Compression drop 1982 Evinrude 175

[oldboat1]

A workable adjustable spark tester (really, an ignition tester) costs maybe $10 to $15. Tilt it up and let some fogging oil do some work overnight. Close it up, top off a good battery, fill a trash barrel, and see if it's got a chance.

Nothing lost. Can still opt for trying the Force instead.

 

[pastorbud]

I bought the spark tester.

I am chuckling, because the rest of the story is that last year it had good compression and the power trim worked.

This year it has marginal compression and the power trim doesn’t work! The motor runs and you can hear the pump working but the unit barely moves. Sounds like it has air in the lines and/or is low on fluid. And since it’s in the down position I can’t get to the reservoir.

And the release valve is jammed and won’t turn in either direction.

I have been looking at the parts diagram to see if I can add fluid or bleed air someplace else.

 

[oldboat1]

Clearly need to sacrifice a chicken or turkey

On Friday, spray some WD-40 around the valve and let it set a bit. Use a big screwdriver to fit the screw, and try to turn right and left. You might use a vise grip close in to the blade and try loosening back and forth that way while pushing the driver firmly into the screw slot. Take some care, though, as this creates quite a bit of torque. Just try to break it loose, then operate the release in the normal way. Once you can manually tilt the motor and safely lock it, you will probably want to add fluid to the reservoir.

 

[pastorbud]

Clearly need to sacrifice a chicken or turkey

Ima go with a turkey. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[pastorbud]

Hey, I’m back!

Well, I got it lifted today. More accurately “extended”.

I gave up on trying to release the manual valve. Instead I used an engine hoist to lift the motor off the stand. That exposed the fitting that connects the pressure line to the top of the lift cylinder.

Once I opened that, a bunch of foam and fluid came out, and I was able to use a crowbar to pry the trim unit and brackets into the “lifted” position, then set the lock.

So now my engine is hanging vertical and the trim unit and brackets are almost horizontal.

But at least I can get to the components to figure out what to do next.

 

[pastorbud]

I think I’m gonna look for a way to make a harness to lift the motor in the horizontal position, so that I can re-attach it to the stand in the raised position.

this whole thing started with a compression check, and there won’t be any point in putting time or money into the power trim unit until I know the powerhead is usable.

 

[pastorbud]

Clearly need to sacrifice a chicken or turkey

On Friday, spray some WD-40 around the valve and let it set a bit. Use a big screwdriver to fit the screw, and try to turn right and left. You might use a vise grip close in to the blade and try loosening back and forth that way while pushing the driver firmly into the screw slot. Take some care, though, as this creates quite a bit of torque. Just try to break it loose, then operate the release in the normal way. Once you can manually tilt the motor and safely lock it, you will probably want to add fluid to the reservoir.

The head on the valve was malforming the more I worked on it. I was able to hoist the motor back off the stand, and then loosen the pressure line fittings at the top and bottom of the lift cylinder. After that I was able to lift and lock (or lower) by hand as needed.

 

[pastorbud]

A workable adjustable spark tester (really, an ignition tester) costs maybe $10 to $15. Tilt it up and let some fogging oil do some work overnight. Close it up, top off a good battery, fill a trash barrel, and see if it's got a chance.

Nothing lost. Can still opt for trying the Force instead.

I was able to use the gap spark tester today, and got good spark up to 1/2 inch on all six cylinders.

I loaded the cylinders with de-carb spray (Mercury tuner) and turned it over by hand. I decided to just crank it a few turns to spread the fluid out, and the motor tried to start! So I put the muffs on it, hooked up the fuel line, and tried to start it. It will fire once or twice on the spray (which is apparently acting as the strictly-forbidden starting fluid!), but not on gas. I used a spray bottle to shoot 40:1 pre-mix into the carbs, but still no luck.

I dosed the cylinders with fogging oil and will let it sit for a while and try again.... maybe New Year's Day, which is the next time I can get to it. If that doesn't work, off come the heads!

Taking the wife to NYC tomorrow and Monday, then back to work on Tuesday, before the holiday on Wednesday!

Thankfully, the weather has been mild.

 

[oldboat1]

Nice trip to you. Celebration here in upstate is a little more subdued than in the city.

Think I would switch to 50:1 -- more oil will likely just foul plugs. Sounds like it wants to run. Good spark test indicates that the ignition system is performing the way it should. Will want to be sure it's cranking fast enough for starting -- around 300rpm.

Post results when you get back to it.

 

[pastorbud]

Yep. I had 40:1 in a can for my chainsaw. Got a little lazy.

 

[pastorbud]

The jinx continues! After soaking the cylinders in fogging oil and decarb, it still does the same thing: Kicks over with the decarb spray in the cylinder, but won't start.

But I didn't try spraying 50:1 fuel mix in the carbs yet, because now my spray bottle doesn't work! Like, I said, jinx.

Now I gotta work on the thermostat on my wife's Envoy. Don't know when I'll get back to this. But I do know I need a new spray bottle. Seems like those things never last very long.

 

[oldboat1]

Have a bunch of fogging oil in there, decarb, chainsaw oil.... Pull the plugs; clean and regap (suggest .030). After you get it running on fresh 50:1 TWC marine 2-cycle with fresh gas, let it idle for a while, checking temp. Then change out the plugs with a fresh batch of Champions.

 

[pastorbud]

Lord, she fired up today! But RPMs were way high. I shut it off quick, and checked the throttle. Got it backed off a little, but idle was still too high. By then it had warmed up enough that I thought I’d check compression again. Compression was worse! Like 60 as I turned it over, but it would drop to zero once I stopped turning the engine over. It got too dark to mess with it any more.

I can’t believe those compression readings are right since it started so easily and ran smooth although at very high rpm’s.

It was just on muffs. I think next I will put it in a tub and see if I can idle it longer. Then retest with the engine warm and in the daylight. I don’t think I got an accurate compression test.

But it did run!

 

[racerone]

Compression tester gauges do not go to zero !----It is junk , so get a new one.

 

[pastorbud]

Compression tester gauges do not go to zero !----It is junk , so get a new one.

Sigh. It’s a brand new Bosch. But zero compression on three cylinders (out of six... I stopped testing after three because I knew something was out of whack) can’t be right. I can’t imagine it would run at all on three dead cylinders.

I’ll try the loan-a-tool section at Autozone tomorrow and test again, weather permitting.

it was still cool having it run, though. I have to figure out why it revved so high. I had the carburetors off to change the fuel lines a few weeks ago. I may not have gotten the linkage adjusted right.

 

[oldboat1]

Will idle around 1000rpm if on muffs. Don't know what's happening with the compression tester. Button would be for compression release (test without button depressed). 0-ring needs to be in place, and the hose screwed up snug.

 

[pastorbud]

Well, I gotta pull the heads. It ran, but smoky. Compression still 60 on the starboard side whenever it’s turning over, but drops to zero after. Port side also 60.

i had good water from the telltale (the line is routed to the front, so you can’t see it in the video). Water from exhaust ports was steady but not much.

The worst part was that when I shut it off, there was a boiling sound from somewhere and steam coming from the tell tale. That can’t be good!

Steam came from some of the cylinders when I pulled the spark plugs, too.

So I’m looking at bad head gaskets or cracks I would think. Hopefully just gaskets.

any advice on how to pull those heads without breaking bolts is welcome.

 

[racerone]

Compression tester should only go to ZERO when you operate a check valve !----Test with another gauge.

 

[pastorbud]

Compression tester should only go to ZERO when you operate a check valve !----Test with another gauge.

I forgot to mention... that second test WAS with another tester. Loan-a-tool from Autozone.

 

[racerone]

You have blown head gaskets or major ( big $ repairs ) in your future.------Possibly damaged cylinders / pistons.-------Good luck.