tired of being embarrassed,please help!

[bammers]

Hello. I am a newbie, and am SO relieved that I found this site. I hope you guys can help me. I have an evinrude (1972?) 50hp motor. My co-worker gave it to me. It starts fairly easily at home in the driveway. I also am usually able to start it after I put in at the ramp. When I put it into gear it tends to die unless I gun it and throw it in gear, but I'm sure that this is not good for the motor. That's the first problem that I am having. The second problem, and the most aggravating one, is that after I have driven it for a while and stopped and started a number of times the starter motor acts up and is sticking or something. My co-worker told me that when this happens he just manually twists the spindle thing (technical word, I know) and it unsticks. Well this used to work, but now it gets to a point after I am out for a while that it won't pop up period. When this happens I end up using my trolling motor to get back to the ramp. Once I get home and pull in the driveway I can turn the key and the motor starts right up! I don't get it! Is it a heat issue, or someone mentioned something about brushes in the starter. Any advice? Thanks.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: tired of being embarrassed,please help!

Well the issue on putting the motor in gear then it dies is most likely in the carburetors, they may need to be rebuilt and or linked and synced. My boat was doing the same thing at one time.

The starter problem: the starter may need to be rebuilt/replaced or the shaft may need some lube on it to help free up the gear where it will kick up and hit the flywheel. Just a thought try some lube on the gear and starter shaft and see if that helps, if this doesn't help it might be time for a new starter. I can't remeber if they had springs on those shafts or not now.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: tired of being embarrassed,please help!

The tapered spindle and the gear is usually just called the starter bendix gear assembly. If the starter is spinning fast as normal, the cause of the bendix gear sticking is usually that someone has greased it. Grease (or heavy oiling) collects dirt and dirt causes sticking.

Clean the bendix assembly with WD40 to eliminate the sticking.

If the starter does not spin as fast as it should at times, find out why and correct that problem..... faulty battery, loose or tight but dirty cable connections, something of that nature.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: tired of being embarrassed,please help!

set your idle speed up to 600-750 rpms in the water in gear. you are idling too low.

90% of starter problems are bad connections. remove and clean both ends of the battery cables, so that they are shiney, also the cable from the solenoid to starter. check for nicks in the cables. and make sure the connectors are on the wire good. the cable tend to corrode from the inside out, if nicked, corroded wires, and connections, heat up and cause resistance to the follow of electricity, thus the starter doesn't get enough. you can also take jumper cable pos battery post to large post on starter. with a good connection, the engine should spin. then if the starter is good clean everything and retest. then trouble shoot solenoid. starters can be rebuit at a starter/alternator shop, much cheaper than a new one.

also have the battery load tested at the auto parts store, free, i've had new batteries go bad

 

[GatorMike]

Re: tired of being embarrassed,please help!

Careful with that reving it up and craming it into gear. You will probably get away with it for a while, maybe even years but eventually something is going to break. I reciently went on a weekend fishing trip and had a shifting problem. I figured I could get away with running my motor that way for a couple of days. I figured at the worst I would wear down the clutch dog or forward gear... Wrong.... I ended up breaking the pinion gear off at the bottom of the drive shaft. Quite expensive.

 

[Randyg123]

Re: tired of being embarrassed,please help!

I have had all the same problems on my old Johnson. I am still working on the lync-n-sync issues but have worked out the starter problems.

If you go through the troubleshooting steps already provided and still seem to have starter issues try checking the voltage drop across each cable/component in the starter circuit. When I was having starter problems, everyone kept telling me that it seemed like my battery was not strong enough, but I tried several batteries and no change. I thought all my power connections were good from the battery to the solenoid, and then to the starter; as well as the battery to the engine ground. The cables all looked okay, they were clean (enough for me), and seemed physically intact. Looks can be deceiving.

I found in my manual a protocol to measure the voltage drop across each point in the power loop (like from one end of a cable to another) while cranking the motor. After checking each point and comparing it to the values listed in the manual I found that one cable was not good. Turned out to be the positive cable near the battery post connection where there was internal corrosion and fraying. I remedied that problem and everything was fine. Well...at least with the starter issues.

I am not an expert on these matter as others on this site so I would defer to their comments. I've gotten so much help here that I want to try to help someone myself! Good luck

 

[bammers]

Re: tired of being embarrassed,please help!

Thanks you guys for offering your help and so quickly! The starter motor does have a spring type thing on it, and I lubed the neck of it. I also used some baking soda and water to clean my battery terminals. Everytime I try to start it it fires right up, but that's in the driveway. I've got to get it to a lake and really test it. As far as adjusting the rpm's I've never done that before. when you say to adjust it to 600 to 750 rpm's how exactly do I go about doing that. I can see by the carbeurator the adjustment screws, but how do I know if it is at 600-750? Do I need some special kind of reader?
Again thank you for being so willing to help.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: tired of being embarrassed,please help!

To get the idle set just so, you need a tachometer that will work with your engine. However...if it's too low to allow you to shift, you can take it to the lake, pull the cowling, and start the engine. Turn the idle adjustment screw in (clockwise) about 1/8 turn and try shifting it into forward. If it idles OK, and doesn't die when you shift, you're in hog heaven. If not, do another 1/8 turn and try it again. Once you get it so it will idle after you've shifted, you're fine. It's not super critical, really.

Note: the idle speed adjustment screw will be on the side of the carburetor, and will press against a lever that controls the throttle plate opening. It's not the slow speed mixture adjustment screw. Look for the screw that has it point visible and pressing on a metal pad that operates a lever.

On the other hand, a dead cylinder can also cause an outboard to die when you shift, as can too low compression in one or both cylinders. Check the spark on all spark plug wires and do a compression test. There are instructions for both in the FAQ section of the Engine section here.

If the engine is running OK once you manage to get it into gear, though, an idle adjustment will probably do the trick.

 

[Solittle]

Re: tired of being embarrassed,please help!

And start hiunting for a OMC shop manual specific to your engine.

 

[iwombat]

Re: tired of being embarrassed,please help!

If it's a new motor to you you need to do four simple things, or you could be chasing your tail trying to figure out what's going on. Just do it out of hand, and you'll know what's good and what isn't. It's real peace of mind.

1) Rebuild the carbs
2) Install a new water pump
3) Change the lower unit oil
4) New spark plugs

Of course, this is all pretty pedestrian when aided by an OEM service manual.