1981 35hp evinrude. What to do next.

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Isaacsonnebe

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Hello I’m 15 years old and I bought a 1981 evinrude 35 hp electric start for $150. Compression readings are 115-120 and it has spark. Previous owner cut the controls so I’ve been jumping the starter. The ground wire for the solenoid is bad. Just curious as to what my next steps would be. Looking to sell it once I get it running. Any advice is welcome I just don’t know where I should go from here. Thanks for taking a look at it!
 

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jimmbo

jimmbo

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Welcome to iboats
One of the First things you should do, is make sure there is some Gear Oil in the Lower Unit. Next would be at minimum a new Water Pump Impeller. But before that, I would recommend a Factory Service Manual for that specific Year and Model of that engine:
 
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saltchuckmatt

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I've restored a bunch of those...for some reason I had to redo the wiring harness on the motor...wires rot out. Peel back some of the tape and look at the condition of the wires. Compression is good, now do a spark gap test...looking for a 3/8 gap test. Easy to sink to much money into these old gals when trying to make a profit. Max Rules Evinrude wiring layout for how to make a harness. Good luck.
 
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saltchuckmatt

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Crosbyman said:
ok your project is almost a modern engine with electronics and all but...it is the grand child of a long established community of oldies ( JOhnson RDs being cousins) and much of your servicing involves the same concepts incl.. stuff like carbutarors .

download yourself a copy of this free book even if it is not covering 1985 stuff.

Click to expand...
Those motors have different carBUTarators. Lol...to the 15 year old, might be a little confusing. I'll see if I have some newer info. Peace!
 
jimmbo

jimmbo

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An 81 would still use, a pretty much a basic old fashioned Carb, with a High Speed orifice, and a Adjustable Low Speed Needle, and a Choke Valve, not really much different from a mid 60s 40hp, except those Carbs had an Automatic Choke
 
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saltchuckmatt

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jimmbo said:
An 81 would still use, a pretty much a basic old fashioned Carb, with a High Speed orifice, and a Adjustable Low Speed Needle, and a Choke Valve, not really much different from a mid 60s 40hp, except those Carbs had an Automatic Choke
Click to expand...
Agreed, but points and condensers vrs pp and gearcase are the two biggest differences. Older ones slightly more finicky.

Books will always be good but there's SO much online now....schematics and advice.

That and I was poking fun at Crosbyman. 🤗🤓
 
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Isaacsonnebe

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saltchuckmatt said:
Those motors have different carBUTarators. Lol...to the 15 year old, might be a little confusing. I'll see if I have some newer info. Peace!
Click to expand...

saltchuckmatt said:
I've restored a bunch of those...for some reason I had to redo the wiring harness on the motor...wires rot out. Peel back some of the tape and look at the condition of the wires. Compression is good, now do a spark gap test...looking for a 3/8 gap test. Easy to sink to much money into these old gals when trying to make a profit. Max Rules Evinrude wiring layout for how to make a harness. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Ugh so I have to redo the whole wiring harness for one ground wire? It was probably wishful thinking but I hoped I wouldn’t have to do that. Thanks for the info
 
jimmbo

jimmbo

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Someone has already been messing in there and has shortened One Wire too much. Love the Mess on the Hot Solenoid Terminal.
The One Red wire, looks like it had gotten shorted to ground, got Hot, and melted the Insulation, since there there are other wires in the Harness, their Insulation may also be melted and may have also shorted, to each other, or to ground. At least you need to exam all wires in the Harness,
 
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Isaacsonnebe

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jimmbo said:
Someone has already been messing in there and has shortened One Wire too much. Love the Mess on the Hot Solenoid Terminal.
The One Red wire, looks like it had gotten shorted to ground, got Hot, and melted the Insulation, since there there are other wires in the Harness, their Insulation may also be melted and may have also shorted, to each other, or to ground. At least you need to exam all wires in the Harness,
Click to expand...
Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe that’s from rodent damage. I forgot to mention that there was an abandoned nest In it.
 
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saltchuckmatt

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Okay, still had the last harness for an 1981 35....not sure why but this is 3 that I've redone. I'm thinking maybe was hooked up backwards once but who knows. It's what's under the tape. This one ran but would cut out at high speed.
 

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Isaacsonnebe

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This is my 2nd post on here about my 1981 4”35hp electric start. I’m looking for advice on what to do next.
Pros✅
Has spark and good compression. Compression #’s are 115-120.
Starter works.
Long shaft
Shifts through its gears
Freshly rebuilt carb
No leaks
Prop In good condition
New shift handle
Cons ❌
Ground wire to the solenoid is bad.
Choke doesn’t function properly (you can use a screwdriver to choke it by pushing on the butterfly)
Unsure if it runs but told by previous owner it did.
Knob to the idle adjustment needle broke.
Unsure if it pumps water

I haven’t gotten it to start but I’ve been jumping the starter.
 

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saltchuckmatt

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Show us a video of you trying to start it. Knob is not nessesary really, how many turns out are you? Did you use OEM parts when rebuilding the carb? Install a new ground wire...is the neutral switch working correctly? Electric choke moving?

Answers these questions and we can see what we can offer.
 
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Isaacsonnebe

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saltchuckmatt said:
Show us a video of you trying to start it. Knob is not nessesary really, how many turns out are you? Did you use OEM parts when rebuilding the carb? Install a new ground wire...is the neutral switch working correctly? Electric choke moving?

Answers these questions and we can see what we can offer.
Click to expand...
I’m 3 ish turns out I counted the turns when I removed it and that’s where it was at. These don’t come with an electric choke it has a manual. The carb was rebuilt by previous owner but I was just inside of it the other day and I didn’t see anything out of order. I had it in neutral when I was jumping the starter but I switched to wrapping a cord around the flywheel because it was a little too much sparks for my liking. I haven’t even gotten to the solenoid wire yet but it’s very obviously corroded and bad.
 
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saltchuckmatt

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Isaacsonnebe said:
I’m 3 ish turns out I counted the turns when I removed it and that’s where it was at. These don’t come with an electric choke it has a manual. The carb was rebuilt by previous owner but I was just inside of it the other day and I didn’t see anything out of order. I had it in neutral when I was jumping the starter but I switched to wrapping a cord around the flywheel because it was a little too much sparks for my liking. I haven’t even gotten to the solenoid wire yet but it’s very obviously corroded and bad.
Click to expand...
Electric start typically has an electric choke, must be a tiller. If you have any sparks you should fix that.

Carb should be 1 1/2 turns out from lightly seated. Any more than a quarter turn either way typically means something's wrong.
 
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