Evinrude Lark 40 comes out of gear

[duckboat1]

I have an older (late 60's) Evinrude Lark 40 that soundsd like the prop is slipping, but it isn't. I just rebuilt the carb, put new points, coils and plugs in it and got it running like a top and now it was running so good that it would fly out of gear at WOT. Rather than fixing the problem, I quit running it WOT. Last night while I was out I hit a 6" piece of debris and it kicked the motor up. Now when I go to take off it sounds like the prop is slipping, but it isn't. If you let off of the throttle it will reengage in gear but I can't get it over approx. 1500 - 2000 RPM's before it does it again. Does anyone know what this sounds like? Should I try to repair or use it as an anchor? Thanks.

 

[Trackbolt]

Re: Evinrude Lark 40 comes out of gear

My 58 Evinrude Bigtwin 35 did the same thing some years ago. Turned out to be a worn out rubber hub in the prop. The prop would spin and move the boat along at low speeds but any thing near half throttle it would slip. You could look over the back of the boat and see it spinning even as the motor was trying to run away. I replaced the prop and all was good. If you had sheared your shear key the prop would not spin at all. Hope that is all it is.

Good Luck

 

[F_R]

Re: Evinrude Lark 40 comes out of gear

You say it's a "late 60s" Lark. That would make it a Selectric shift. That what you have?

If so, the first thing to do is check the gear oil and make sure there is no water in it. Also, it uses special Evinrude "Premium Blend" oil.

Second thing to check is voltage at the green and blue wires going down to the lower unit. Should be 12V on green when in forward (key on) and 12V on blue when in reverse. Shift back and forth a whole bunch of times to make sure you get 12V every time. Check without disconnecting the knife terminals. If you don't have 12V every time, suspect the push button switch, a very troublesome unit.

Don't run it any more till you have made these two checks. You could make it worse in a hurry.

If that all checks out, check the prop hub.

If none of the above, you have trouble in the lower unit or wires going down to it.