92 Evinrude 90hp Won't Start

jaydubya71

Cadet
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
11
Hello everyone, first of all, sorry for the long story but I feel its important to give you all of the background info.

I am a NEWBIE when it comes to boats and outboards, however, I am mechanically inclined.

I purchased a 1985 Sunbird 17.5' bowrider with a 1992 Evinrude 90hp (E90TLEND) a few months ago. When I bought it from the previous owner, he started it up for me, it ran, went into gear, the whole nine yards. About a week later, put it in the water, it started up and we idled out of the dock, got about 15 minutes into our maiden voyage and the overheat alarm went off. At the time, I had no idea that this was an overheating alarm, and i fiddled with the key to get it to shut off. Within a minute or two it came back on and when i looked back the engine was smoking pretty fierce. We limped it back to the dock where it finally cut out on me.

After researching this issue, and educating myself on why my motor would overheat, i realized I never noticed if the telltale was peeing water when I started it. I hooked the muffs up and attempted to start the motor. It wouldn't start. I dropped the lower unit (had a hell of a time) and found the wp impeller curled up into a ball almost. Replaced the entire water pump housing, impeller, etc. Put the motor back together and tried to start the motor, wouldn't barely crank at all. Very slow.

Back to searching the forums..found that I need to clean all of the electrical connections to the battery, starter, and solenoid. Cleaned up all the connections real good and put back together. Still doing the same thing. Really slow to crank.

Neighbor suggested taking plugs out and try turning it over. Removed the plugs and it cranked like crazy. Put the plugs back in, did the same thing, barely cranked. Same neighbor then said that it might be the new water pump I installed. He seemed to think that the impeller may be too tall and was binding up motor. Told me to pull the plugs, put motor in gear and try to hand turn the prop, he said if it was really hard to turn , then it is the water pump. I have never done this on any outboard so i wasn't sure how to judge "really hard to turn". It seemed pretty difficult to turn and I could hear what sounded like rubber rubbing inside the lower unit. So i thought, well maybe I installed the pump incorrectly. So i pulled the lower unit and checked the water pump. I checked to be sure i installed it correctly, which i did, and i added a little marine grease to the impeller and stainless cup to add a little lubrication for the initial start up. Put it all back together and same results. Would barely turn the flywheel.

Did more searching on the forums and found that I need to test voltages and voltage drops on the battery, starter and solenoid. Had my battery tested. It tested out fine. Tested voltage drops and voltages at the starter and solenoid and determined (i think) that the starter was bad. Replaced the starter and charged my battery.

1st attempt at starting and it did 2 small turns on the flywheel and then 1 real good spin of the flywheel, engine ALMOST started but immediately cut off. Tried to start again, it did 2 little turns on the flywheel and that was about it. The battery lost all its juice. So i charged the battery back up, removed the plugs, and turned the flywheel by hand a few times. Still could hear the rubber rubbing in the lower unit but it seemed a little easier to turn. I had read somewhere on the forum that someone sprayed pb blaster into the cylinders, so i did that, hand turned the flywheel a few times put plugs back in and let it sit while the battery charged.

2nd attempt of starting, the starter turned the flywheel 2 little turns and then the engine started for a second and boom immediately died. Tried to start it a couple more times but battery ran out of cranking juice.

3rd attempt of starting, charged the battery once again and got same results. Each time, it seemed like the starter had a little easier time turning the flywheel. So i continued this process.

Prior to the 4th attempt, i was checking my control box and saw that the lever you pull up to open up the throttle only opened up the throttle a little bit. So i went to the motor and pushed the throttle all the way open. Tried to start the engine, it did the 2 little turns and wham! it started up with a huge roar, scared the hell out of me and I turned the key off. Tried to start it again and the battery was dead again. So i charged it up one more time, went thru the same steps, pushed the throttle all the way open, then i lowered the lever on the control box to about half-way, and attempted to start the motor. 2 little turns, and nothing.

This is so extremely frustrating and I am hoping you wonderful folks will have some insight for me.

Even though I had the battery tested and its supposedly fine, could the battery be the problem?

Did i overheat the engine too much and mess up the power head or the cylinders?

Could it be the WP impeller?

Thank you ahead to anyone who takes the time to read this and offer suggestions,

Jeremy
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
38,881
Do a compression test.----Are you mixing gas and oil at 50:1 on it.
 

jaydubya71

Cadet
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
11
I’ve never done a compression test. Not sure if I have the tool to do it. I’ll research it on the forum and do a compression test within the next day or so.

Yes using 50:1 gas/oil mix.
 

jaydubya71

Cadet
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
11
So I didn’t feel confident in the voltage drop testing I did and I did another voltage drop test and found I’m losing 3-5 volts between the battery and the “incoming” terminal on the solenoid. Battery cable is corroded I think because the connections are clean and tight. What kind of battery cable do I buy? Is there a special marine grade kind? Or can I use regular auto battery cable?
 

jaydubya71

Cadet
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
11
Took it to Advanced auto parts store. They said it was fine and was actually putting out more cranking amps than listed on battery.
 

jaydubya71

Cadet
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
11
Also after trying to start the motor a few times even though it seemed to lose power the battery still measured 12+ volts. The positive battery cable was getting hot at the battery terminal and also at the solenoid terminal.
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,771
Cables getting hot says you have dirty/corroded connections. You also cannot continuously crank a non-starting engine. The starter needs a cool-down period. 10 or 15 second cranks is about max with a couple minute cool down. If an engine doesn't start in 10 - 15 seconds -- it won't if cranked longer. Do you have a battery with enough capacity (CCA) for this engine? Doesn't matter if it is charged fully -- a battery too small will not spin the engine fast enough to fire. Are you using the primer function while cranking (pushing in on the key while cranking). Fast idle lever needs to be 1/3 - 1/2 up for cold starts).
 

jaydubya71

Cadet
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
11
Cables getting hot says you have dirty/corroded connections. You also cannot continuously crank a non-starting engine. The starter needs a cool-down period. 10 or 15 second cranks is about max with a couple minute cool down. If an engine doesn't start in 10 - 15 seconds -- it won't if cranked longer. Do you have a battery with enough capacity (CCA) for this engine? Doesn't matter if it is charged fully -- a battery too small will not spin the engine fast enough to fire. Are you using the primer function while cranking (pushing in on the key while cranking). Fast idle lever needs to be 1/3 - 1/2 up for cold starts).

Yes, that is the process I am using. 10-15 seconds cranking. waiting a few minutes in between to try again.

Label on my battery says 550 CCA - is that enough?

Yes, using primer function, and yes Fast idle at 1/2 up

Going to investigate the positive battery cable for corrosion tonite. all connections to battery, solenoid, ground and starter have been wire brushed and are clean and shiny :) however i did notice this morning when i briefly looked at the battery for CCA rating, that the pos battery cable is exposed slightly where it is connected to the connector that attaches to the battery and the copper looks old and possibly corroded.
 

jaydubya71

Cadet
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
11
Update: replaced battery cable and now the starter spins the flywheel like a top! She wouldn’t turn over though so going to check for gas, spark and compression. Thank you everyone for your help. This forum is awesome!
 
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