I'm probably not alone with this as there are probably more novice boaters
getting just as fed up as me with these money hungry things
Get ready for a bit of a story!

I have an old Johnson 90HP V4, about 1981....
A couple of weeks ago I went to start it (after probably about 2 months
without touching it) and it wouldn't start (surprise surprise) I thought
the battery was just dead as there was only a click when I tried to start it
(like what used to happen a lot with my old battery). So I put it down to
that and started disconnecting the battery to go and charge it.....

Then i smelt a real bad stink... Took the cover off... smoke
everywhere...... and black stuff coming out of the top of the starter
motor.. blown transformer smell. That was 23/12/04

Rang around a few places on 24/12/04 thought everythign would be closed...
but luckily one place was open and that had spares.... I took the boat to
them.....
They had a look at it, and found my flywheel was jammed... (not a good
feeling).
They put a big spanner onto it and got it free.... that was a bit of a
relief....
They also checked the spark plugs... they'd gone rusty Which I'm told
is due to water in the fuel...
So I bought a fuel filter... (havn't put that in yet)
So got new spark plugs, new starter motor..... Off to the boat ramp.....
Tried to start it a few times... rrrrrrr rrrrr rrrrr then I
stopped and turn the key off.....
Heard a noise from the engine and I took the cover off.... the starter motor
still had power on it... it was still spinning.... about about another
minute it stopped. (It wasn't touching the fly wheel while it was doing
this)
Tried starting it again and eventually away it went....

We went out for a few hours and all was fine.... although I didn't have as
much power as normal.... one of the other guys I was with said the choke
isn't coming off fully... they fiddled a bit and I got power back....

A couple of days later I took it away on a holiday (on the trailer).
First day of use it was fine...Pulling people on a donut thing and all.
Second day was ok most of the time but I was losing power a bit sometimes...
Third day it wouldn't start.... just a click.... ARGH! Tried about 10
times... check fly wheel, that was ok.... but all I get was a click from
somewhere......
Fiddled with the gears etc.. nothing.... eventually it started....off we
went.... about a 1 hour boat trip up the river....
It was fine most of the time, but I hit a log in the water and I lost power
after that.....I couldn't get much grunt out of it...
(I've been told this could be due to the propeller getting bent, but I
checked this later and it doesn't appear to be bent).
Anyway... we pulled over... didn't about and hour of fishing...then went
back. Started ok....
The next day I took it out again, back closer to home....
Same problem as before.... just a click when trying to start it....
Luckily there was another boat at the ramp which was having problems
starting.... and they had a cousin there who was a boat mechanic He
jumped onto the boat.. checked a few things, then he used my portable jump
starter thing directly on the starter motor while I turned the key....after
about 30-60 seconds of trying, it started....
So he said my solenoid was faulty.....
Took the boat out for about half an hour.... couple of hours fishing.. and
it started first go.
Pulled the boat out of the water.... I didn't get to wash the boat till
abotu 5 hours later... but same problem when trying to flush the
engine.... couldn't start.....
Use the jumper started on the starter motor and awy she goes after a
while...

Now for my questions
Initally I said the starter motor wouldn't stop spinning...... Could that
have something to do with the solenoid not letting go??? I'm hoping, if the
solenoid is replaced, it will fix that problem and the starting problem....
but just wondering if there could be any other things wrong....The solenoid
thing must work a bit cause the engine does start by itself if it has been
started in the last couple of hours....Does the solenoid thingy do any work
once the engine is running? Just thought that if we had to bypass it to
start the stater motor, then it never really gets used, therefore why does
it start it when the engine might be a little warmer?

On that last day out, I started using Unleaded petrol (the days previous to
that I was still using leaded). Some people say I may need a tune up once I
start using unleaded?

I'm really just trying to prepare before I contact the repair guy to fix
some stuff
The person that helped me start the engine is a mobile mechanic (doesn't
have a shop), I will probably call him to fix up the problems..... The
starting thing might be something that he can do on land.... but a tune up
and loss of power etc, that would have to be done in the water, is that
right?
Any views or help would be most appreciated

Regards
Glen