Johnson CD-15 Seized Swivel Assembly

[aquasonic]

I recently bought a Johnson CD-15 that has been sitting on a basement floor for the last 40 years. Many of the moving parts were stuck and have since been freed up. The only problem now is the stuck swivel assembly.

This motor has had very little servicing work done to it over the years, and the swivel assembly may have only had grease from the factory. There was no paint missing from the grease fitting.

Thus far, I have been using penetrating oil and attempting to pump grease into the fitting, but not much seems to go into the swivel tube. I have also been applying heat with a heat gun as opposed to a torch in order to save the original paint.

Does anyone have any tips on freeing up the assembly, or will this most likely have to be disassembled? Thanks.

Improvise-Adapt-Overcome

[outboard315]

On most swivel mounts there is a tension bolt or brake that can be adjusted, but I am not familiar with this motor.

[fleetwin]

This can be tough, forcing it can result in damage…Even if you free it up, you will probably need to disassemble it to get it cleaned and properly lubed….Using heat will make a mess and melt the bushings. I’m sure you are planning to do a water pump job, so the powerhead has to be removed anyway…I guess I would just pull it apart, no big deal pulling the swivel assembly off the exhaust housing….All that being said, it can be tricky to figure out how to get the steering arm out of the swivel housing when it is stuck….

[aquasonic]

Well, I kinda figured disassembly was the best option. I was trying to avoid it, but I’ll make that part of the servicing when the powerhead is off. Sound advice. Thanks fleetwin.

Improvise-Adapt-Overcome

[1946zephyr]

Yea, I agree about removing the swivel assembly. I wouldn’t risk breaking the rubber mounts. Those babies are expensive.

[david-bartlett]

I just freed up a Super Fastwin steering column. Patience, Heat, Penetrant did the trick. I used a torch, but a heat gun, or even some boiling water would work.

Lots of oxidation inside when I got it apart, but it will clean up fine. Nothing broken.

[johnyrude200]

I bought an old 10hp evinrude, ’59 model last year that was owned by a finish woodworker. Well, he stored the motor in his barn where he milled and cut wood everyday, for about 5 years, exposing it to all sorts of fine wood particles. We all know how good saw dust is at absorbing oil, or any mosture for that matter. That motor was so dry, it was almost seized at the powerhead (didn’t dare try to turn it over without adding oil once I got it home). The swivel bracket was stuck like cement. Oil and it had phenomenal compression, and I actually saw the customer using it on Lake Winni later that year (22 y.o. – WAY too small for a lake that size!).

I used a propane torch (only throws about 300-400° of heat, well below any hot temperatures but enough to make things expand) and a generous amount of PB Blaster. The trick is to have the motor clamped down (via the stern bracket/bunny ears) firmly, so that your holding fixture can’t move an inch. I used a block of wood and 5lb mini sledge to hit the motor near the aft of the lower cowel. Recall these motors look very boxy. The further away from the fulcrum/point of axis (i.e. swivel bracket), the more force applied. This is dry lock, not a mechanical lock, so even after a couple of strikes, it budged about a 1/4 inch.

Kept working my way back and forth on each side, add blaster, add heat. Until eventually the old grease, which was basically like plastic, started getting loose again. This took the better half of an hour but by the time I was done I actually had to tighten down the swivel friction screw (in the front of the stern bracket) to give it a little bit of friction. I could literally use my pinky to rotate the motor.

I run into these issues a lot refurbishing these 40 year old motors. Most of the time the swivel brackets can be freed up with some elbow grease (pun intended), but if the stern clamps are frozen badly, just plan on drilling them out, retapping, and starting fresh. If the tilt screw is frozen, you may be out of luck too. A lot of heat and grease and you might get lucky.

To other’s point – don’t hold the heat over/near any plastic or rubber grommets for obvious reasons.

[1946zephyr]

I freed up a couple old Mercs before. Oooooohhhhh the joy. 😀 😀

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