89' Evinrude 140 HELP!!

[fd235158]

I bought an 89' Evinrude 140 a few years back and need to do some rebuilding over the next few weeks. I'll list symptoms and history, any suggestions or/and recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

89' Evinrude 140 VRO
After the first season it ran rough at idle or one click in Fwd or Rev and occasionally sneezed until it died, I assumed the carbs needed to be cleaned.
I figured I'd do it over the winter though since it didn't happen that often and I could just restart it with ease and be fine. It got worse over time.
Last June the warning horn went off and the engine started bogging, I shut it down and when I got back to shore tested the horn and was told it was running oil deficient. I disconnected the VRO, installed a new fuel pump that ran just mixed gas and everything was fine. It ran with no issues until mid August, (no issues outside of the progressively worsening idle) again I was just hoping it would get me through the beginning of September. I started noticing water draining into the boat from the engine when it was tilted up. I lowered the engine and everything was fine, only a problem when it was tilted up. It got harder and harder to start when cold, no issues (outside of idle) once warm. Finally it died one day and really didn't run under load. I got it going and found that only 2 of the 4 cylinders were running (while running pulled plug covers and no change one side / totally died when pulled on other side.) I AM getting spark though and the plugs remained pretty dry on the dead side and on the muffs it runs fine. I'm going to rebuild carbs next week and would really like to try and take care of everything in one weekend as oppose to dragging a system by system rebuild out for the next few months.
I'm anxious to just order parts and get everything done, but also want to retain some weight in the old wallet so I'm looking for the best balance. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 89' Evinrude 140 HELP!!

First I think you need someone else to tell you stuff. What kind of a fuel pump is on it now?

Second, how's the compression? That's the first place to start.

 

[fd235158]

Re: 89' Evinrude 140 HELP!!

I'm pretty sure the fuel pump was made by Evinrude/Johnson. Essentially the VRO intake chamber and mixing diaphram aren't on this pump. Rather than plug the oil hose I opted to just replace the pump with a premix version. By get info from someone else I assume you're referring to the warning horn diagnosis. I don't remember what the number of beeps was exactly, but I was told a certain number signified overheating and a different number signalled oil issues. It made sense since a horn would go off when the oil resevour got to about 25% full. If this info is incorrect please let me know. I plan to test compression tomorrow and am hoping for the best (ie..a massive clog in the carb or power reed) poor compression is probably more likely. The manual I ordered hasn't come in yet so I'm going based on experience with single cylinder dirtbike engines. Any ideas about the water leak when the engine's tilted, or is it normal for this to happen?

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 89' Evinrude 140 HELP!!

The water is totally not normal. Lets get a compression reading or pull the heads.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 89' Evinrude 140 HELP!!

dude, listen to Dhadley, he's one of the guys i go to when i have a problem.

 

[fd235158]

Re: 89' Evinrude 140 HELP!!

OK I got the compression results and noticed a few things that may need attention. First I gotta say the engine fired right up with a little starting fluid and being run on the trailer with bunny ears. After it burned off the fogging oil and warmed up to the point that the tell tale was nice and warm, I tested the compression and got between 110-115 on all cylinders with the difference likely being + or - a stroke (tried for 6-7 turn overs but it's hard to get it the same every time.) I realized that throttle position was in neutral so I retested at WOT without running the engine between tests, so extra fuel mix could effect this. This time all cyclinders between 115-120 psi.
Issues I noticed were:
1) Tell tale seemed weaker, took a while before it started coming out, and the water got pretty warm. I wouldn't say it was hot, but if you were working outside in the cold you could use it to warm up your hands.
(The nut holding the discharge tube in place on the outside of the engine was missing. Obviously something that needs replacing but I'm not sure if it was more like a cap that regulated diameter. If so that would explain what looks like less pressure.)
2) Engine is still sneezing and coughing at low rpm's
3) I noticed the port side spark plug wires were reversed. I can't remember if it was accidentally run that way last year due to screwing with things while on the lake, or if I just put the caps on like that after fogging the engine. I figure I should mention it either way.
4) I didn't test while on the lake, I used bunny ears just to take a look and get compression check. At the end of last season it ran fairly ok on the bunny ears but in the lake were there was back pressure was a different story. It was also tougher and tougher to cold start last season. Can't remember if I mentioned that? Once warm it was good outside of low rpm but initially it gave me a hard time with short bursts of firing up. It also smoked a lot when first starting, it actually seemed pretty flooded. Anyway I'm really hoping this helps for ideas on what the problem/s may be. Thank you

 

[fd235158]

Re: 89' Evinrude 140 HELP!!

bump

 

[Windykid]

Re: 89' Evinrude 140 HELP!!

What did the spark plugs look like??

 

[fd235158]

Re: 89' Evinrude 140 HELP!!

The plugs ranged from dark brownish black to black and a little wet. They got darker and wet as I went from cylinder to cylinder so I assume it was caused by turning over the engine when doing the compression test. Over all plugs seemed ok (no build up or deposits, no signs of overheating)