TOPIC: New boat owner need help68Larson14ft 59Johnson50hp

Okay so I'm new to the boating world. I found a 58 Larson 14 foot with a 59 Johnson 50hp with electronic start. I'm pretty mechamicly inclined so doing all the work my self is no problem. But the few questions I have are. What type of fuel should I use and what should I mix the gas/ oil ratio. Will any marine 2 cycle oil work or is there a specific kind since it is an old engine. How should I go about checking the gear oil in it? And I'm not getting spark. If anyone has a diagram or advice on how to check the points it would be greatly appreciated. But for the most part the motor is very clean and so is the boat I picked it up for 400$ with a nice tilt trailer as well. Just any advice would help alot thanks for looking!

Mix 50:1 with a quality marine 2-stroke oil, rating TCW-3. Use regular unleaded gas and if you can find it, non-ethanol. Your engine will appreciate it!

There are 2 large slotted stainless screws in the lower unit, one should be on the very bottom of the gearcase and the other, higher up on the side. Bottom one is the drain, the high-side one is the vent.

To drain the gear oil, 1st undo the drain plug; vacuum in the gearcase will prevent the gear oil from gushing out. Then, undo the vent plug and it'll drain much faster.

Refill from the bottom (drain) and pump oil in until it runs out the vent. Reinstall the vent plug then remove oil source and reinstall drain plug. Probably a good idea to renew the vent/drain plug gaskets as well. If they have the newer-style plastic washers and they look good, you'd be OK to re-use them.

You can pick up marine-quality "hi-vis" gear oil in quart bottles at Walmart or your local NAPA etc auto parts store. While you're at it, get the hand pump which screws into the bottle, it'll make your job so much easier being able to pump the oil in.

If your distributor has the drive sprocket/belt on the top, with the distributor cap at the bottom, you have a magneto. This is self-driven and needs no external source of power to make sparks. Most likely your points are "hazed" over from sitting and need to be removed, disassembled, then cleaned/polished with crocus cloth.

Then you'll need to re-gap the points, reverify timing belt and carb synchronization.

You're gonna need a manual for that.

Here's a factory manual at marineengine.com:

www.marineengine.com/parts/part_details.php?pnum=KCM306775&ptype=Service+Manual&Engine=&Model=V4-11

A bit more expensive but more detail than you'll ever need!

A Seloc aftermarket service manual will cover all the maintenance items you'd need to do and is a bit less than the mfr's manual:

www.marineengine.com/manuals/seloc/johnson_evinrude.html

Here's a good used Seloc manual on eBay for $6.99 shipped:



Hard to beat that! If it's not available when you go to look at it, just search for more, there were quite a few good deals on there.

Note: before you tear the distributor apart, try this simple test: at the Stbd side of the distributor, there is a single wire coming from the wiring harness to a screw-terminal, fastened with a nut. There should also be an internal wire, going to the points area. Disconnect the wire from the harness and tighten the nut back down, leaving the internal wire intact. The external wire grounds out the distributor to kill spark. If you get spark with this wire disconnected, there's likely a problem with the ignition switch, or the wire itself. If still no spark, check points. If that's not it, other likely issues are the rotor and magneto coil. But service your points first, that's the most common problem.

HTH.........ed

Davidk15,

WELCOME ABOARD. Sounds like a nice rig.

yours, satx

Alrighty thanks for the info! And it's not bad for my first boat! I'm 19 haha but its a start! I still need to get a battery and a fuel tank and a few other small things but other than that it's a nice boat. Been sitting for about 8 years. I'll post pics I'm the morning