6hp questions

[gearheadinWI]

Hi I am new here and a bit clueless as of yet but I promise I will catch on.<br /><br />I have a few motors on need of repair, they were used as rentals and are quite beat and having compression issues. We will start with my first project a 6hp Evinrude model 6RL-71E serial J3392118 I believe after digging around here that this is a 1971 model, I just want to be sure of this before I order a manual for it.<br /><br />How skilled does one need to be to rering this motor and give it a basic refreshing? I am very comfortable around cars and know the inner workings of engines 2 and 4 stroke, have a decent set of tools and am always looking for something to learn. If it is just a few basic tools I may need to buy then I may go for it, if I need something expensive I realize it may just be better to write it off as a loss.<br /><br />If this goes well my parents have another 6hp this time a Johnson(same motor?) that also has compression issues and an 18hp Evinrude that will need some cooling system work and a tuneup, I will save the details on those for a later date.<br />Thanks in advance, this looks like a great source of info and I can already see myself spending too much time here .

 

[DJ]

Re: 6hp questions

gearhead,<br /><br />Before you re-ring anything. Do this.<br /><br /> http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=000016 <br /><br />As for the difficulty of a rebuild, it's not bad at all. I would not attempt it without a manual though. They are a cheap guide. One manual might cover all your engines.<br /><br /><br /> http://www.outboardrepairs.com/manuals/

 

[alcan]

Re: 6hp questions

Hi Dwayne<br />Working on outboards can be fun, they are fairly simple small motors. Your 6hp models are quite popular. There are tons of them around. Re-ringing is not all that tough a job by itself. The trouble with doing this type of work is you don,t have to do much to spend more on parts than the motor is worth. You can buy all the used, good running,6hp motors you want for $300. or less. A good service and tune can cost $150 in parts. So for me the challenge is not only if I can make the repairs,but if I can obtain the needed parts and stay with in the street value of the motor.

 

[gearheadinWI]

Re: 6hp questions

I do think one manual will do it I just wnated to confirm the year before ordering a manual. I also plan to get a manual first then play a bit and see if I can find the issue. I realize it may be simple like a head gasket or carbon, the rings thing came from a guy my Dad had look at them, that guy also told him the rings were $60 a hole plus other parts and labor. I looked them up here and they are a bit cheaper than that to say the least.

 

[gearheadinWI]

Re: 6hp questions

OK guys I ran a quick cold compression check and got about 70psi each, seems like that is a tad low but acceptable given I have not decarboned it yet. I suspect there may be a head gasket problem since if I pulled both plugs compression was about 60psi each and when I put a plug in hole I was not testing each would come up to 70psi. Given the small displacement this might matter, but I am using a compression gauge I got for automotive use and the hose on it is fairly long and large, think that would make the compression read a tad lower than it would with a direct gauge? I plan to do the decarboning as best I can with it not running, I checked the spark and there was none so now I know why it will not run.<br />I will order the manual tonight, in the meantime anything simple to look for on the lack of spark?<br /><br />There is absolutely nothing I grabbed the plug and pulled and din't even get a tickle. Once I get the manual I know it will help me honestly am lost on carbs and points(more comfortable with injection) so this will be a learning experiance.

 

[gearheadinWI]

Re: 6hp questions

If I may ask one more question, please be pateint the other motors are 250miles north of me so I had to get someone else to do the looking for me, I can't see through the phone . While ordering the manual I just wanted to go ahead and get an impeller for one of the other motors, problem is my Dad could not find a model number only a serial which is 18304AE0004090, if anyone can by some chance tell me what year that is I would be grateful, I realize that the model number is the right way to tell though. Also I looked at the parts list hoping that maybe all 18hps used the same impeller so I would not have to worry about year but to my dissapointment all that was listed was 53-65 for that power rating and if I were to guess I would say it is similar in year to my 6hp, any explaination?

 

[bubbakat]

Re: 6hp questions

gear head if I am reading this right the model number you seek in on the first of the number he gave you.<br /><br /><br />1973 18304 <br /><br />I'll see if I can locate you a number for the impeller.

 

[gearheadinWI]

Re: 6hp questions

Oh I see, he even had my sister come out and look and she thought it was one big serial number, guess it didn't help that the boat was in the water so I am sure access to the tag was poor. If you ever get this far north I think I owe you an adult beverage of some sort.<br /><br />I plan to order most parts from here in order to support the forum that will be of much help in these projects, plus the format makes things pretty easy, but are there any particular places that I could look for the parts that they don't seem to carry here or stuff that is out of stock?

 

[bubbakat]

Re: 6hp questions

You can get most parts for these engines from your local napa store. The sierra line

 

[gearheadinWI]

Re: 6hp questions

Well tuneup parts are here manual just arrived and I got a bunch of other odds and ends, wish me luck.

 

[gearheadinWI]

Re: 6hp questions

It's alive, along the way I found the top seal was shot, managed to get some advice from a local shop and the seal and replaced that, found a small amount of water in the lower unit, the screw gaskets look shot I need to pick up a package and that might be the only issue there. Looks like I need to put a carb kit in it and I will get my timing light back from a friend so I can time it. At any rate she will be out on the lake tomorrow. Given the age and such I just said the heck with it and replaced everything under the flywheel, I will try to determine what was bad and keep anything that checks out as spares because I have another one of these to repair. Oh and it fired on the first pull.

 

[bubbakat]

Re: 6hp questions

Don't you just love it when a good plan comes togeather.