TOPIC: johnson 40hp questions

Hey guys,

I finally got my boat out on the water this past weekend and encountered some problems.The engine is a 1962 johnson 40hp with new impeller, rebuilt lower unit, new points & condensors and coils. I also put a new primer bulb and hoses along with new sparkplugs this year.

I launched the boat and it fired right up no problem. I then did a couple laps around the lake and it ran perfectly. Then I headed to shore to pick up a couple pasenegers. The boat idled down fine and trolled right in. At this point i was very happy. After i picked up my passengers, the motor fired right back up and i putted away from shore. As soon as i hit the throttle to put it on plane, the motor died. It felt like it ran out of gas.

I checked my tank vent and it was open. I then squeezed the primer bulb and it was soft. No matter how many times i pumped it would not get hard. (When i first launched the boat it got hard after 3 or 4 pumps). After a few pumps it started spraying fuel out of a hole (vent maybe?) at the top of the carb near the low speed mixture screw. At this point i got a tow back to shore and im not sure what i did or what happened, but i tried pumping the bulb again and it got hard like normal, And the boat fired right back up.

During the course of the day it did this same thing to me 3 times.Each time i was able to fiddle around (not sure exactly what i did?) enough to get the primer to stay hard again.

Any ideas? Im thinking maybe the float is sticking shut? or does it sound like fuel pump issues? havent had a chance to tear it apart yet, just wonnderng what the experts think?

Scott

Dirt in the float valve.--Carburetor needs a good cleaning.---Install a fuel pump repair kit as well.