1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

[SEABIRD225]

Hi, I bought a boat with an Evinrude 1987 225 and after some priming and fuel line parts was able to get the motor running. Took the boat to the lake this weekend and ran the boat. I ran out about 2 miles. All seemed well and then the boat lost power, started knocking and stopped.
Got the boat back to shore and let sit overnight. Found water in fuel. Cleaned fuel lines, drained and flushed carbs. Started motor and let it run for about 5 seconds and killed it. Tried to start it again and it locked up.
Question 1. Could water in fuel cause this? 2. Is this engine worth the effort of an overhaul. 3. Any other possibilities that could explain this symptom.
Motor is on a 22 ft. Sea Bird bay boat. I hope to get problem resolved and begin restoring the boat. Any info would be great.

 

[oldrudedude]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

What do you mean "locked up"? (seized?) Can you turn the flywheel by hand?

 

[SEABIRD225]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

It is extremely difficult to turn by hand. It will not complete a full revolution. I noticed some slack in the flywheel as well.... possible rod bearings. Head bolts are stuck too. Problem is definitely islolated to the power head, The lower unit works in fwd, rev and free in neutral. I cant remove the heads, however I think there is cylinder damage. Sounds like lots of money!

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

Yes sir it does, sounds like you need to tear it apart to figure out what is wrong as well, no easy fix here!

 

[SEABIRD225]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

Thanks, Looks like i'm going to earn my wings drilling out broken head bolts. Penetrating oil, ratchets, wrenches, and impact wrench with no luck. Just going to break them off and drill and tap.

Also get a second job to pay for the parts I am going to need. Have a good evening.

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

No man, don't snap em and drill, that's messy. You need to remove that powerhead, remove all the accessories and wires and heat things up to remove the bolts.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

Teardown time. Could be more to fix than the motor is worth. Might be better looking for a replacement motor in good condition.
Did you test run and check the motor out before you bought it ???
Just a thought.

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

A 225 eh, there's a used one on fleabay for 3700 plus shipping, no matter what it won't be cheap.

 

[SEABIRD225]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

Im willing to try anything. For now I am just going to be in mourning. I've only had the boat for 10 days. I have completely rewired the instrument panel, new batteries, lighting, etc. Probably 40 hours of work on getting to the point of testing at the lake. At least I got to ride about two miles out before the meltdown. Luckily my dad was out as well and gave me a tow.
Thanks for the reply's. 7 days of self pity and mourning and then I will tackle this problem with a vengeance!

 

[jpwade_bsu]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

Im willing to try anything.

drop the lower unit, and then try turning the flywheel by hand, if it spins freely do a compression check to get an idea of the powerhead condition

joe

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

VRO still hooked up ??? been replaced with an OMS ???? or are you premixing ???
Just asking as I saw nothing mentioned about lubrication.

 

[SEABIRD225]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

Teardown time. Could be more to fix than the motor is worth. Might be better looking for a replacement motor in good condition.
Did you test run and check the motor out before you bought it ???
Just a thought.

I trusted someone. Seller told me the boat was in running condition and was used 4 months prior to the sale. Will not make that mistake again.

 

[SEABIRD225]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

Reply regarding VRO. It has been removed. Premixed gas and oil in tank.

 

[SEABIRD225]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

drop the lower unit, and then try turning the flywheel by hand, if it spins freely do a compression check to get an idea of the powerhead condition

joe

Will do that. It will give me a chance to take a better look at water pump while I am in the neighborhood. Albeit water pumps at this time are the least of my worries.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

I trusted someone. Seller told me the boat was in running condition and was used 4 months prior to the sale. Will not make that mistake again.

I think we have all done that with something, sometime......ONCE !!!
Sorry to hear it happened to you though.

 

[Elbo]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

Hold on there dude, thats a complicated engine.If you break those bolts its trash.Unless you own a machine shop,you can forget drilling and tapping.Its just a machine and can be fixed.You can learn a great deal from this if your willing to go the distance.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

Hold on there dude, thats a complicated engine.If you break those bolts its trash.Unless you own a machine shop,you can forget drilling and tapping.Its just a machine and can be fixed.You can learn a great deal from this if your willing to go the distance.

And consider the investment you may have to make into it after teardown.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

Have you removed the spark plugs and tried to turn it? I ask becase no one hase mentioned a hydrolock condition which can be caused by water in the cylinder. We all know that water does not compress....

Start simple, pull plugs and see if you can turn it around and how free it is... Drain tank, of get a small six gallon tank for testing and mix some fresh fuel and if the engine seemed free, install new plugs and try to run it on the six gallon tank. Do a good diagnosis while it is running, check water flow, temps, spark, etc. to ensure all systems are working properly...

Also, you mentioned that you did a bit of rewiring. Was the alarm hooked up and working properly? You will know by the buzzer that sounds when you first turn on the ignition switch, the buzzer should automatically sound as a test. If if was not hooked up, then you may have overheated the motor if the impeller, waterpump or thermostat was bad. For you case, I hope not. But may not be a lost cause.

If you can do the rebuild work yourself with the exception of the machining (if any needs to be done) then you should be able to do it for under what a replacement motor would cost...

Good luck, let us know what you find out...

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 225 locked up. Any ideas?

That's the old 2.7 liter small bore block, and it a gas pig!!! Before I tried tearing it down ,see if you can get the lower unit and power head bolts loose,if not it will be cheaper in the long run to repower. Also start looking for a used powerhead as the 2.7's are laying around as no one likes to fix them except hotrodders as the block can be bored to big bore (3.0) and finger ports added, the bridge allows exhaust timing to be raised to the 225 HO spec's plus a tad A good complete powerhead from 1992 and back will work on your midsection.