1988 johnson gt 150 fire

[hill392]

Hello,
I have a 88' ranger with a Johnson GT 150. I Shut it down after a long run to do some trolling when my daughter tells me " dad the motors smoking ". Smoke was rolling out the cowl. I quickly removed it to find that it had a fire coming from a black box in back underneath the fly wheel. Hit it with the extiguisher and a lot of water and it was finnaly out. Let it cool then started the motor and made it back to the marina, to my suprise it started and ran good. After I had it loaded I was off to the car wash to clean it. Heres where it gets good. While i am washing the boat i hear a buzzer go off ( steady ). Finnaly tracked it down to underneath the dash and disconected it. This is when i hear those words again " dad the motors smoking" . I disconnected the battery and the smoke stopped. I don't have a manual yet so i'm kind of lost. From what I have read this black box is the rectifier/regulator ? Still trying to find out how and why this happened. Motor was running good, nice stream of water. It was a calm day on the lake so i had it opened up and had it trimmed up higher than normal. Could i have been to high? Not picking up enough water? Any input would be much appreciated. Sorry for the lengthy post. Well i'm off to find a manual and get another fire extiguisher, mabey 2.

[SEAHORSE]

Most likely it was an overheated regulator/rectifier.

Do you have wing nuts on the battery or the factory required lockwashers and stainless steel locknuts tightened with a wrench?

[hill392]

Wingnuts . Is the fix as easy as replacing the rectifier/regulator, getting rid of the wingnuts ?

[SEAHORSE]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hill392 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wingnuts . Is the fix as easy as replacing the rectifier/regulator, getting rid of the wingnuts ? </TD></TR></TABLE>

The $300 regulator and most likely a $400 stator will be needed, along with any repairs to damaged wiring. You'll probably find discolored copper windings and black melted plastic insulation dripping from the stator. Check the flywheel magnets for rust, looseness, chips, damage etc. Have the battery tested also. The cheapest things, and the things that most likely would have prevented this expensive event, are a couple of locknuts and lockwashers for the battery.

[hill392]

This really sucks. I'll have to hit Ebay and see what I come up with. So it sounds like it was the wingnuts that got me. Who would of thought. I bought the boat last fall. I run on a bigger lake than they guy i bought it from. Mabey it never had a chance to heat up on him. I also just recently installed a depth finder. Would this extra draw have anything to do with it? I'm off to pull that melted thing off the motor. Thanks for all the advice, keep it comming.

[ccuboy123]

same thing happened to my 150 gt. regualtor burnt up. same symptoms. had to remove the battery cables to keep fire out. Kinda dangerous problem if you ask me. Quite abit pricy for them damn things. Just have to pop the fly wheel lose to get to it

[hill392]

I would imagine we're not the only ones this ever happened to. Just replace the trim unit last week, and now this. Yeah, i would say it could be dangerous. I'll take the fly wheel off tommorow and see what dammage was done.

[ta3834bbl]

Will the same parts fit from an '89 200? I may have some used / spare parts to try.

[hill392]

Not sure if they would interchange or not. Ebay has a mess of the regulators at reasonable prices so i'm hoping I can get one there. I'm pulling my flywheel now. Got the nut off but i'll have to get a puller. First time doing this, is there anything I should be aware of. I'm new to boats, well boats of this caliber anyway.

[ChampioNman]

Nope parts won't interchange.

[hill392]

Would anybody know the part # on the regulator ? The model # is J150GTLCCA.

[SEAHORSE]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hill392 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Would anybody know the part # on the regulator ? The model # is J150GTLCCA. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Go to http://www.shop.evinrude.com

[hill392]

Well got my regulator today. When I was hooking it to the solenoid i noticed that the pos. battery wire was off the solenoid, missing the nut . Also when I got the boat the tach worked off and on and recently had completly stopped working before the regulator caught fire. Should be back on the water this weekend. Thanks for all the advice. This sites been a big help.

[Dhadley]

Usually the tach starts acting funny or quits just before the fire. Another thing we stumbled on as a possible cause is that the block is not filling up completely with water. The water cooled rec/reg needs to have water on it to cool properly. If there's an air pocket under it, it won't cool properly which may lead to an overheat and possible shorting out internally and then the fire is possible.

There are passages inside the block to make sure water gets to the top but those are pretty small and can / do get plugged. We go into the water jacket at the highest point on the block (not the head) which is right above #1 cylinder and tap a hole. In that hole we put a plastic T like the T on a 3 cylinder for the overboard indicator line. Then take the overboard line on the V6 where it goes up over #1 and cut it. Each end is plugged on to each side of the T. Any air that's trapped in the system vents out and allows the block to fill completely.

We've done this on many blocks that had multiple rec/reg fires (some did not have battery wingnuts) and it's never happened again on any. You don't lose any more water because the overboard water is restricted by the hose and outlet nipple. Only so much can get out that nipple. You will notice the stream spitting when it's first started. That's the air escaping. A normal steady flow follows shortly.