1981 Evinrude 115 Very hard to start HELP

[fsujack21]

I bought a Mako CC with a 1981 Evinrude 115hp in july. According to the guy who ran the Marina that was storing the boat, the woman who I purchased it from had the boat dry docked there for over 18 months.

Before I purchased it I checked the compression and it was between 110 and 115 on all cylinders. When I brought it home I changed the primer bulb, fuel lines from tank to engine, the water separator, drained the tank and added fresh 50:1 mix. I threw some muffs on and it started in less than 5 min.

As this season went on it has gotten harder and harder to start. After it is warm it runs like a champ. I always add stabil and startron to the fuel. It has gotten so bad that it takes me 45 min to and hour to get it to start. I burnt out 1 starter solenoid already and am hoping to fix this before I burn out the starter also.

I have inspected the butterflies and they appear to be shutting tight. I recently seafoamed the engine, which made it idle better when warm and it sounds great but it didn't improve the starting problem.

My starting procedure that I learned on a posting from here is as follows:After squeezing the primer bulb until it gets hard, I have an old Morse control so I put it in neutral and advance the throttle about a 3rd of the way. I then push in the key switch choke in the on position for a 5-7 count then attempt to start it. It turns over but doesn't cough or anything. I keep trying by slightly adjusting the throttle or re-squeezing the primer bulb(which always gets softer) until eventually after fighting with it, it fires up. It sometimes cuts out quickly but after it gets warm it will run terrific. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!? PLEASE HELP! This is driving me nuts.

Thanks for any help in advance

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1981 Evinrude 115 Very hard to start HELP

It's possible that the choke solenoid is not functioning. When you depress the key for choke, that solenoid should pump a small amount of extra fuel directly into the 4 powerhead bypass covers. If the solenoid doesn't work, the engine is almost impossible to cold start. Pull the fuel primer hose off the one of the bypass covers, turn the key to on, squeeze the primer bulb, then push in on the key switch. You should get fuel pulses squirting out of that small hose.

 

[fsujack21]

Re: 1981 Evinrude 115 Very hard to start HELP

Thanks for the quick response. I'll give that a try tomorrow.

 

[fsujack21]

Re: 1981 Evinrude 115 Very hard to start HELP

I have a johnson 175 parts motor that appeared to have the same choke solenoid so I swapped it out and still had the same issue. I did try flipping the red switch on the solenoid and it fired up pretty quickly. So I'm guessing that the other solenoid is defective as well? I was looking at some part suppliers and I can't seem to find anyone who makes that aftermarket part. Any suggestions where to find one?

 

[ezeke]

Re: 1981 Evinrude 115 Very hard to start HELP

Remember that the primer solenoid is just a switch that controls a valve and does not create any fuel pressure on its own.

The fuel pressure comes from squeezing the primer bulb and/or from the fuel pump. You should try pushing the key in while you crank rather than before you crank; it often works better.

Typical instructions from the owner's manual are shown in the thumbnail.

 

[demon1]

Re: 1981 Evinrude 115 Very hard to start HELP

mine has that problem but there is no power coming out of the key switch on the terminal "c"
.havent fixed it yet but you could put in a pushbutton switch to fix it if thats all thats wrong. im sure that would be cheaper than a new solenoid and if the switch is bad a new solenoid wont fix it anyway