1999 Johnson 50 Question

Found a used boat with a 1999 Johnson 50hp 3 cylinder motor on it. Yes or no on the motor guys? Any comments? Is this a de-tuned 70hp motor? thx

2 stroke or 4 stroke? I have a 2000 Evinrude 4 stroke 3 cylinder. As I understand it OMC (Johnson & Evinrude) did not make 4 strokes, they put their labels on Suzuki outboards. My Evinrude is a very good motor. Quiet, smooth, easy starting and easy on the gas.

If this is a 3 cylinder, I’m thinking it was the 4 stroke version as I believe the 1999 2 strokes were 2 cylinders. Most (all?) of these early gen Johnson/Evinrude 4 strokes were Suzukis.

The idea that larger HP outboards were detuned to make them into a lower HP model with the same displacement is almost completely urban legend. For example, the myth has persisted for years that you could make an OMC 9.9 into a 15 just by reaming out the main jet. In fact, despite having the same displacement, the carb on a 15 is completely different and much larger. In many cases the manifolds and other key parts are also different, so essentially there’s a lot more to an engine’s HP than the bore and stroke. A 50 HP is a 50 HP because it was designed to be a 50.

Grouse

Thanks for the replies guys and my mistake not saying this is a 2-stroke motor. Most of us older guys are familiar with the two clyinder version 50hp but this one looks like a 60hp and 70hp version. Here’s a link to it: http://desmoines.craigslist.org/boa/4480573704.html

And yes while the displacement maybe the same of some motors it is more than jets. That why I put de-tuned in quotes, to account for the urban legend factor.

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Found a used boat with a 1999 Johnson 50hp 3 cylinder motor on it. Yes or no on the motor guys? Any comments? Is this a de-tuned 70hp motor? thx

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That was a great motor,and the decals look like it may be a 1997 or 1998.For a few years,OMC DID make a 2 and 3 cylinder motor.The 50 3-cylinder was underrated,and would pull away from any other 50.I ran one of those,and it was a lot smoother running vs the 2-cylinder.

I’d go for it if everything checks out good.