1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

[nvirish]

SO Frustrated!

last year I bought a used evinrude 70 for my boat the problem I am having is that when I try to put the motor in gear while it is in the water it stalls out. The motor runs great out of the water while it is on muffs and will shift into gear and rev up; when the motor is in the water it starts great in neutral and I can rev it through all RPM ranges in neutral but as soon as I try to put it in gear it dies. I have tried raising the idle a little but it seems to happen no matter how high it is reving when trying to engage it.

Last month I finally couldn't take it anymore and brought it to a shop for them to fix. They checked the compression which was perfect, replaced the fuel pump, coils, stator, wires, plugs, and cleaned the carbs. I dont live close to the water so this past weekend I finally got to go test it and sure enough....stalled when put in gear. I took the prop off and it goes into gear fine in the water, so the load of spinning the prop in the water is causing it to stall. Is this just an adjustment problem or could it be timing or carb issue. One thing I did notice this past weekend during troubleshooting is that I took off the intake cowling to expose the carbs and while it was running I tested the suction on the carbs. I put my hand against the bottom one first and it was good, then the middle, then the top. They all had good suction but as soon as I got my hand close to the top carb it would stall out, I could completely cover the bottom 2 but the top one was exteremely sensitive.

Any Ideas?

Thanks for reading my rant.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

Sounds like the top carb is the only one working properly. All your symptoms point to carb issues.

 

[88HP]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

First, it would seem to me if you bring it to a shop you have every right to expect mechanics who know what they are doing and get back a motor that runs right and goes into gear without stalling. After all, you?re paying $100/hr for their labor. I would expect any decent shop to test the motor in a tank before returning it to you.

Second, I had a similar problem with my V4. However, I dump in a can of Sea-Foam with almost every tank and it has improved significantly. I don?t know if Sea-Foam really does anything, or it is just hype, but it sure hasn?t hurt.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

First, it would seem to me if you bring it to a shop you have every right to expect mechanics who know what they are doing and get back a motor that runs right and goes into gear without stalling. After all, you?re paying $100/hr for their labor.

The trick is to find a shop with someone who knows what to do. If they don't put it in the water they won't know if it's fixed or not.

 

[David Greer]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

ethanol poisoning.
I don't know what they did to "clean the carbs" but to do it right and get out the gunk from ethanol you have to do a rebuild. I agree with the others; I wouldn't be satisfied with that shop and if you can, have them make it right.

 

[nvirish]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

Well I dont fell like dealing with the shop anymore, I have spent too much money there and have already faught with them. I didn't mention that this is the third time I have got it back from the shop because the first two times it still was not fixed... i have even had to put a stop payment on a check and refused to pay them until it was fixed. That is when they finally told me to bring it back in and they replaced all of those parts. It does run much better now, however it doesnt do me any good if I cant put it in gear. They have my money now and I will never take anything back there, I just want to fix the boat that I have had for 2.5 years that I havent gone out on yet.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

Just be careful. If any one of the carbs is still plugged it''ll starve that cylinder for gas and - most importantly - oil. Pistons don't like a no-oil deal.

 

[nvirish]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

every once and a while while idling it will cough. It seems the higher the RPM's the less it coughs. does this also point to carbs?

 

[ColtMan]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

I have the same problem. Just took it my pontoon with a 1978 Johnson 70 out of storage. Started right up out of the water, then backed it in. I can throttle it up and down like it's new, but the second I put it in gear it dies. It's hard to believe it's carb problem when I can give it full throttle in neutral. I guess the added pressure of the prop starves it from fuel. I'm calling a mechanic tomorrow to get a second opinion. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

It's not the pressure on the prop, it's the added backpressure in the exhaust in the mid section. Very common.

 

[nvirish]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

If it was the backpressure from the exhaust wouldnt I see some symtoms while it was in the water running in neutral? It only has problems when it tries to spin the prop.

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

Probally a stupid question to a question but are you just easing it into gear or putting it into gear & giving it gas
My 70hp likes some gas when it gets into gear

 

[nvirish]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

It seems to like it better when I ease it into gear. I dont know if there is a way to adjust it but there is quite a bit of distance from when my controls shift it into gear until it starts giving it more throttle. If there is a way to adjust that please let me know.

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

It seems to like it better when I ease it into gear. I dont know if there is a way to adjust it but there is quite a bit of distance from when my controls shift it into gear until it starts giving it more throttle. If there is a way to adjust that please let me know.

Lots of adjustments but i'm not the one to explane them
One thing i've learned tho- dont ease it into gear--Git-R-Dun

 

[nvirish]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

is there a special tool to remove the needle on the carb? i'm trying to use a flat head and it took a chip out of the slot on the needle.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

Sounds like you're trying to get the seat out, not the needle. A large flat screwdriver will work but they can be stubborn. Once the slot strips it can be a bear.

 

[levert]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

funny, I just picked up one of these on a 15ft runabout.

I synched up the carbs, which were off quite a bit and also run extra oil in my fuel, about 100ml per 20 liters.

I now have an idle low enought to troll and this weekend it only quit once.

If the motor isn't taking a load thats a problem, I'd suspect low compression???

 

[nvirish]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

I just got it back from the shop and the mechanic gave me the compression results and they was only a 3 psi difference between the 3 cylinders and it was in the 120's.

 

[levert]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

I just got it back from the shop and the mechanic gave me the compression results and they was only a 3 psi difference between the 3 cylinders and it was in the 120's

.
Thats good, one less problem to worry about.
Is the motor now working?
Mark

 

[nvirish]

Re: 1987 Evinrude 70 dies when put into gear

Nope, I just ordered the rebuilt kits for the carbs, so when those get here I willl rebuild and clean them, then check timing and spark advance and link and sync the carbs to see if that fixes the problem....hopefully