1982 Evinrude 9.9 newbie

[markov]

Hi, I have just brought an old 12 ft aluminium tinny with an evinrude 1982 9.9hp manual motor - serial E10RCNS from ebay. I have purchased it solely for river fishing (salt) and for pottering around with kids. I know nothing about the history of the motor but can see that she is well used as she is repainted and has a Johnson 15hp hood! I am also a newcomer to both boating and mechanics - so there may be no hope!
After looking through these forums I have followed the following instructions for starting:
open breather, pump fuel, open choke full, pull till first kick, set choke to half, pull till she starts, let her warm up for a minute, and finally engage forward and pull away.
The good news is she always seems to start following above procedure. However - she can be a bit sluggish. Thus - if I try and pull away from the jetty too quickly - she refuses to throttle up and begins to chug then dies. So I make sure I let her warm for at least 2 mins
(ore more). And off I go. Once she is over her initial first choke and splutter - she is happy and zips along. The problem may then come if I stop her - as she can then be painful to restart. Let's say I fish for 15mins and then try and restart - she may start first pull and idle - but if I try and pull away- she chokes up and dies. Then I can't restart her without having to pull out choke to full, then half and then may have to pull her 5 -10 times. And then she may start and idle, but as soon as I engage the forward gear an try to pull away, she chokes and lags as if she is trying to get going - then she fades and dies. So I have to pull choke to half and pull a couple more times, she starts and idles (I can even seem to rev her in neutral) but then I engage and try to pull away and she may choke and die or she may stutter and chug along until she eventually begins to clear - and the all of a sudden she kicks in and away she goes.

As I said I am no mechanic, but it kind of seems like she is getting too much fuel or choke? She came with a fuel tank and line which seem old too - so there might be something there to think about (but I suspect not). I have used a 50:1 fuel mix - standard unleaded.
So as a newbie with no manual and limited tools and brain, what can I do to try and help her out? And is there anything I can do in a logical linear fashion to troubleshoot her. I can try and open her up, clean the carb, water pump etc if need be - but would appreciate if anyone can point me to good resources for any of those actions if they are indeed neccessary.

A couple of side issues - firstly - she will not engage reverse (well she has popped in once or twice but mostly not) - but changes into forward, neutral and reverse quite smoothly. I can get along without reverse for now as I am sure that is a BIG problem which is beyond my scope for now.
Secondly - on the right hand side - just beneath the cowling hood - there is a circular knob - can anyone tell me what that is for?

I could of course, throw her away or dump her in the garage, or take her to a marine mechanic. but those options don't really appeal - I kind of like the challenge of learning something new and saving the old girl is appealing and the mechanic option is a bit of a cop out until I actually try and learn something about the motor myself.

As I said - I am both new to mechanics and and boats - so any explanations in a plain layman's language would really be much appreciated.

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1982 Evinrude 9.9 newbie

Well since this is a used motor the first thing you should do is remove the carb and clean it and see if it improves, I wouldn't waste my time just cleaning it and probably put in an OMC carb kit. While you are at it, put in a water pump for safe measure.

A good read is

http://www.sschapterpsa.com/ramblings/Ramblings.html

82-90 covers most of what you need to know about these motors, a manual (omc one) will also do you justice. I know a boat load about these motors having redone 2 of them so if you have questions ask, Rick on here also knows a lot about them as well.

The black knob at the front of the engine adjusts your idle mixture, should be done in the water, it's mostly done by listening to it run, hard to explain.

 

[lindy46]

Re: 1982 Evinrude 9.9 newbie

Agree with BK but before dumping money into it, I'd first check compression. If you haven't got good and even compression, it will never run right.

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1982 Evinrude 9.9 newbie

Agree with BK but before dumping money into it, I'd first check compression. If you haven't got good and even compression, it will never run right.

Good point Lindy, comp first, I always assume that comp is good from a newly purchased motor but you know what assume stands for

 

[lindy46]

Re: 1982 Evinrude 9.9 newbie

Yeah - I very seldom buy a used motor without first checking compression. If compression is good, I can fix anything else without too much effort or expense.

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1982 Evinrude 9.9 newbie

Yeah - I very seldom buy a used motor without first checking compression. If compression is good, I can fix anything else without too much effort or expense.

Ah, the risk of an Ebay buy!

 

[markov]

Re: 1982 Evinrude 9.9 newbie

Thanks very much for the quick replies - I have only just posted an hour or so ago and didn't expect such a quick response for my queries from Australia.

Ok - compression test? Need some kind of gauge. I remember seeing these a long time ago. Am I right in saying you push or screw them into the spark plug port. And then turn engine and read dial? What compression should I be looking for. Two spark plugs = two cylinders? I will read up on this.

Just as an aside - I just nipped out to flush the engine with muffs as I went out yesterday evening for a quick fish and I have read I should always flush engine after use. Went through my start procedure - and she was reticent to start. Full choke, half choke, start die. Half choke, start die. Then I thought I would adjust circular knob on front. It was on about 15 degrees into rich - I turned it about 15 degrees into lean. Pulled and she started. Not really understanding the use of this knob except having vague idea it is used to set trolling speed - I don't really know if it helped or not. But I can see that it affects my slow speed idle as if I turn the engine revs towards 'slow' on throttle handle, she begins now to die.

Also - when not using for a while (winter) - should I take off fuel line and let carb run dry whilst turned on so all fuel out of carb. Is this best practice? And why flush in bin rather than use ear muffs?


So - will read up on compression.

BTtheking - Thanks for reply - I didn't actually mean the knob on the front - I mean that there is a round knob on the right hand side of the engine. It looks to be next to the fuel line input. I haven't studied it closely yet but was wondering what it is connected to.

And a couple more asides: I just tried watching prop while engine was idling. Whilst in neutral and just started - prop seems to turn by itself and I can use my hand to grab and turn prop freely both ways. If I engage reverse which doesn't work, prop stops and if I turn it I can feel it engaged. If I put back to neutral, prop can be turned both ways but feels like it is semi engaged and so doesn't spin but remains static. Put lever to forward - small first click - still static prop then second bigger click and engages and spins happily. Now put back to neutral and prop is now disengaged again and spins naturally. Don't know if this is of any interest but just an observation.

Lastly buying carb kit - water pump kit - any suggestions for good places to purchase? Thanks to all.

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1982 Evinrude 9.9 newbie

Ok - compression test? Need some kind of gauge. I remember seeing these a long time ago. Am I right in saying you push or screw them into the spark plug port. And then turn engine and read dial? What compression should I be looking for. Two spark plugs = two cylinders? I will read up on this.


You should see 80, 90, 100+, more importantly is that the reading are within 10% of each other. Get the screw in style, more accurate I find and free's up the hands.



Just as an aside - I just nipped out to flush the engine with muffs as I went out yesterday evening for a quick fish and I have read I should always flush engine after use. - In salt water this is a must.



Went through my start procedure - and she was reticent to start. Full choke, half choke, start die. Half choke, start die. Then I thought I would adjust circular knob on front. It was on about 15 degrees into rich - I turned it about 15 degrees into lean. Pulled and she started. Not really understanding the use of this knob except having vague idea it is used to set trolling speed - I don't really know if it helped or not.- These motors have a sweet spot and can be finicky to start. You will need to experiment on what it wants for fuel to start, this dial has a major effect. If it's too lean on starting it will be a bear to start, richen it up to start and then lean it out after it has warmed up and the choke bar is closed. The adjustment is a fine one and has no effect on anything but idle.

But I can see that it affects my slow speed idle as if I turn the engine revs towards 'slow' on throttle handle, she begins now to die.- This is indeed the slow idle knob, all it does is push a threaded "bar" against the throttle linkage under the cowl. If the motor is setup right as far as throttle linkage is concerned this is a great feature for fine adjustment of trolling speed. The major issue with this knob is the plastic that holds the copper snap ring which retains the knob breaks, good news is that they can be purchased still. The knob has no effect on fuel mixture or starting as far as I'm concerned.




Also - when not using for a while (winter) - should I take off fuel line and let carb run dry whilst turned on so all fuel out of carb. Is this best practice? sure it works, some leave the gas in with stabilizer, some run it dry, personal preference And why flush in bin rather than use ear muffs? Muffs don't submerse the lower unit and running in a barrel introduces a little backpressure rather than none


So - will read up on compression.

BTtheking - Thanks for reply - I didn't actually mean the knob on the front - I mean that there is a round knob on the right hand side of the engine. It looks to be next to the fuel line input. I haven't studied it closely yet but was wondering what it is connected to.

And a couple more asides: I just tried watching prop while engine was idling. Whilst in neutral and just started - prop seems to turn by itself and I can use my hand to grab and turn prop freely both ways.This is normal behaviour If I engage reverse which doesn't work, prop stops and if I turn it I can feel it engaged. If I put back to neutral, prop can be turned both ways but feels like it is semi engaged and so doesn't spin but remains static. Put lever to forward - small first click - still static prop then second bigger click and engages and spins happily.There shouldn't be a second click, click's once into forward and once into reverse, if you lift the cowl off you will see a black plastic part with detents which rides against a metal looking hook, looking at the front of the motor it's on the left side, it has a bolt with an integrated washer into it. Check to make sure the black part isn't broken, they break. The other alternative is that the shift rod isn't bolted up correctly, if the plastic is in tact we can talk about checking that later. Now put back to neutral and prop is now disengaged again and spins naturally. Don't know if this is of any interest but just an observation.

Lastly buying carb kit - water pump kit - any suggestions for good places to purchase? Omc dealer nearby? Don't know Australia that well!Thanks to all.

Adding more to the shifting problem, did you drain and refill the lower unit? You didn't touch the phillips head screw did you? If not it still may be an issue, this screw should never be removed for normal service, it hold she shift yoke in place.

I bolded my replies above.

Cheers

 

[markov]

Re: 1982 Evinrude 9.9 newbie

Thanks BT,
Perfect reply in detail. I will pay more attention to my starting and also play with lean/rich to see if I can hit a sweet spot. I will also try and get hold of a compression gauge.

Re. muffs - Back pressure is good/ How so?

It's actually raining today (a miracle!) so I am not going out to fiddle with the motor at the moment so I can't check the 'Second click' problem. If the rain stops -will check asap. I have never touched the engine at all, let alone drained the engine - so no - I haven't touched the phillips.

 

[Rick.]

Re: 1982 Evinrude 9.9 newbie

bktheking has been giving you lots of good information so far. I can't emphasize enough the importance of having a OMC service manual for your specific year and motor HP. There are many things you can do to improve the performance and dependability of your engine but your going to find it difficult without a manual. Ebay is where I usually get them. Keep your fingers away from the prop while the motor is running. You can do the same checks with the motor shut down. If switching the gears is difficult all you need do is turn the flywheel a little (always clockwise) and the gears should mesh nicely. The link you were given is a must read and will help you greatly with a basic understanding of your motor. I would love to spend a day watching Leroy work on these 9.9's.

To check your compression there is a link you can follow.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=313884

Further there is a file "top secret file" which has many pointers and is a living document as there are always new subjects being added.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=299680

For a parts breakdown of your motor look here.
http://shop2.evinrude.com/ext/index.aspx?s1=1f73381a647cc1d59556874ef724d81f

Your reverse problem could be as simple as making adjustments to your shift rod length which is very easy and no cost. A manual will show you how to do it.

Let us know how your compression numbers. I hope they are fine.

The knob on the port side is a slow speed cruise control and rather important if you enjoy trolling. I have an 82-15 HP and I think the world of it. It is the first motor I ever worked on and I gave it away some years ago and got it back this year in exchange for a 9.9 I had.

These motors are fun to work on and parts are available. Enjoy it. Best of luck. Rick.