1959 10 horsepower seahorse, what is this hose?

[itsarunner]

I have a 1959 10 horsepower Seahorse I recently bought. Brought it home, hooked up a fuel line and it started right up. I notice there is a small 1/4" hose that comes from just behind the carb on what I would call the intake or block. The hose isn't connected to anything and it is not plugged.

The engine needs a tuneup, basically runs ok, but at low speed, it backfires occasionally and when it does, I see a small amount of air/fuel come out this hose.

This engine has a fuel pump, the first year they were offered, but were not on all of them. I am not sure this was factory and was wondering if this extra hose was the part of the old two hose system that went to the fuel tank.

Also, when i put it in gear, forward works ok, but in reverse, the prop doesn't move at all. You think it is an adjustment or something broken in the lower end?

Thanks for any help,

Larry

 

[rolmops]

Re: 1959 10 horsepower seahorse, what is this hose?

That little hose is the hose that used to be part of the 2 hose pressurized tank system.Yours has been changed to a pump system.
As for the reverse gear question,Just drop the lower unit and move the shift rod by hand.If you can get it to go in reverse that way,it is an adjustment on the top end.If not, it is time to check the bottom end

 

[itsarunner]

Re: 1959 10 horsepower seahorse, what is this hose?

Wow, that was quick!

Do I need to plug that hole or just leave it open? Seems like it would be sucking in air making the carb not work just right.

 

[rolmops]

Re: 1959 10 horsepower seahorse, what is this hose?

There is a check valve system behind the hole that only allows a a small amount of gasses to exit that hole.So it does not greatly influence performance,unless the check valve is bad,then you will start sucking air and make your combustion mixture far too lean.This causes sneezing and it will set up your engine.But before you plug it up,you must make sure that you are not looking at your drain valve assembly which is also located down there.The best thing to do is to get a manual
The sneezing can also be caused because your carb needles are to far opened and that will also cause sneezing.Close the needle a little bit while running the boat on the water and see if it goes away.
Good luck.

 

[itsarunner]

Re: 1959 10 horsepower seahorse, what is this hose?

Rolmops, you are the best! I plugged the hose and it idles down a lot better. It still needs a tune up, but it will idle and starts easily now.
Thanks for your help, Larry