I have a Johnson 115 2stroke, 2000 model. It won’t start. Upon turning the key, it is obvious that the starter motor is humming and spinning, but not spinning the engine. My first thought is that the gear on the starter motor will not “slide” up to engage the flywheel. Then, just to see if its a battery issue, we removed the battery, and jumped directly off of an F150 - to the boats battery leads. Even with the boat key romoved, there was massive sparking (yes polarity was correct) indicating a short circuit to the point that we couldn’t connect the jumper cable. We tried a few other way, and got the sparks and smoke. Maybe this indicates the solenoid is no good, or maybe the starter has a short in it somehow. Really, wanted second opinion before tearing out starter and replacing it, shortage of time if the reason to sell it in the first place.
“Ia Orana”