I'm looking at an '89 boat with a 110 Johnson motor. Anybody had any experiences with these motors.

Thanx,
Fred

 

the motors not bad. but on a boat that old do a very good check of the transsom . check for cracks, use a ice pick inside to see if its soft and try rocking the motor by lifting up on the steg and see if you can rock the power head. look for stiffing plates. some thing that old in a lot of cases has a rotted transsome. run away from that.

 

I know that johnsosn always seemed to have a good motor, my woman has a older tri hull with a 115 johnson and it runs like a dream!

 

Thanks for your opinions and suggestions. It's a 17' open bow fiberglass with a V-hull; hopefully not to many problems with rot.

Fred

 

I think the Johnson motors are great. I had a 1971 70 hp that was still running well when I sold it about 5 years ago.
Good advice above about checking out the hull. I would do a compression test on the motor.
BTW, fiberglass boats are usually built with wood structural supports in the transom and elsewhere. I second the above suggestions about checking the transom. Rotted wood in transom could be invisible, yet result in a useless hull that looks perfectly ok.

Do you have any experience with outboard motors?

 

mike
i have some. not a major amount more on i.o's and diesels. the capt. in my sig comes from being one a 100 ton master near coastal . i have owned a few evin's and loved them

 

Captchas, my question was actually directed at Nymo. I was just wondering if he had some idea what to look for with a used motor. Sounds like you have a lot more experience than I do, Cap'n!

 

The whole rig looks fairly well looked after and in really good shape. As far as the engine ; if it starts, idles and doesn't make any strange sounds - I'll have to hope for the best. Are there any tricks to get a better idea of the condition, such as compression tests?

I'd like to get a 30 day warranty so I can at least get it in the water a few times to put it through it's paces.

 

As I said above, I would definitly do a compression test. Pretty easy, and it can tell you a lot.
If you can't get a warranty, maybe you can get him to take you for a test ride. As a private seller, I'd be reluctant to give a warranty. Too many things that a new buyer could do to ruin an engine. You could ask, though.
How about taking it somewhere to have it checked out? That could easily pay for itself. Even if a minor problem is found, it could prevent a future problem, and help with negotiating price.

 

I would'nt buy a boat that I can't take for a test drive, Definitly take her out for a spin.

 

My brother-in-law is a factory tech for Bombadier, before that OMC and before that Evinrude/Johnson. I picked up a Johnson 110 from Bob Hewes in Miami which is also an "89". We re-built the power head. That was because the boat was sinking and took salt water up the exhaust tube. There are more older Envirude/Johnson's out there than any other motor. The best piece of advice is to do the compression test. Test drive the boat. When you go into reverse or forward the lower unit should go in with a very slight clunk. If it chatters, or does not go into gear, the clutch dogs could be going and require a lower unit re-build. Also check the condition of the lower unit oil. There is a screw on the lower part of the unit. Just loosen it ti'll fluid runs out, BLACK= possibly O.K. normal MILKY= seal is bad, water intusion GOLD=new fluid in it, trying to hide something possibly. If they let you drain the unit for inspection, that lower plug is magnetic, big chunks of steel attached to it are bad! Let me know the findings and I will pass it along to the brother-in-law. Definetly test drive and get the engine FULL RUNNING TEMP! You know what they say, THE HAPPIEST DAY IN A MANS LIFE IS THE DAY HE BUY'S HIS BOAT, THE SECOND HAPPIEST DAY IS THE DAY HE SELLS IT!
AL
Al

 

what is the price of the boat? you can buy a brand new boat motor trailer package for about 10000. that would be 17 foot with a 135 horse i/o.the top speed would be 45 mph and 135 horse is plenty to do what ever tickles your fancy.