Wanted to say thanks!

[KeithLuneau]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the helpful info you all have posted here! My dad was given a 1974 Evinrude Yachtwin 4HP motor in need of repairs. He passed it along to me. It has been laying on TOP of a guys shed for a few years with the cover off. The head bolts were loose, and the gasket looked rotten, so that was the first thing we replaced. Put it back together and it didn't fire, so I pulled the flywheel off and cleaned up the points, reset the gaps in them, and got it to spark. Then off came the carb, it looked terrible inside. I cleaned the nozzle and passages up, and replaced the boss gasket which looked pretty bad. After putting some fresh oil in the bottom, we set it up on a stand and got it running, tuned it a little, got it running great! Then I realized it was getting too hot, so off came the foot and the water pump. The impellor looked new, was soft, no grooves in the wear plate or anything. So I checked the passages for the water, I couldnt blow air threw them. After trying back and forth, a big lump of trash dislodged and came out, after that it was open and free, so back together it went. So it was time to go put it in the water. I put it on the back of an old 10' aluminum jonboat, and ran it a little while. All was going well, motor was cool, then it made a terrible screeching sound, and stopped. After paddling back home, pulling the motor off and tearing it down, I found that the needle bearing on the top of the crankshaft was stuck. It scarred the crank a little, but not bad at all. After fixing that and putting it back together again, I'm happy to report that it FINALLY runs like a top! Gets the little boat up on plane with just me in it, and struggles to do so but will get on plane with me an my nephew. I've yet to run it with two adults.

Now, the point of all this (besides a good story to tell) is that I've never been into an outboard in my life until now. I've only run one that I borrowed from a friend years ago. If not for the great info here, I would probably have given up on it long before now...

So, THANKS!
Keith

 

[Lakester]

Re: Wanted to say thanks!

hi keith,

nice story. i agree, the help here is invaluable. i could just see dropping by the local marine repair shop with questions, questions and more.

i recently read the link on the repair of small outboards. an ebay win. it was interesting to read the major points of contention, the repair solutions, and the results. so having some better idea of their work, ur story was easy to follow and see... in my mind's eye.

well, sounds like u r a pretty good mech. i guess u now have that lil motor definitely...

DEATH PROOF! :

good job! good post... hope she runs on well for you. i like old outboards.

regards,
lakester

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Wanted to say thanks!

That is a good story. Congrats. I'm not sure how the needle bearing got 'stuck' but the fact you fixed it is great

 

[KeithLuneau]

Re: Wanted to say thanks!

I'm not sure what happened either, but the needles in the bearing looked ok, and the crankshaft isn't damaged bad at all, just a little visible scarring on it. I cleaned what looked like dried grease out of the bearing and put it back together with a little new grease to keep it spinning until the gas/oil mix gets in there. We took it out yesterday and ran it for about an hour and never have a single problem, not even a hiccup from the motor. Started first crank cold or hot. That said, the recoil start isn't winding all the way up, and it's stiff, so I was using the notches in the flywheel to crank it with another rope. I guess that'll be next on the list of fixes.

By the way, it's a Lightwin with the weedless bottom, two blade prop, not the Yachtwin I though it was. That works better for our small boat anyway!