Re: 1961 Evinrude LarkIII 40hp
I just got a boat for free and plan on restoring it, pulled the floor and seats.Tried to fire up the motor and would not start.It is electric start tried to get that running, but power and ground wires are very corroded, so we tried pull it..gass gettin to filter, checked and replaced filter..spark at plugs, lots of compression..There are wires running to the side of the motor, not sure what this device is?? is it some sort of electric fuel pump and vacuum?? does it need power to start manually??There is a bulb under the carb that the choke pushes on, is this a primer bulb, if so does not feel like gas is in this bulb...any ideas on where to go next, this is first outboard i have ever worked on, so any help would be appreciated.
The "bulb" under the carb is probably your electric choke. should be wired to a choke switch. Some carbs that era had a fuel filter in a glass bowl with a stone filter in them. You might know that now that you have a book.
Also The engine does not need power to run. Only the choke solenoid and electric shift if you have it. DO NOT POWER THE COILS.
The two black wires kill the ignition if grounded or connected together. They connect on the coil side of each of the points, and short together in the off position at the ignition switch.
So eliminate them as a problem by disconnecting them on the engine. One is hooked to the center post of the cut out switch, take it off and wrap it so it doesn't ground. (I slipped a piece of hose over mine.) The other has a "knife connection", it is routed under the starter. Slip the covering sleeve off, disconnect and isolate/insulate it too. (mind you will have no kill switch.)
Make sure the vacuum line to the cut out switch is good. (you don't need any vacuum leaks.) It connects to the intake manifold so that if the engine overruns (lost prop etc.) causing high vacuum making the switch connect the center post to the switch housing internally and grounding the one black wire through the the white wire that should be connected to the fourth terminal on the starter solenoid.
The second white wire connected at the cut out switch housing goes to a safety switch under the flywheel that is open at idle and closed at high throttle by a cam on the stator plate. This switch stops the starter from cranking if the throttle is too far opened. (preventing overrun also.)
The cam will stop it from shifting at high throttle and limits throttle in neutral and reverse.
There might be a brown wire that connects to a temperature sensor in the head that makes ground when hot. It connects to a dash mounted light that gets power from the ignition switch. I don't know what the terminal is labeled but it's the only one that gets power in the run position.
You do not need any wires to start this motor if you have the rope starter installed. But the electric start is so much easier.
If you still can't start it... you either have low compression, bad spark, clogged carburetor or bad butterfly valves. (Mine had low compression due to the wrong spark plugs with too much reach, breaking on the piston top, scoring the cylinder and damaging the piston.) I didn't do it.
These engines are so basic, they want to run. It's getting power out of them that can be tricky.
