Evinrude 70 horrible hole shot but room to go on the top end. engine or prop issues?

drumz2129

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I have a 1978/1981 evinrude 70 HP that was my grandpa's that I just moved to my 15'4" bass boat while I rebuild my 140v4.

The motor is a 1978 that had been sittings since the mid 90's. It was on a 16' fantail that he used to pull a shrimp troll so it has a lot of low speed hours on it. Compression on all 3 cylinders is 125psi+ and within 3 psi of each other. I did a full cleaning on all 3 carbs, link-n-sync, new plugs gaped @ 0.040", new water pump kit, changed gear case lube, new thermostat kit with poppets and springs.

On my first run I determined I was not getting fire to cylinder #2, after investigation, I traced it to a faulty power pack.
I had a 1981 that had water get to the lower crank bearing as a spare parts motor. It had a brand new power pack (plug in style). I transferred all eleectronics (timer base, stator, PP, coils, rectifier) and the fly wheel and harness over to 78. I verified all electronics and set the WOT timing in accordance with the cranking speed -4 deg BTDC instructions which meant 15deg at cranking speed.

On my run today (unloaded with only myself on board) I noticed it took forever to get on plane. Trimmed all the way down, I would throttle up, and it would hang @ 3-4K RPM for a little while then slowly make its way up on plane. Once on plane it act normally. I had a 17 pitch prop on it and my max RPM wold push almost 6K. Holding 5,500 RPM and trimmed all the way out, I was only about 3/4 throttle and running 32mph.

I switched to a 15 pitch to see if it would improve the hole shot. It did not, same issues getting on plane. Max RPM was well over 6500, and holding 5500RPM, was 2/3 throttle, could not trim up past half way or would blow out, and running 29mph.

I have a 21 and 23 pitch I could try but have a feeling that will make my hole shot even worse. I am thinking it is more of an engine issue rather than a prop issue. If I still have room to go on the top end, that would mean I am under propped, but my hole shot is horrible. What am i missing here?

My only idea at this point is a more thorough decarb procedure. With the many years this motor spent pulling a troll at slow speeds, I am sure the exhaust system is fairly carboned up. Would this restriction be what is keeping it from making it through the mid band quick enough?

I did notice after pulling a buddy's boat back 5 miles (engine loaded down @ 3K RPM), I made some WOT passes after I cut him loose and my WOT RPM went from just shy of 6K to 6200 RPM (I didnt hold it there). I am guessing restrictive carbon deposits broke loose and made their way out under load. This gives me more faith in my carbon theory.
 
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BonairII

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Re: Evinrude 70 horrible hole shot but room to go on the top end. engine or prop issu

A 15" is too small. You are WAAAY overrevving it at 6500.

A 17" is used by many people(including myself). Sounds like your motor may be mounted a bit high if you're blowing out easily.

Check my sig below...for my performance numbers on my 1978 75hp (which is almost identical to the 70hp).
 

drumz2129

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Re: Evinrude 70 horrible hole shot but room to go on the top end. engine or prop issu

Thanks for the reply. It was only blowing out with the 15 when trimmed up pretty good. I could full trim with the 17 no problems. I wasn't running those rpms, just what it could go up to.
 

drumz2129

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Re: Evinrude 70 horrible hole shot but room to go on the top end. engine or prop issu

Btw, what is the max recommend rpms for this motor? I see you have your setup @ 5900 rpm but it is a 75
 

TrueNorthist

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Re: Evinrude 70 horrible hole shot but room to go on the top end. engine or prop issu

5000.
 

drumz2129

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Re: Evinrude 70 horrible hole shot but room to go on the top end. engine or prop issu

after a lot of reading and discussing the issue with my neighbor who has a lot of experience building and racing 3 cylinders (mainly mercs) I have come to the conclusion that it is either a timing issue or a fuel issue.

After I transferred all the newer style electronics to the motor, I checked the WOT max advance and had to adjust it by 4 or 5 degree. I did not verify the idle timing. I do remember reading that it is adjustable independent of the max advance. I am thinking that if I had to adjust the max that much, the idle timing is off, which depending on the change over point, could be the issue with the mid range.

The other possibility is one of the carbs has a blockage in the low speed jet circuit that is dragging the others down when going through the mid range. I did read about a TSB on upsizing the idle jets from 0.030 to 0.032.

I will also do a more thorough decarb and see if that helps.
 

drumz2129

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Re: Evinrude 70 horrible hole shot but room to go on the top end. engine or prop issu

SOLVED!

The wife and I decided to replace the ceramic tile throughout the house, so that put all other projects on hold. I finally had a chance to work on the boat again and though I knew the carbs were spotless, I decided to order a carb kit for all 3 along with a fuel pump rebuild kit. I rebuilt the pump first though the diaphragms were still pliable, they were 8-10 years old. I pulled all parts along with the welch plugs on the carbs (the main reason I bought the kits) and everything was spotless. I gave them a dip any way and blew all the passages clear. While reassembling them I changed the needle and seat and proceeded to check the float height. All 3 floats were set too high! I don't know how I had missed that before. They must have not been high enough to overflow at an idle but high enough where they were flooding at mid throttle.
 

TrueNorthist

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Re: Evinrude 70 horrible hole shot but room to go on the top end. engine or prop issu

That's great! And 5000 is the Seloc max rpm, but I have my '85 70hp Johnson tweaked to 6000 at WOT. A little more speed available for the race to the ramp, but I typically cruise at ~4600 or so.
 

emdsapmgr

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Re: Evinrude 70 horrible hole shot but room to go on the top end. engine or prop issu

I don't have my service manual handy, but if my memory serves me, likely the engine is hp rated at 5000 rpm's. Normal operating range on a 70 should be between 4500 and 5500. Best to prop it to run in the upper end of that normal operating range, or 5500. The 75 hp engine is a high-port performance block and normally operates between 5200-5800. It is hp rated at 5500. Have you checked to see if the tach is on the correct setting?
 
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drumz2129

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Re: Evinrude 70 horrible hole shot but room to go on the top end. engine or prop issu

I still need to verify the tach. The boat is a 15'4" fiberglass bass boat that is not all that light and is rated for a 90. When we ran it last weekend, being that I have this motor along with a 140 and 115 and all have the same gear case, I have a wide range of props (15, 17, 19, 21, and 23 (exhaust over hub chopper)) so I brought them all. I started with the 17x13 3/8" and it had decent hole shot. There was a strong south wind that day and running with it along with a full tank of gas, tool box, and daughter, It would rev just shy of 6K (I held it at 5500) and was able to trim all the way out and was running about 34mph on the gps. Running into the wind it maxed at 5500 and ran 33mph. This is the prop I choose to stay with.

I did try the 19x13". The hole shot was about the same, maybe slightly longer, but it would blow out much easier. It would rev higher than the 17x13 3/8" and to trim out all the way I had to back down to 3/4 throttle to hold 5500. I guess this was due to the smaller diameter but should 3/8" make such a big diference? The blade profile appears to be about the same and both are Michigan wheel exhaust through the hub design.

I did attempt tho try the 21x12 3/4" but it wouldnt even try to get on plane. needless to say I skipped the 23x13 3/8" chopper.

I do have a hydrofoil fin that was pulled off my 140 I was thinking about trying to see if the increased drag allows me to run the 19x13".

btw the motor is mounted directly to the transom, I removed my adjustable jack plate to keep with my 140 v4.
 
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