Johnson Evinrude Reviews

Informative, but not complete. It's like they don't won't the average, hard working man to know exactly how to fix everything wrong with his engine. I learned a lot, but still have to take the engine in for certain problems I'm sure I could do with my tools but the book gave incomplete information on how to fix. A book this at this price should give every detail on how to fix almost every problem with the engine it covers. Am I right?

I found this book to be a very good shop manual, as it includes most of the repair procedures anyone would want to perform. However, I found this book lacking in a couple of areas. For one, there is not a comprehensive troubleshooting section. Troubleshooting steps are given for a few systems, but this book is written only for service, so you have to know what is wrong and what part of the motor to work on before this book is useful. Also, much of the engine terminology is not defined, so again you need some experience with this before you start. Once you get past these hurdles, this manual is very detailed, with plenty of good pictures showing key steps in the repair proceedures. For the seasoned marine mechanic, this is an excellent reference. For the do-it-yourself boat owner, it might not be the place to start.

When I bought mine several years ago. There is a lot of good general information with some specifics, but don’t expect to be rebuilding a motor with this book if you haven’t done it before. One problem with this and other Chilton books is that they try to cover to broad a range and be everything to everybody in one book. This book has helped me solve a lot of problems or at least led me in the right direction but it won’t hold your hand and walk you through every detail. You will definitely want a good outboard troubleshooting guide to go with this book unless you are already familiar with outboard theory and have some experience.

Rodengen's facts are accurate and interesting, but I find the style of connected magazine articles to give too much redundancy. Background that was necessary for each magazine article is included over and over again in this book. The same point could be delivered with a book 60% to 70% the size. A lot of interesting information especially if you know little or nothing on this subject.

There are more pictures very nice ,the text it's clear and interessing book for history of Evinrude and Johnson motor outboard and other products.

It is hard to write about a company with roots 90 years in the past and not have it be a Legend. The Evinrude and Johnson Families were pioneers in an era when people with autos were a minority. People today who can't imagine life with out television, think an outboard motor has always been on the back of a fishing boat. Jeffery Rondengen takes you from these early days with the people who helped define summer recreation for many around the world, to the dependable, quiet, easy to use outboard of today. I was fascinated to see how the motors evolved, though at times it was like looking at an advertising brochure. It was obvious OMC was involved in the production, but what would you expect of a book about there company. I found it to be an easy read and profusely illistrated, But I found a few cases of confusion with what motors were being written about. A section about a three cylinder outboard was illistrated by a V-6, In the Outboards at War section, the 50 HP Army Storm Boat Motor was illistrated by a nine point seven, and a twenty two horse power outboard.

These minor errors aside, I enjoyed the book because it brought back memories of summer fun I had with several of the models mentioned. The pictures are great, it may help some find out just how old there Johnson, Elto, or Evinrude really is.

it showed me enough info and in a way i could understand. i had a small job (which got larger as i got into it)to do on my trusty old 8hp motor for my sailboat,and i found all the info i needed to take it apart and fix it and more important to put it back together again . i recommend this book to anyone who needs to do a job that they dont want to pay someone else to do, good photos help a lot. ...........martin

This is an essential reference guide that cover a wide variety of outboard motors. It might not be specific enough for the more serious repairs, but is good enough to point you in the right direction. The trouble shooting section was informative and concise although I had a problem that was not listed.

Mechanicaly I found this book to be decent enough for my 1993 90 hp Evinrude. Electricaly about 75 percent of the wiring diagram matches the motor. Color codes for the wiring are off, I would say this is due to trying to cover too many different engines with one diagram.

I have had the book for one night and have already solved my problem. Reading through the troubleshooting section on voltage regulators for my 70 Horse was like reading about my own experience...It hit every symptom.

This book has more information than you will probably ever need. The book is organized very well and has plenty of pictures. The only downside is it fails to give you enough tips to make the job easier. For example: I used the book to replace my water pump housing on my 1993 70hp. It went into good detail about rebuilding the pump and removing the lower unit, but failed to tell you how to position the shifter rod so it would be easy to reconnect. Little things like this make a big difference to me. The troubleshooting section is first rate by the way.

I ordered this book May 12th. When I followed up on June 6th, I was informed the order was automatically cancelled due to a shortage of books. It would have been nice to know this or at least be informed the order is on backlog. No communication.

Ironically, the web site still claims there are "only" 5 copies left (better hurry and order!) Seems I saw that message when I ordered the book 3 week ago

Bad online experience. I was really looking forward to this book.

Dave H.

I ordered the Seloc Manual for the 1.5 to 40 HP Johnsons thinking it would probably be a nice companion to the "other" manual I already had. I was wrong - - the other one is nothing compared with this one. It gave me the know-how and confidence to go ahead and do major repairs as well as tune-ups etc. that I couldn't have done without it. It's just like having a master outboard repairman looking over my shoulder and giving me little hints and suggestions along the way. Lots of excellent photos, too which are extremely helpful. Totally recommended! I would actually give it 15 stars!

This book is one the repair shop will hate and one the outboard owner will like. A very thourough repair manual. Good know-how

I feel the book was written ok...just OK. I feel the biggest problem is that its too broad. Just when you are finally figuring out what your reading... its about the wrong engine size or year. I will have to admit that its probably as good as its going to get for a repair manual not bought from the dealer. Bottom line good for info, just not for a rebuild

Typical of Clymer outboard manuals-I have found this manual very useful. I'm not that mechanical and I appreciate the manual's attention to detail and for the numerous pictures and diagrams.

This book gives the bare minimum of information. The information recieved will direct you to another page/section where that information is incomplete. After all how can someone tuneup an engine without nomenclature/adjustment settings? I was expecting a lot more. Example;See illistration #4........There is no illistration #4!

I bought this book expecting my 1990 Johnson 88HP engine to be covered. This book does not even list any 88 HP Johnson engines. I am very dissappointed with it.

I'm afraid the authors, while seeming to desire catering to the novice, merely came across as condescending with their choice of phrasing. The book is not set up very intuitively, nor does it lend itself well to general troubleshooting. The troubleshooting offered is positioned in areas of focus that would be difficult to determine without considerable knowledge up front, as opposed to assisting in isolating a problem step-by-step. Further, instead of helping identify parts, etc., the authors seem to assume that you have a thorough overall knowledge of your particular motor, and offer no path to that information. In its defense, the book does go into great detail about disassembling and cleaning or rebuilding different devices and systems. But again, it doesn't help you determine problems, so who'd know what to disassemble? Sorry kids, but major thumbs down on this one.

This book helped in troubleshooting my problem but said absolutely nothing about how to fix it.

I purchased this book specifically to find out about the much maligned FICHT fuel injection system on my Johnson outboard. The FICHT system has had many recalls and I wanted to check up on it. Even though the cover shows a picture of a FICHT outboard and the year span of the book covers FICHT engines, I found no information. Whats up with that?