1990 Evinrude 225 - won't start.

[WhalerMatt]

Brief Scenario - <br />I was running about 30knots and hit a 4ft steep wave. Needless to say, my whaler and both engines came of the water and subsequently, the motors spun a little too fast for comfort. They both ran fine the rest of that day and throughout the next until about 2pm when I was trolling with the port engine only. It started to chirp rythmatically as if some bearings might be going out. Both engines ran fine back in from about 40nm out and was about 1/4 mile from the weigh station in idle when my port engine cut out(it made no sound - it just died). I figured the plugs were a little fouled from a two day tournament and tried to restart - nothing. Tried for about the next hour to start it and it would spin, sputter occaisonally when I choked it and it would randomly make a grinding sound when I turned it over - more so when it sputtered and died. The next day, I checked the gear fluid - only one tiny shard of metal on the magnet. I pulled all of the plugs and checked the bearings when each cylynder was in tdc by sticking a rounded edge rod in and checking for play - everything appeared tight. I checked for side to side play in the flywheel - very minimal - the other engine has more play and it runs fine. The starter is retracting. The engine is getting fuel and I cleaned the plugs. Help - what else could I check? Does anyone have any idea what might be going on?<br /><br />Sorry for the long winded message, but I thought all the details might be helpful.

 

[clanton]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 225 - won't start.

Inspect engine and remote oil tank for missing parts, broken plastic parts, frayed kinked hoses, missing clamps. Compression test, sparktest. When you had the dowel in the cylinder, did you rotate crankshaft to move pistons just past TDC. This moves all bearing slack outward. If you move piston only to top there will be no slack to push in. The engines have rpm limiters, should not have over reved enough to hurt engines.

 

[WhalerMatt]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 225 - won't start.

When I had the dowel in the cylinder, I moved the flywheel forwards and backwards passing through TDC with pressure on it at all times and found no play. Have not done a compression or spark test yet. No parts are visibly broken. What would cause the occaisonal grinding that can be felt through the hull of the boat?

 

[WhalerMatt]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 225 - won't start.

I have checked the compression - 75lbs per cylinder - no variation. I pulled the gearcase and tried to start - still grinding when cranking with the occaisonal sputter when I choke it heavily. The engine is getting spark. Does anyone have any ideas? HELP.

 

[clanton]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 225 - won't start.

Check magnets in flywheel, they come loose and rub stator, upper main bearing housing bolts, flywheel key. It may be grinding because of not enough oil. If it grinds only when starting, may be starter. Compression 75 is low, but if all 6 the same, may be gage.

 

[ICEMAN]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 225 - won't start.

Hi, You mentioned a grinding sound, with the engine NOT running, (1)grasp the flywheel and pull it upward and push it downward, is there movement? (2)Next move the flywheel front and back, then side to side, is there movement? rotate the flywheel with the spark plugs out, does it seem to bind at a certain location? If your not sure of how much movement is too much, you said you have two motors, check the other motor. #1 if it moves up and down, I would look for the bottom crankshaft bearing to be faulty. If it moves front to back or side to side, the top bearing is faulty. If it binds while rotating it, (With the gearcase removed) I would suspect a problem in one of the cylinders.

 

[WhalerMatt]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 225 - won't start.

The magnets on the flywheel seem fine to the touch. The engine does not bind in any one position. I can't get it running to see if it is only the starter. The flywheel play is less than the working engine - up and down and side to side. I wouldn't suspect the starter only for the fact that it gets the engine to sputter, so I would assume that it would have enough umph to get the rest of the cylinders firing as well. I'll switch starters tomorrow evening and see if that does anything.

 

[WhalerMatt]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 225 - won't start.

Well, I swapped starters and nothing new other than a sputter or two - the longer(5sec) sputter really torqued the engine side to side - I'm thinking upper or lower bearings or both. The gearbox is now back on and I'm going to take it to my mechanic this weekend. Any other ideas?

 

[WhalerMatt]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 225 - won't start.

The stator had a meltdown dripping resin on the timing advance. What a mess....... It is now fixed and running fine. Thanks for your help.