115 Evinrude timing question

[macguyverr]

I may have dug a deeper hole than I had thought. First I had no spark on three cyl. and after taking the spark plugs out during the test I now have good spark on all cyls. My new question is sort of confusing or maybe not. When this whole mess with my motor started on the lake with stalling imediately when put in gear, me not knowing a hill of beans about this motor, I started messing with what I now think would be the timing advance. Of course this started my blind venture into outboard oblivion. First we took a compression check and found that two of the plug holes needed heilcoil. Did that and changed the plugs. The compresssion was good on all four. Also bought and changed the fuel line and bulb. At this stage the motor started and ran, but with a bad miss. At this point I got discuraged and let the boat sit. Family wanted to go out really bad this summer so I got into it again. This is where my original post started. I had two cracked coils and carbs. were gummed up. So I rebuilt the carbs and replaced the two coils. At this point I figured that she would start right up. Yeah Right!?! First thing I thought of was fuel so I checked and re-check and everything seemed in order. I the got the spark tester, dva adapter, and started into the land of confusion. So after this book, my next question would be that if I had threw the timing out of wack but engine started with bad miss, then let it sit, then did the carbs and coils, could the changing of the coils and the rebuild of the carbs combined with the timing being off keep my engine from starting?

 

[GatorMike]

Re: 115 Evinrude timing question

I'm going to make a suggestion, keep in mind that I am not the expert these other guys are. I have rebuilt a couple of crossflow 115s. I had no problem tearing them down and rebuilding the engines and carbs but when It came to timeing and the ignition system that is where I got myself into trouble. I spent a lot of time and money screwing with the first one and never got it right until I found that for a small investment I could have an outboard mechanic tune it up. The second outboard I rebuilt I started it and spent 10 mins trying to get it running right before I took it to a local mechanic. In less than an hour and for around $50 he has it running sweet. I think being a novice you are risking more damage by screwing with that timeing than it would ever cost you to take it to a mechanic.

 

[mikeyzx2]

Re: 115 Evinrude timing question

I agree with Gator, I would have a certified outboard mechanic time that motor, cause the timing has to be set at WOT, and it really needs to be done in a tank with a test wheel, to be safe. It can be done at a launch strapped to trailer, but that can turn to be more of a hassle or nuisance.

 

[kevin88]

Re: 115 Evinrude timing question

I tend to agree with everyone else after battling with my own for over 6 hours. If you have the $60 for labor take it to a marine specialist. I just burned a brand new power pack because I never tested the coils to see if they were bad. And well, the bad coil fried the pack after just 2 hours of run time.

 

[macguyverr]

Re: 115 Evinrude timing question

Thanks guys for the input. Fortunatly I read Gator's post before getting into it. Insted of messing with the timing I thought it might be a good idea to just check the timing without adjusting and the strange thing is that I could not see the marks with #1 at all in fact they were 180 degrees off. Does anyone know what the firing order is on this motor? I checked the #3 wire with the light and it was on the marks?!!

 

[kevin88]

Re: 115 Evinrude timing question

on my 1975 v4 when looking directly at the plugs the cyliners are numbered...<br /><br />2 .. 1<br />4 .. 3<br /><br />I beleive that #1 and #3 should both fire on the timing marks on your newer crossflow motor. I'm assuming that's what you have.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: 115 Evinrude timing question

Once again I am not an expert but I can only think of 2 ways the timing gets way, way off. Either the woodruff key under the flywheel has sheared or someone has crossed some of the ignition coil wires. Other than that it should be somewhat close I think. Someone correct me if I am wrong.