Evinrude 6hp Fisherman throttle / fuel question....video

[Hartley's boat]

Hi again y'all! I am trying to post a link to a little 7 min video I made of my little Evinrude that I am trying to get running right. I hope y'all can give me a little advice on what I might need to do. Thanks for watching!

 

[OptsyEagle]

A carb clean never hurts. Before that I might try and see if both cylinders are running. With a warm motor, bring it to a fast idle and with some insulated pliers pull one spark plug boot at a time and see if it stays running. It should. If it dies then when one is pulled then it indicates that the other cylinder was never firing or was weak. If it dies when either is pulled we are probably back to a carburetor problem.

As for the rich / lean knob. Dial it in clockwise very gently until it gently seats and then turn it out (counterclockwise) 1.5 turns. With a warm engine, in neutral, bring the motor to as slow of idle as you can. Now dial the knob in clockwise 1/8 of a turn and give it 10 seconds to respond. If the idle increases slow it down again. Keep doing this at 1/8 of a turn at a time until the motor coughs, burps and wants to stall or does stall. Now dial it counterclockwise about 1/4 of a turn and leave it alone. This will be the proper setting for it. If you find you have to clean the carb then do this procedure again when that is done.

I would do those things before I cleaned the carb but most likely you will need to clean it with carb cleaner, blow it out with compressed air and best to install a new carb kit. You could try to run a high concentration of gas/seafoam through the motor (20% seafoam to gas/oil). If it is just gummed gas it might dissolve it. Anything else will require a carb disassemble and manual cleaning.

 

[ondarvr]

You may have a few things going on there.

1. Running in a drum isn't always a good indicator of how its running, the RPM changing on its own can be from the prop ventilating, as it sucks air the load on the motor is reduced and it will rev up.

2. It sounds like it's running on one cylinder, pull the plug wires off one at a time and see if it stays running.

3. The carb could easily be dirty, so just clean it.

4. The little knob you're turning should only adjust it at low speed, so it will influence starting and idle, not higher RPMs

5. Needing the choke to start doesn't really mean anything on its own, it just may be the way that motor likes to start. It could be related to other issues though.

 

[Mohawkmtrs]

Clean the carb. using your manual as you do.

The little on top is the idle fuel mixture adjustment...your manual will tell you what the initial setting will be (3/4 turn out from lightly seated I believe). It does nothing at speeds above idle.

Forget about the start/shift marks on the handle...after 45 years they are no more than a guide.

Your motor will only rev so high in neutral to prevent it from blowing apart.

After you clean the carb, put it on a boat and try it on the water...tweak the idle mixture adj. for the best running...the manual will explain this also.

 

[racerone]

Whenever I look at one of these motors it either has 2 new coils or it needs 2 coils.---No point doing anything but remove the flywheel for an inspection.

 

[Hartley's boat]

Thank you all for your feedback! I really appreciate it. I will start small and work my way through the thing and hopefully I will be able to get her tuned quick an cheap! LOL!

 

[Hartley's boat]

Ok....the adjustment of the rich / lean screw at idle didn't seem to do anything for the idle and the spark plug wire pulling caused it to stall on either one. I am going to try the seafoam now and take her out on he water. It runs good enough to test the boat out so maybe running a few gallons of fresh gas with a good amount of seafoam might help the old girl. If that doesn't produce a good result I will take off the carb and clean it. If that doesn't work I will pull the flywheel and check the coils. I would do the flywheel now but I need to get a puller first and these other tricks don't cost me much! LOL!

 

[racerone]

Compression test done ??---------The original head gaskets are prone to leaking between the cylinders.

 

[OptsyEagle]

Good luck. Just so you know. She is going to really smoke up with that seafoam. It will also be decarboning the motor so just be aware. Run it for a while and then let it sit for 1/2 hour or so and then run it again, with the seafoam. Then I would add a lot of gas/oil to dilute out the seafoam and run it again with the mostly gas/oil to get rid of it.

Before you let it sit, remove the spark plugs and pour a tablespoon or two of seafoam into each cylinder and rotate the flywheel (tilt up the motor so it mixes well into the piston and rings).

Might as well give her a good decarb. Unlikely it is your problem but it might be. Have you checked the motors compression?

 

[F_R]

Fuel pump diaphragm ruptured? I would have said it is running on one cylinder except you said that pulling either plug wires causes it to stop. Quit messing with that knob at high throttle settings. It only affects idle mixture.

Could be a dirty carburetor, but I doubt it. But maybe.

One thing for sure, it should empty that drum at full throttle in gear. And blow itself apart at wide open throttle in neutral. Don't do that.

 

[oldboat1]

Object is to get the motor running low and slow. Get more water in that barrel, and stop revving it. Need to start over on the low speed needle (#2 above, and others have it right. iBoats Stickies too.)

I wouldn't do anything to it at the moment, and sort of hope you just continue a single thread on it (but good youTube) -- facts already discussed on that motor are important (was professionally worked on a year ago, although not sure extent is completely clear -- not a rebuild, I think. Would be important to know if it was, as there is a break-in). Think you should be able to dial that motor in as it is. I would not use seafoam or anything else, just run it on a clean mix (MO). No leaner than 50:1, and I would start with 24:1.

AOMCI holds contests that reward the slowest running motors. Slow. Can do that in a barrel. Might set the tank on a stool or something, in case the fuel pump is struggling.

(agree with all the advice -- OK, most of it. think a lot of ground was covered by the shop a year ago, and earlier posts here.)

edit....

 

[ondarvr]

Ok....the adjustment of the rich / lean screw at idle didn't seem to do anything for the idle and the spark plug wire pulling caused it to stall on either one. I am going to try the seafoam now and take her out on he water. It runs good enough to test the boat out so maybe running a few gallons of fresh gas with a good amount of seafoam might help the old girl. If that doesn't produce a good result I will take off the carb and clean it. If that doesn't work I will pull the flywheel and check the coils. I would do the flywheel now but I need to get a puller first and these other tricks don't cost me much! LOL!

If adjusting the knob did nothing to change how it idled then the carb needs to be cleaned, it should make big changes with a turn or two. You can try some Seafaom, I'm not saying it will be a cure-all, but it may help. Run it on the boat and report back, it may run much better on the boat.

 

[oldboat1]

^^yup. 1/8 turn or so -- should be very sensitive.

 

[Steve A W]

Is it breathing clean air?
A lot of time when barrel testing it's a good idea to have a fan blowing
clean air at the motor.

Good luck with your motor.

Steve A W

 

[Hartley's boat]

OptsyEagle ..... I tried to do what you said with the low idle rich / lean set knob and it doesn't turn any further than a turn. I tried to turn right until it sets and then back it out 1.5 and it set again at about one rotation. I guess it might be different than the set up you were talking about? Thanks for your help

 

[oldboat1]

Take the knob or lever off the needle, and seat the needle by hand, then turn the needle out 1 1/2 turns and reattach the knob. Position the knob or lever so you can turn it 180 degrees one way or the other.

 

[racerone]

Yes, they made the knob and the cover so that when adjusted properly an owner could only turn it about one turn to compensate for fuel and local atmospheric conditions.--------So get the initial setting and that is about 1 1/2 turns out.---From there there is not much adjustment required.--------If the needle needs to be out 3 turns there is something wrong that needs to addressed.---------Back in the late 60's we always used to trouble shoot a motor on the stand before any attempt was made to start it.-------This " crank and hope " repair method that many folks use today is not the best way to work on these simple , reliable motors.

 

[F_R]

Does the knob still have the limiter on it? That prevents it from turning more than about one turn. It could actually be 3 turns out (without the knob), which would explain why it doesn't do anything. 3 turns minus one turn equals 2 turns---still too much. Nevertheless, it won't do any good if something else is wrong. Have you checked the fuel pump diaphragm yet? All you have to do is remove the pump from the motor (hoses still attached) and give the primer bulb a squeeze. If gas squirts out the back, the diaphragm is shot. That could account for the crappy running.

 

[OptsyEagle]

Unfortuneately I am not personally familiar with your exact motor. Most of the ones I have, the knob comes right off the needle so I can turn the needle out until it stops and then reposition the knob and turn it out some more. In any event, if yours does not allow that, just bring the motor to as low of idle as you can and start turning it in 1/8 of a turn at a time, until it coughs and then turn it back out about a 1/4 turn.

I doubt this will fix your problems but give it a try. FRs suggestion is a an easy check as well so take a look at that. I would think that a bad diaphragm would just effect the running of one cylinder and not both but it is easy to check. I would try the seafoam next in hopes of a quick easy way to clean that carburetor and if that doesn't work a full carb disassemble and cleaning is probably required.

Of course if I was there I would want to know if the ignition can produce a spark that can jump at least a 1/4 inch gap on an external spark tester and while I was checking that I would have my compression tester in the spark plug holes so I know how that stands as well. If you have good spark and you have good compression, then you know it has to be fuel. Hello carburetor. It's bath time.

 

[Hartley's boat]

OK y'all! I want to start off by saying once again, thank you all so much for all of your tips and advice! You have no idea how much it means to me that you have taken time out of your day to try and help my silly ass! LOL! Sorry...... anyway..... I hope you all know that I am hearing EVERYTHING that you are ALL saying and I will print it all out so I can refer as I go along. It is very valuable info to me. Now, with that all said, I went ahead and put a 20% seafoam treatment into the gas tank and I ran her for about 15 minuets. It does seem to be helping and I also discovered that if I set it on about 1/2 choke it purrs like a kitten! All warmed up with the gas tank raised up and a fan blowing on the engine pointed toward the lower until in the bucket she will sit there on 1/2 choke and run like a dream! No shaking or anything! I even revved it a little and it took gas beautifully! I dropped it into gear and it just ran as smooth as you please! Now,,,,, I do have a basic understanding that if you have to run it on 1/2 choke then something isn't getting what it needs! LOL! So I would love to hear what you have to say about that? Thanx again y'all!