Johnson

Johnson, Evinrude, OMC, outboard motor, outboard motor repair, 9.5 hp, date/year of manufacture, water pump, carburetor,

The 9.5 hp, shown below was built from 1964 to 1973, which was a the first of the low profile motor series, and is not a sleek looking motor in my opinion, with a squatty oversized motor cover & upper housing sitting on a standard lower unit. Someone coined the phrase "Turtle Motors" for these squatty motors.

There are some similarities between this motor & the earlier motors from 6 to 10 hp but with the powerhead setting lower & a shroud around the mid-section. The lower unit appears the same as the earlier QD, 10hp series motors, but with a outer shroud midsection. However it seems the engineers worked overtime in trying to find a place for needed parts to fit under this squatty cowling. These motor's early model number was MQ up until the model code was changed incorporating the date in 1969.

I understand it was also basically a souped up 7.5 hp powerhead. Some experienced mechanics say the crankshaft did not stand up under heavy usage as a 9.5. But then in the early years of these motors was before the TWC-3 outboard oil came into being, so the use of ordinary automotive oil could have also have been a contributing factor because of a lesser degree of lubrication than currently available.

The earliest versions (1964 / 65) were known to vibrate a bit, so for 1966 they revised the motor mounts. They had a dealer retro-fit using a special motor mount kit which improved things a lot. Aside from the low speed throttle stop being moved to the twist grip handle mount there really weren't significant changes to these motors.

Ignition System : The ignition system is the magneto type using points & condensers. Points are set at .020. To access information on how to change or set the points of this system CLICK HERE. This accesses the magneto article of the model that replaced this 9.5, the next later model 9.9, which uses the same basic ignition system but with external coils.

Starter : The manual recoil starter pull handle is located on the front lower part of the front panel. The actual starter is basically a manual copy of the automotive type starter system used extensively on may of the small OMC motors. There was no provision for a electric starter.

To replace the starter rope, remove the rope, turn the spool 18 turns counterclockwise using a large flat screwdriver. Use the handles of a pair of pliers or screwdriver or similar tool to wedge the pinion teeth into the flywheel teeth, so it can not retract. Reinsert the rope and tie a knot. Allow the spool to rewind the rope.

If everything is already assembled & you need to adjust the tension, no need to make it too complicated. Pull the rope out so you have 2-3 free rounds/grooves for the rope on the spindle. Jam the spool as mentioned above. Take the rope out of the handle and 'thread' it around the free grooves in the spindle, then out back to the handle again. Test.

Compression : Compression on these motors may seem lower than some of the others. If you'll notice, the "rather unique" starter system on this motor is geared pretty low, presumably to make pulling the rope easier. As a result you don't get the crank speed you do on some other motor designs. This will also effect your compression test. You might try using a rope wrapped around the flywheel as a comparison, using this method, you will get a faster RPM & also a higher compression reading.

For those used to working on other brands of outboard motors, it seems that smaller hp OMCs are designed with a lower compression ratio than Mercurys. However it may be because of the type of starter & the slower flywheel rotational speed produced by this starter. As long as it starts, who cares. A normal compression reading of 65# to 75# appears to be fine for this motor.

Carburetor : These motors have a unique carburetor system in that the carburetor sets near the rear of the motor, apparently a design to allow for the lower cowling profile. The carburetor is placed on the rear starboard side of the block, making carburetor removal easy. Just put in forward and throttle up (engine off) to get the stator cam out of the way for the last screw. You'll see when you go to remove it.

To remove the rich lean adjustment these 9.5 hp motors, the quick and dirty way is to pop the knob off and unscrew the needle assembly from the carburetor, leaving the other end in the control panel. If you want to do it the other way, pop the knob off, and remove the circlip that is around the needle cable on the inside of the control panel. With that circlip off, you can slide the needle cable forward and remove the circlip that is around it on the outside of the control panel. Then you can slide the needle cable rearward, out of the control panel.

There are two types of float needles. The all metal one does not have a clip, the later ones with a soft tip does need the clip. In addition, the one that uses a clip has a groove for it, the other one does not.

If the lean rich setting control knob on the front of cowling won't make any change in how the motor runs/not runs if the idle circuit inside the carburetor is not clear all the way to the throat of the carburetor. The initial setting for this rich/lean control should be backed out 3/4 turn from gently bottomed, you may have to rotate it up to possibly 1 1/2 turns out.

The high speed jet is located in line behind the float bowl drain. It is deep in the hole behind the hex head plug in the very bottom of the carburetor. Takes a special screwdriver to get it out without damage. It must be absolutely, positively, squeaky CLEAN. It is very easily clogged, so will need to be checked often. DO NOT jam wires, drills, or whatever through the orifice making it larger in your attempts to clean it. It is a precision part. The motor will never work right again if you do.

The carburetor float is cork, sealed with shellac, they require replacement if they become saturated. Shellac is dissolved by the alcohol found in ethanol gasoline. These carburetor floats are not available aftermarket, but come with the OE repair kits, part #0382048. Be sure to use the clip that connects the float arm to the new needle. These clips were not used on the old float system, but are beneficial to use because of the possibility of the motor being laid on it's side during transport, the float may become stuck. This clip pulls the float down when the float bowl is empty.

To set the float on these motors, with the carburetor body held upside down, the float being viewed from the side, adjust the float so that the free end of the float (the end opposite the hinge pin) is ever so slightly off level than the other end. And when viewed from the end, make sure it is not cocked right or left.

As a suggestion, to do the final slow idle carburetor adjustment, make sure on the boat & on the water. If you are adjusting the low idle in a barrel or such, your going to drive yourself crazy. Because the low setting of this engine, the carburetor inhales their own exhaust which makes it difficult to get a accurate idle adjustment in a barrel.

If when priming the primer bulb you get fuel running out the carburetor air intake throat, this is normally caused by a clogged float bowl vent to the outside. This vent hole would be molded into the upper carburetor body. With the bowl off, somewhere in the upper carburetor float chamber is a hole that will vent the bowl to atmosphere from the upper carburetor outer body. If it's clogged, fuel will find it's way through the high speed jet and out the throat, as the float will never rise to close it's valve.

There is no aftermarket carburetor kit available for these motors. The BRP part # is 0382048, which includes the float. Probably available for $22.

Fuel Pump : These fuel pumps are pretty universal, the same one fitting most all these small motors up to 40 hp until about 1987. For a link to the rebuild procedure CLICK HERE.

Idle Stop Adjustment :The 64 -66 has an plastic adjuster (Idle stop setting) just rearward of the flywheel (spark plug side) that adjusts the armature plate stop. It has a thumb screw on it for easy adjustment, but you need to pull the cowling off to access it.

For the later motors at the base of the tiller handle there is an idle adjustment knob as shown in the photo below. Turn that to set the idle speed.

You can lock the idle speed with the small dial on the side of the base of the tiller handle; that will prevent the motor from cutting out at low idle.

Tilt Lock: When the engine is tilted up, it is held in place by the large rod (on the right when looking at the engine from the front side). In addition, there is a ratchet mechanism to the left (visible on the attached photo) which prevents the engine being lowered by it's own weight.

The ratchet is a friction device to let it tilt up easy, but go back down in a controlled decent fashion. The thru-bolt that goes though the brackets controls the amount of friction by tightening or loosening the nut. If it is too stiff, loosen the nut. If un-moveable, take it apart and see what is wrong with the friction cone part, it may just need to be greased.

Tilt lock ratchet system

To Adjust Trim Angle : Most older adjustment units are hard to move while baring the weight of the motor, so you need to first tilt the motor up. You have to release lockout to tilt the motor.

The Tilt Lock Selector is located to the lower right of the front of lower cover. The selector pushes the Tilt Lock Rod back to release the motor when in forward or possibly neutral so that it can be lifted up.

The spring loaded locking lever is connected to a wire (reverse lock wire) like part that looks like a bicycle spoke. It is supposed to release automatically when the motor is in neutral or forward gear and only lock in reverse. The adjustment is made to a small barrel-shaped connector on the lower end of the wire. The locking lever prevents the motor from swinging up and causing damage when running in reverse.

Put the shift lever in forward gear (it should work in neutral) to make sure that the motor is released to swing upward on the stern bracket. Push in the tilt lock and raise the motor. Push in and turn the knob to the desired position and return the motor to the running position. You should set the motor so that the cavitation plate is parallel to the water.

Check to be sure that the pin connecting the tilt rod selector to the tilt lock rod is in place or the rod will not move. On some models you can replace them with a small cotter pin. If the pin has deteriorated and you cannot replace it, you will have to reach around and move the Tilt Lock Rod back by hand in order to raise the motor or lower it; There are two upward positions in which the Rod can be placed to hold the motor up.

Exploded view of swivel bracket

When trailering with the motor tilted up, you can pull the Tilt lock Selector forward to lock the Tilt Rod Lock in place.

The shallow water bracket manually swings back to support the motor at an angle when in shallow water.

To Start : The most common setting to start these 9.5 motors are with the twist grip handle turned up counter-clockwise to the neutral stop and with full choke, then after the engine warms up, ease it back clockwise to "shift".

To Shift Gears : On this model, the shift handle is on the starboard side (front RH looking forward) The positions are up for reverse and down for forward. The front panel of the motor has R/N/F printed vertically on the RH edge as seen in the photo below on the left.

Stop Button : As seen in the photo on the left below there is a rubber covered button the size of a 1/2 dollar on front port (RH) side. This button just grounds out the ignition, killing the motor.

Remote Controls :It apparently was not originally designed for remote controls, however I have seen an aftermarket version & the one shown below did appear later on OMC literature for accessories. This is evidenced by the taller shifting lever on the motor in the photos below.

Upper Cowling : There were 2 different type of cowling latches, a twist lock that was made only in '64 and '65. They moved the release lever into the lower cowl in '66, but pretty much all the other parts on that are interchangeable.

Exhaust Housing : Also there is a rubber boot that connects the exhaust housing to the outer middle cowling exhaust water outlet. This boot is notorious for becoming cracked & when this happens, you can again get exhaust gasses inside the engine cowling creating the same problem stated above. One way to test for this situation is to remove the cowling & see if the idling improves. You may still get some contaminated air into the carburetor, but at least you have increased the odds of it getting better clean air. Your best option is to take it the lake or pond, & adjust it on the boat under a load, or if you must adjust it in a barrel, get a fan to blow the exhaust away from the motor and barrel.

Exhaust Water Indicator :This model doesn't have a overboard water indicator telltale "pee hole" like later models do. But there is a corrugated rubber hose attached to the back of the engine block which comes out the back of the engine casing just under the cowling. You should be seeing a healthy broken-up water spray as seen in the bottom photo below. At higher speeds, less exhaust comes out, so the water sort of runs out.

Water mix will only spray out that hole when the thermostat is open. So until the motor warms up, it should be dry for possibly the first minute or so when started cold.

Water Pump: The operation of most marine water pumps using a rubber vaned impeller is, the cavity between the vanes is what makes it pump water. As the off-center impeller rotates, the cavity enlarges, drawing in a gulp of water. As it continues to rotate, the cavity becomes smaller, and squeezes the water out and up the water tube to the powerhead.

These pump housings are pot metal, & can become pitted, replace them with a new water pump assembly if needed. There is also a stainless bottom plate, this plate has to be positioned with the suction hole in the proper location/relationship as indicated in the photos. If you are just replacing the impeller, you can tell which way is up by observing the wear of the impeller on this plate. The impeller fits in this stainless cup liner which gives a very long lasting situation. In most cases you will never need to replace the water pump assembly, just the impeller. Sometimes the rubber impeller becomes un-bonded to the metal hub.

Also changing the water pump impeller is not as easy as the others because the water supply tube to the powerhead will many times come undone at the powerhead & it is a problem getting it back in place.

Shaft Length : Most of these motors you will see are short shafts, however they did make a longshaft as shown in the photo below. From what I can tell probably just a longshaft 5" extension off an earlier 10 HP QD motor.

Lower Units :The lower unit was not unitized like the later 9.9's, & it appears that they actually use the lower unit (gearbox) off the previous 10hp QD series.

This copper water tube from the water pump to the powerhead is retained in the exhaust housing, just below the powerhead by a stainless steel push nut. A washer and o-ring then completes the seal with the powerhead. If this tube gets pulled out of the push nut, it may be almost impossible to reinstall it without removal of the powerhead. You may luck out by using a flash light and look close you'll see where it came from & with a lot of luck may be able to reinsert it, otherwise you may have to pull the powerhead.

And that is a very complicated job for the novice. The outer shell has to be split open and the motor comes out so you can get it apart. Lots of screws, links, and stuff. Really not bad if you know what you are doing, but for your first time, it will be a challenge.

For some reason the clutch dog slider gear seems to become worn & can cause the motor to jump out of forward gear. If this is the case new ones are impossible to find & good used ones are getting scarce. So you may consider pulling this apart & flopping ends with the clutch dog so that you are now using the not so much used reverse end of the slider for the forward gear.

Exploded Parts Lists: If you need to check on parts & do not have a actual parts list booklet, one of your best sources is http://www.crowleymarine.com/ They have a complete listing of about all of the Johnson & Evinrude motors showing exploded parts views with part numbers & you can order parts online from them.

Evinrude 9.5 left side view with cover off	Evinrude 9.5 right side view with cover off

Here is a running motor, notice the overboard water blubbering out the rear