When I started my Suzuki-built Johnson 90 outboard engine yesterday, after several weeks without running, no water came out of the tell-tale. This is known as the "water pump indicator" in the manual. It’s right on the back of the engine, in the middle of the mid-section.
When the tell-tale doesn’t emit a steady stream of water, it usually means one of two things. Either…
- the little hole has become jammed with some crud having to do with bugs or spiders, or
- the water pump isn’t pumping water.
If it’s the first, it’s no big deal. If it’s the second, you need to shut down the engine or risk serious damage.
You sorta kinda gotta need to KNOW which it is before you leave the dock. I figured it was jammed with crud, because the engine was recently serviced by the folks at Jacobsen’s, generally a reliable gang.
I had heard that you could unjam the passage with a bit of wire, but I didn’t have any that was both flexible enough to make the 90-degree turn and rigid enough not to curl up. Dang…"for want of a piece of appropriate-gauge wire", ya know?
Hold on, though…maybe I have something that can function. A nylon zip-tie! Actually, I’ll bet it functions better than wire. It fits almost clear across the opening, and its flat profile means you can "ream" the inside of the passage by rotating the little tip. Here’s a photo essay of the operation:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh Poor Tim,
Not more problems with your Johnson.
I know! And I resisted the temptation—a prodigious exercise of willpower, I assure you—I resisted the temptation to say something like “my Johnson wasn’t pissing right.”
Oh dang! I knew I wasn’t going to be able to contain myself. I better just stop, right now.