Re: Johnson TD20 / TN26 etc. – T-shooting Part 2

[legendre]

Howdy Brent,

Well that’s (at least) two of us who are out of ideas. This one has me truly and genuinely stumped.. quite the unexpected challenge from such a simple piece of machinery. I mean to say, I just got through a fairly involved service & repair job on one of these – it’s a Model ‘J’, ca. 1926 – so it’s not like this is my first rodeo.

I hear your concerns about the crank sealer I used, and I’m willing to look at just about anything at this point. The Ultra Grey +is+ spec’d for high-torque applications, and I’ve come to understand that it’s a relatively good replacement for the product I’d typically use in this application – which is Yamabond 4 (or the ThreeBond equivalent). That said, it +is+ a form of RTV silicone, and I’ve never really been a big fan of those materials.. The old blue crap from the 70s wasn’t very good at all – we called it "Form-A-Leak" and you probably did, too.

Thing is, the motor has developed a clear pattern. It will start off great on one pull, run like a champ at high-ish speed (START setting range) for a minute or less, and then suddenly it all falls apart. It loses speed, it stumbles, misfires.. begs for more throttle, but even full throt isn’t enough to keep it alive. Then it kills and doesn’t want to restart easily.. at all. Pull the plugs, they look wet.. almost water-wet, but I can smell gas.

Leave it sit for a day, and it will perform the same act again. And this is now 100% localized to the short-block.. and the lower unit. Literally +everything+ has been swapped & tried between the two motors except for the short-block and the lower unit. And that even includes the downtube / handle assy!