couldn't promise it to me quickly enough being that already, they were receiving boats from people to be winterized for winter already and they were getting into the Fall mode. I told them I couldn't work with that being I had a couple substantial fishing trips coming up that I couldn't risk not having the boat for. I told them I'd work with my boat as-is and just not run it WOT and then I'd bring the boat to them later that year in th winter for them to work on when I wouldn't be needing the boat any longer due to hard water.
Well...then come to find out..this marina doesn't have a tank or any way of testing boats without using an open lake. So...hard water conditions really prolonged the search for the cure to the problem.
Then soft water comes. They test my boat and "tell" me that my tach is "bad." Not sure what test they did to determine that my tach was bad. But being that that "hot" light..and all my idiot lights are incorporated with the tach...that's the "story" they gave me. They said the tach was sending back bad info to the motor. So...they told me they'd need to order me a new tach. Well...I bought into that story for the time being.
They replaced the tach..then water tested the boat...only to find out the problem at WOT and at 5,000 rpms...still existed, again..alarm sounding and the "hot" light coming on with the new tach and the motor going into "limp home mode" again.
So...upon further diagnostics that they did, they then call me to tell me that now the "rectifier/regulator" is now bad. And now that needs replaced too and that they didn't have it in stock, so they'd need to order that.
So.....ignorantly...I buy into that story as well. So they order this new "rectifier/regulator" and install it and lake test the boat and they deem the problem to be solved and fixed and I can come pick the boat up. That as as of today, Saturday, March 11th.
I go up and pick up the boat from the marina, again...pay for this problem solving for a third time (previous owner paid the first time, I paid the second and third time) and I head out to the lake. I put the boat in the water. I do a proper and thorough warm up period with the motor, slowly crusing the lake at idle speed for a while, then slowly bring the motor up to speed, but not to WOT. I run around at 3,000-3,500 rpms for a while. Then after a while...then I opened up the motor and bring it up to 5,000 rpms and then about a minute into it...the alarm sounded again and the motor chugs and goes into "limp home mode" again!
Problem STILL exists.
After a third time of being looked at. It now appears this marina is just ghost-chasing the problem and is just throwing expensive parts at the motor hoping the problem to be solved.
Anyone know of this problem or experience this problem? Any know of solutions? Who can I talk to? Any help would be so much appreciated.
I think that about covers it.
Thank you.
Edited by MACK 3/11/2006 10:03 PM
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