1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

[headshot]

Hi all. I just purchased my first boat/motor at a garage sale. I've already had the family out on the lake and it ran like a champ (although I had a leaky fuel line at the motor end and had to use the priming bulb on a number of occasions).

In my rush to get the wife and kids out on Father's Day, I neglected servicing the motor. I've purchased a manual that should be here soon, and I plan on completely learning this motor inside and out. The owner said that it was serviced (overhauled? It's REAL clean inside) about 4 years ago.

Are there some things I should check/do right away to get this motor in shape?

Also, I'm having a problem with the tilt on this motor. I can't seem to tilt it up. I was monkeying around for a while last night and it seems locked in the down position. I tried the hex"-ish" bolt on the right side, the "lock" switch up by the pull starter, and the tilt adjuster by the bolt and nothing seems to work. Any idears?

Thanks in advance for your response. I really appreciate this forum being here.

-Chris

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

try putting in forward and lifting it. if not pull the pin that goes thru the transom mount on the lower outside of the transom could be broken wire to the lock. you can go to this link, and follow prompts, to see all your engine diagrams, and parts list.
http://www.evinrude.com/en-US/Accessories/Literature/

 

[F_R]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

It should tilt in neutral or forward, however if the lock linkage is out of adjustment you may have to have it in forward as tashadaddy said. Those motors were death on the rubber mounts that support it inside the shell. When those mounts break, that also will mess up the tilt lock/release. Grab hold of the flywheel (motor not running, duh!) and try to push/pull it fore and aft. It should move a bit in the rubber mounts, but if it flops back and forth, the upper front mount is broken. It is a real challenge to replace it, be glad you are getting a manual.

 

[headshot]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

Thanks for the advice. I'll try it out when I get home and report back.

As far as regular maintenance on this motor, Is there anything I should just do right away because it was last serviced 4 years ago?

So far I've been told to change the sparkplugs, replace the impeller for the water cooling and regrease the lower unit. Is there anything I should look for/do with the carb?

 

[headshot]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

Well, I tried shaking the spinner, and it was mounted pretty solidly. Not much give in any direction.

I tried gearing it in forward, and seeing if that made any difference. I'm sorry to say it didn't.

It feels (and sounds) like I'm about to rip it off the transom of the boat so I took it off the boat. Then a weird thing happened. The parallelogram-shaped bolt above the "shallow drive" lever pushed itself out about 1/2 inch. I've been working the tilt by hand and applying WD-40 to the joints/gears in the tilt mechanism and it's really resistant to pushing/pulling force, but I think it's supposed to do that because of the weight of the motor.

I just put the motor back on, and it seems to work, but there's an initial force requirement to bring it up from vertical. It's almost enough force to snap the transom before the mechanism gives in with a mighty CRACK and then it lets the motor up easily. I just can't find any release lever to push while doing this.

Any more idears, or am I just strength/transom challenged?

Also, I'm still looking for ideas on required maintenance items I should put on the checklist.

Thanks!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

go here http://www.evinrude.com/en-US/Accessories/Literature/ follow prompts to your engine diagram,parts list. look and mid section exhaust section. # 4 is the lock pin, # 71 is the release lever. they are made to flip up, if they hit something, and that is what it's is sounding like, when you force it up. it doesn't sound like the lock is released.

also read this for getting it up and running; http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=158086

 

[F_R]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

Remove the hood and watch the shift mechanism as you shift it. See the thin lever that lifts a thick wire? That wire is what disengages the tilt lock. For some reason it is not lifting it high enough. That is why I suggested the mounts, but that must not be it (that's good). So, either the lever that does the lifting is bent, OR the wire is out of adjustment. At the botom end of the wire there is a round clamp with a screw in it. To adjust, loosen the screw and move the clamp upward a bit on the wire and retighten the screw. Adjustment is correct when the lock hooks onto the tilt rod to hold it down when in reverse, but is released in neutral or forward. My money is on the lifting lever being bent.

 

[headshot]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

Thanks for the ideas. I'll try 'em out tonight and report back.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

tilt pin. this of a bigger engine

 

[headshot]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

Tashasdaddy, you were exactly right, there is a fine wire that runs behind the carrying handle and it was bent. When I put it in forward it pulls up fine. I tried to retighten the little hex bolt clamp that had slipped at the bottom, but the angle prevents me from getting at it. I guess I can live with it for a little while. But thanks for the advice nonetheless.

So Saturday I drained the oil in the lower, and it was maybe 4/5 full, what came out was pretty clear, not milky. I changed it, pulled the old plugs out, sprayed sea-foam into the cylinders and the carb, put on some new Champion J4Cs and let her rip it a big tub in the backyard, I tried out all gears, and revved it to maybe 1/2 power max (in other words I played with it, whee!) for about 15 minutes. I sprayed gumout carb cleaner in every so often along with sea-foam while it was revving.

I noticed that it sounds most "tuned" when the low speed mix is set all the way counter-clockwise, I think this means "the most lean mixture". It seems like it could go even further before it is getting what it wants (more air?) Is there a way for me to adjust this so it gets even leaner? Do I want to mess with this? Is this an indication of carb-jets fouling?

Anyways, I changed the oil in the lower again, just to make sure that any crud got out. I took it out on Sunday with the kids. In my 14' aluminum 48" beam v-hull with two kids (probably 350 pounds of people, gear and fuel) I was able to plane out the boat at about 13mph, and top out at 17mph (according to my GPS) Is that about right for a 9.5hp engine?

Two things I noticed besides the mixture weirdness. The prop looks like it's on backwards. I don't think it is, because the axle is tapered toward the smaller diameter of the cone where the shear pin is, but the prop itself just looks like it would be more efficient in reverse. I don't know how to say it other than that. The other thing is that the pee port looks like it could use some help. Like me, things are reduced to a slow dribble these days. How do I get to the durned water pump/impeller? My Clymer manual offers no help in this area.....

Thanks again guys!

 

[iwombat]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

Sounds like you're getting a pretty good run out of that 9.5.

Couple of things though.

1) Never spray carb cleaner into the carb unless it's off the powerhead during a rebuild. You'll strip the lubrication right out of the lower end. Seafoam only while running, and it's best to add it to the fuel if you want to clean the carb. You don't do much carb cleaning spraying it down the throat.

2) That idle mixture adjustment points to some other problem. It should settle in someplace around 1-3 turns off the seated position. Certainly not all the way in. Are you sure the choke is opening all the way?

Edit: Is the mixture seated all the way or is the knob just engaging the stop? You can pull the knob right off and re-index it to half way.

 

[F_R]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

To get at the water pump, put shift in reverse, remove the four hex head bolts holding the gearcase on, pull the gearcase down about 3/4" and you will see the brass shift rod connector inside. Remove the lower screw from the connector, then the gearcase can be removed from the motor. The water pump will be looking right at you, around the drive shaft.

To reinstall the gearcase, make sure the o-ring is in the groove at the top end of the driveshaft, put some waterproof grease on the shaft splines and oil the water tube grommet. Make sure the rubber seal is in place on top of the water pump housing. It won't run with the hood on if you leave that seal out. Install gearcase to the 3/4" gap stage (make sure water tube enters the pump grommet). Use a flashlight to peer in there and make sure the notch in the shift rod is precisely aligned with the hole in the brass connector before installing the screw. If the screw drags on the edge of the notch it will wipe the threads off the screw every time, then it falls out 5 miles from the dock.

 

[headshot]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

Thanks for the advice, iwombat and imported_F_R.

I definitely won't spray carb cleaner in the running motor anymore. I seem to remember guys doing that back in the high school days. Is it different for a 4-cycle?

imported_F_R, I'm not sure I understand your directions, so I've enclosed some pics of the motor. If you would be so kind as to point out where to start from these pics, I'd sure appreciate it.

Here she is:

Here's the cover off:

Here's a cracked wire to the shutoff button (how to replace?):

Here's the lower mount. It looks messed up. Opinions?:

Here's a view of the left side. Is there where I should find the screws to pull off the gearcase?:

Here's the prop. Doesn't it looked strange...sorta backwards?:

Thanks again for all your help, guys.

 

[iwombat]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

There's four bolts to get the lower unit off, two on each side. They're located just underneath this bit (heads pointing down, threads pointing up):

 

[iwombat]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

That motor mount looks pretty messed up. And from the looks of that prop, I'd say someone backed into something pretty hard. You probably want to e-bay up another prop for yourself.

If you pop off the flywheel you'll see that kill switch wire has a ring-terminal at the end connected to a screw. I'd just replace the whole wire starting at the ring terminal. Might as well do both while you're in there.

 

[iwombat]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

In this picture you can see the lower motor mount and all the rubber bumpers. Fortunately, the right side of the cowling is pretty easy to remove for inspection (I added a small aluminum shim in the front of the lower mount to snug it up a bit.)

 

[headshot]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

Thanks for the help, iwombat.

Is there supposed to be a picture in your last post?

Thanks!

 

[iwombat]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

I'm seein' the pic. Aren't you?


Edit: reposting as attachment.

 

[headshot]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

Yup I see it now. Thanks. I'll try it out tonight.

 

[headshot]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 9.5 Sportwin Tilt Problem

Apparently by "tonight" I meant "in a month"...

Last night I attempted to remove the lower unit to inspect the water pump/impeller. I put it in reverse, removed the four bolts and couldn't get it to drop down more than 1/4 inch. It seems like that's all the farther it wanted to go. I just barely got a screwdriver in there to loosen the screw holding the connection rod, but it was at a bad angle, and the driver wanted to strip the threads. I sprayed a little wd-40 and cranked on it, but it wouldn't budge. I'd like to use a socket wrench on it, but there is not enough space to get the socket in there.

So I thought, maybe I can see what's going on in there a little better if I remove the right-side cowling, like iwombat did in his pic, so I tried, but I am getting royally confused with all the parts. I've removed a gazillion screws and bolts, and I still can't get the damn thing to come off. I'm mostly confused with how to get the cowling off around the shift lever.

Any help with either dropping the lower, or removing the cowling would be most welcome. I'm at my wits end, and about to bring it to the marine shop to bleed my wallet dry and recondition this motor.