Johnson GT200 or Plain ol' 200...How do I tell??

[Tolly]

I just bought my first outboard powered boat recently and I am having trouble finding someone who can tell me exactly what motor I have. The title says it's an 86' Evinrude 200, however the cowl that is on it says it's a Johnson GT200. I bought it at an estate sale and one of the family members there told me that it was originally an Evinrude 200 but the powerhead was replaced with a Johnson GT200. Can anybody help me figure this deal out??? What is the difference between the plain 200's and the GT and XP 200's, and are these good motors? The boat is a 20' Taylor and has a CNC hydraulic jackplate. I primarily bought it for cruising and skiing. Also, could someone tell me what this motors optimal operating RPM range is? Thanks in advance.

[RiverForUs]

Tolly,
As far as I know, the experts here is So. Cal on Evinrudes/Johnsons are Alan and John Stoker at John's Custom Marine. It's the banner at the top of this page. Just click on the banner for their phone number. A few minutes on the phone with either one of them should get you all the info. you're looking for.
Good Luck

[Forkin' Crazy]

Tighter lower engine mounts, louvered cowling, large bore carbs and slightly tighter cylinder heads. This is an awesome platform for a highperformance motor, as far as modifications go. It has a bridgeport configuration that was only found on the 86 and 87 models. Those carbs are larger than the later model 225 carbs I think.
I would think 6000 would be tops. Much after that it would be running out of power.
You would have more power (torque) if you had the later 3.0L model with the finger ports. Better on a heavy boat anyway.

[Tolly]

I called John's Custom Marine and he said he really couldn't help me without looking at, and it sounded like he was pretty busy so I didn't want to keep him tied up on the phone.
How do I know if it has the bigger carbs? Can I measure the throttle body size to find out, and if so what diameter are standard 200hp carbs vs. GT carbs?
I think I am going to go ahead and keep it through the summer and see how well we like it if I can get it running right. It doesn't want to idle after it gets warm so I have to cruise through no wake zones at about 1800rpm, and that tends to piss people off sometimes. It also usually dies whenever I shift into reverse and give it some gas, and whenever I want to really get on it I have to ease into it or it will die and is very hard to start afterwords. I am new to this outboard thing, and right now I am starting to miss my Carlson and Berkely, but I am going to try the big outboard through the summer and see how it goes.
Thanks

[Forkin' Crazy]

Sounds like it is lean. Push the key in and see what it does. Might need the carbs cleaned. How long has it been sitting?

[Forkin' Crazy]

There should be a place on the block somewhere that has the model numbers on it (freeze plug, etc). If you can find it, I have a book I can look it up in.
You might also try this question on screamandfly.com's tech forum (http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=20)
[ July 06, 2003, 12:48 AM: Message edited by: Forkin' Crazy ]

[Tolly]

Thanks Forkin', I will see if I can find some numbers on it somewhere and get back to ya. The boat has been sitting for about a year or so, and all I did was drain the old gas and change the lower unit oil before going to try it out. I have not tried pushing in the key while running, I didn't even know you could do that. I have thought all along it was probably starving for gas, I just didn;t really know where to start looking. Whenever I try and run the boat hard an alarm "beeeeeeeep" will go of when I hit about 5000rpm and it will start to fall on it's face. Whenever I back off of it it seems to run fine. Thanks again for the info!!