1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

[kfa4303]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

This may help.

http://www.leeroysramblings.com/johnson_E-FD_15_18hp.html

 

[870 Expressmag]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

well to update...i just got the motor back from the marina. Heres what they told me. Carb was clean, but sucking air at welch plugs. Linkages and spark advance settings were all way off. So you guys were on the right track, and i probably would have eventually gotten there, but a frustrating 3 weeks and i had enough and just wanted it fixed. They went back through entire carb, which is understandable if they are gonna guarentee their work they cant take what i said as gospel, they sealed all the welch plugs, and musta done a lot of adjusting on the spark advance and linkages cause the throttle opens at a way different time than it did before, they replaced lower end oil cause it had a little water in it and found no gaskets on drain screws, so new fluid and gaskets on screws. Put it in tank and put load on it, adjusted it all up and gave me a call. cant wait to test it out, will report back when i get a chance to get it to the water this weekend. also he said when he did a compression check on it he got close to 150psi on both cylinders. i know i spent more money than most would, but when i bought the boat, trailer and motor, i basically got the motor free. So right now with parts i bought and put on, and their labor bill i have 300.00 in the motor.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

I hope it works. $300 isn't so bad all told. You'll now have a nice operating motor to use a as a reference, which will help should you need to do any repairs in the future. Keep us posted. Good luck.

 

[870 Expressmag]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

well i finally got the opportunity today to take the boat/motor out fishing. Got to the dock, launched the boat, while my buddy went and parked the truck i pulled choke twisted grip to start, hit starter and after a few cranks she took right off, i took choke off and it stumbled a second so i pulled it back on halfway for a moment then back off and started to run at fast idle in the start position. it smoked a little but that coulda been from any number of things from the ride back from marina in back of pickup to the sea-foam i mixed in fuel. Anyways i slowly twisted grip back down until it was idling slow enough to shift, put it in reverse backed away from dock, idled down again shifted into fwd and took off. made a lap around lake, no problems, found our fishing spot, pulled up, backed off the throttle and idled to where we wanted to be before anchoring. We moved probably 6-7 times as the fishing was not great today, everytime it took just a tap of the elec start button and she was running, never once did it spit or die on me. I am very very pleased. I mixed a fresh batch of gas for it so i knew i was starting out right. 89 octane, XD100 oil(per evinrude dealer marina mechanic), startron, and sea-foam. thanks all for your help and suggestions on my issue! I hope this pthread will help someone else someday

 

[870 Expressmag]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

also the part i mentioned in the very starting of this thread about it seemed like it was low on power, i think i got that figured out. The boat is 15ft long and the beam is about 58". With it being so wide and both of us being in the 6'0 300lb range, i think this motor just has all it wants to move the boat, i think we are just barely making plane. Now today i dropped my buddy off at the dock and took it for a spin by myself and what a difference! It planed out quickly and ran quite fast, so my guess is the motor is just underpowered for the boat/load.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

Glad it ran well for you. 300 lbs x 2 plus the 400-600 for the boat itself is a lot for a little 18 hp. My 20 hp will only push me (170 lbs) in my 14' tinny at around 20 mph. You may get a little more out of the motor by tweaking the trim and tilt. The anti-vent plate found just above the prop should be level, or slightly higher than the keel. OMC motors of this era had sort of an odd leg length of around 18", but most transoms are around 15". As a result, the motor tends to drag in the water unnecessarily and reduces performance. I had to build a transom riser to get mine where I needed it. You can also try using a tiller extender which will allow you to shift forward in the boat. That should help you get on plane more easily and make steering easier. You'll also save strain on your shoulder because you won't be reaching back so far, so often while using the tiller. I have both a transom riser and PVC tiller extender on my motor and the two together have improved my overall performance tremendously. Here are some pics. If you're going to be running the load you described on a regular basis, you'll need to get a 40-50 hp motor, but make sure your boat is rated for a motor that large.


Transom riser:




1 1/4" tin-walled PVC Tiller extender:

 

[870 Expressmag]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

well the boat is to old i dont think it ever had a data plate, but using the forumla i found online, it came up as a 30hp so i was looking for a 30 or 35hp for it. Heres a picture of the setup, doesn't look like the plate is to far below the keel but it is below.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

30-35 hp sounds about right. See if you can track down a vintage "Big Twin" 33-35 hp. They're relatively light and have lots of low end power. Remember, the calculation you came up with is based on using vintage, 2-stroke motors. Modern 4-strokes are heavier so you may only be able to run a 20-25 hp 4 stroke. The current motor does look a little low. It wouldn't hurt if you could raise it an inch, or two, but it may not be worth the trouble. You can always try clamping it as high as possible on the current transom which should raise it a bit. You can then test it to see if it's worth trying to raise it a bit more. It won't make you a lot faster per se, but it does make it easier to steer and should give you a shallower draft, which is important down here in FL where we often fish in less than 12" of water, so every inch helps. Regardless of whether you decide to raise the motor or not, make sure you have a safety chain on your motor so it can't fall off the transom while underway, or towing (it happens more often than you might think). Notice how I have 2 large chains attached to my motor as a precaution.

 

[870 Expressmag]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

Steering doesnt seem to be an issue, it steers actually quite well. I been keeping my eye out for a 30-35hp vintage 2stroke and they are not easy to come by around here, anything under 10hp and over 40hp is abundent! I will look into the safety chain thing, thanks for the advice!

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

No problem 870. The reason they're so rare is because everybody wants one, and those that have them don't want to get rid of them, which should tell you how well liked they are. The old 18 hp and Big Twin motors offer some of the best power to weight ratios....ever found in outboards. My little 20 hp is only about 80 lbs, but its modern cousin would be closer to 120-140, which is a lot of extra weigh tin the stern of a little 14' boat. Happy boating! Vroom-vroom.....

 

[870 Expressmag]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

Had this motor out 3 times now since the marina worked on it, starts and idles like a dream! but it just seems like it doesnt wind up like it should. i know that the boat, people, load, etc have this motor maxed, but shouldn't it turn up higher in rpm? i am not sure of an exact rpm at WOT underway, but it doesn;t sound to me like it's enough. I talked to a guy who said maybe a prop with a little less pitch will allow the motor to turn up full rpm, and plane the boat out but will loose a little top speed, does this sound correct? if so i have a Michigan 16 prop on it right now, is this a good prop? recommendations? i also wondered if messing with the trim adjustment might help me plane out faster, of the four holes in the back of the motor for pitch, it is in the third from the boat. thanks for all the help so far!

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

Hello again 870. At WOT the max is about 5500 rpm. You can use a Tiny Tac, or similar product to confirm max rpm. You may lso have a spun hub in your prop. You can check by scribing a level line across the back of the prop, then getting the boat up to speeed again. You'll then need to remove the prop again to see if the line is still level. If it is, then the prop is ok, if it is not level them the hun is spun in which case you'll have to take it to a prop shop and have it repaired for about $40-50. Btw, what kind or load are you currently running? I get about +/- 20 mph on my 14' semi-V boat, running by myself (170 lbs) with a stock prop. My speed probably drops by about 5 mph if I add a buddy of the same weight and quite a lot if there is a third person, which I try not to ever do. Here are some vids of other 18/20 hp running to compare yours to. I would try to dial in your current set up before you try a new prop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWEUrfp61OI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teYIoPOR3h4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM_JGQn4wbE&feature=related

 

[870 Expressmag]

Re: 1969 Evinrude Fastwin 18HP troubles

i will try scribing the hub and see what happens, gonna try to make it out this weekend but not sure if i will make it or not, depends on if the weather holds out for sunday and monday. i'll keep you posted