# Johnson FD-18E the $40 wreck.



## Weldorthemagnificent (Jan 5, 2021)

"18hp boat motor for sale, ran when put away. $40". I was out the door and gone, I figured it was worth that much for parts. I hardly even looked at it and the guy just set it in the back of my truck as we chatted. Almost home and 2 deer ran right into the front of my truck as I was driving at about 90kmh!






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## Weldorthemagnificent (Jan 5, 2021)

After I finally made it home I found the motor was seized. This morning I pulled the plugs and filled the cylinders with a 2 stroke oil/WD-40 mix. 
Came home from work and tried to budge it with a 2' breaker bar on the flywheel nut.... Nope. So I took a punch and a 4lb hammer to the flywheel gear. Couple hits clockwise, couple counterclockwise until there was a bit of slack back and forth. Then the aptly named Johnson bar finished the job. 
Added some more oil and spun the crank with a drill. 
Put a plug in the wire and observed a nice hot spark.
Compression just under 120 per hole. So it was time to put it in the barrel. 4-5 pulls and it fired and smoked like a forest fire until all the oil burned off. But it idled not bad. Looking forward to tinkering and making this old motor serviceable again.
https://youtu.be/dqd_uf60W-A





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## freimer (Jan 5, 2021)

Nice find on the motor. Too bad about the truck, though. 


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## RaisedByWolves (Jan 6, 2021)

freimer said:


> Nice find on the motor. Too bad about the truck, though.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk



My thoughts exactly.


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## Weldorthemagnificent (Jan 17, 2021)

Finally got around to looking at this motor again. Gave it a quick wipe down. It looks pretty good for 57 years old. Lubed the pivot points and linkages. It needs the recoil rubber thingy that plugs the hole in the cover and a sea horse emblem would be sweet. Eating leftover venison as I post this!














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## RaisedByWolves (Jan 17, 2021)

Looks nice especially for how old it is.

Thanks for the update on your diet. :wink: 

Is that a BX25?

25d?


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## Weldorthemagnificent (Jan 17, 2021)

Bx1870

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## ClemsonAlum (Jan 18, 2021)

Nice find! My FD-19D I am working on is missing the rubber starter rope grommet thing too, I saw them on ebay for a reasonable price. Waiting to get one once I make sure she will fire up. Might go looking for an electric start bracket and starter too if it pans out. 

-Kurt


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## Weldorthemagnificent (Jan 18, 2021)

ClemsonAlum said:


> Nice find! My FD-19D I am working on is missing the rubber starter rope grommet thing too, I saw them on ebay for a reasonable price. Waiting to get one once I make sure she will fire up. Might go looking for an electric start bracket and starter too if it pans out.
> 
> -Kurt


I wonder if they all came with the flywheel gear. Seems extraneous with no electric start. I'm kind of wondering if this one had it at one point. The little clippy things that attach the steering and throttle cables are on it and have been used.

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## ClemsonAlum (Jan 18, 2021)

Weldorthemagnificent said:


> ClemsonAlum said:
> 
> 
> > Nice find! My FD-19D I am working on is missing the rubber starter rope grommet thing too, I saw them on ebay for a reasonable price. Waiting to get one once I make sure she will fire up. Might go looking for an electric start bracket and starter too if it pans out.
> ...


Hmmm, not sure if they all came with the gear or not. Mine has the gear. Also I noticed after looking at your motor, mine is missing the fuel water separator bowl. Oh well, guess it's not really needed anyways. 

-Kurt


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## Pappy (Jan 18, 2021)

That is because it was not a fuel/water seperator bowl.
It was designed and used as a fuel filter with a few different versions of filters and strainers through it's service life.


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## Weldorthemagnificent (May 16, 2021)

Ran this motor in a barrel a few weeks ago. It runs really good, even pumped water well. I ordered an impeller for it anyway and got around to replacing it today. The one that came out of it actually looked great but now I know what's in there. Drained the gearcase oil and it had water in it and I think I know why. After pumping it full of new lube, I was replacing the top gearcase plug and it felt like it was going to strip. I wasn't sure what to do about it, so in the interim, I daubed some rtv sealant on the threads and gently snugged the screw. Perhaps in the future I'll tap it to a larger size if I can find a larger plug. Anyway, the plan is to water test it on a boat soon.





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## CedarRiverScooter (May 16, 2021)

Maybe you can helicoil it.


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## Pappy (May 16, 2021)

Threads are pretty short but yes it is doable! Loctite the heli-coil in for sure and let cure. 
If I remember correctly the threads are already 3/8-16 ?


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## Kismet (May 16, 2021)

Great purchase, bad trip home, great venison in the freezer, nice rehab to date, and a wondrous motor.

All in all, pretty neat deal.

=D> =D> =D>


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## Weldorthemagnificent (May 20, 2021)

https://youtube.com/shorts/nZOzBdsu7_Q?feature=share

Ran it in the bucket to test the impeller job. Looks like it's time to put it in the lake.

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## RaisedByWolves (May 21, 2021)

Looks good!


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## Weldorthemagnificent (May 24, 2021)

https://youtu.be/v90-SoaR-_k

Sea trial today for the junkyard dog. Ran around a small local lake for about an hour. Motor ran great at speed, idle could be better so maybe it's worth a carb kit. Should be good for the 2 times a year I intend to use it on fishing trips. My boys will use it on my small boat, a 12' Harber craft. Thought it might be overkill on that boat that's rated for 15hp, but it seemed to take it well and planed easily with me, my son and daughter. Combined weight of about 590lbs plus motor and fuel tank. Got about 17mph. 20-21 with just me and my daughter and 22 by myself. A 12 footer has no business going any faster!

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## RaisedByWolves (May 26, 2021)

Good deal.

That seems like a lot of weight for a 12’ boat though.


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## Kismet (May 26, 2021)

Check your freeboard at transom with just you in the 12 ft boat under power.

I can vaguely recall an 18hp on the back of a 13ft tin boat lifting the front half of the craft up so that I was looking at the front seat. Must have looked like an exclamation point from shore. If the lake hadn't be calm, I think I could have sunk it ( I was younger and dumber.)

Be safe.


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## Weldorthemagnificent (May 29, 2021)

I thought it might run bow high as well but it ran good. The bow did come up high when I first got on the gas but not alarmingly, then it settled down and ran flat. Just me and the motor in the boat, half full gas tank in the bow. Lots of free board at rest. My buddy who used to own this boat ran a 8hp Merc 4 stroke. The 18 is 10lbs lighter.






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