1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

[Jbridered]

I cleaned carbs and motor ran but not on one side. I replaced powerpack and all cylinders started working. I put the boat in the water and it wouldnt go past idle at first and then slowly started to progress in speed. It went from idle to 4mph to 6mph to 10mph and then topped off at 16mph on a 19ft pontoon boat. I then did a compression check and got 110 on one side on both cylinders and 120 on the right side cylinders. I still have spark on all cylinders but since it was bright and sunny i couldnt tell how good the spark was. I tried the boat a second time and it would not get on step. It idles up and down fine but falls on its face when in gear. Priming bulb did not make a difference. I then took out both drain screws on the carbs and it slowly drains out when i prime the bulb. Is this normal? Should i get a spark tester to prove good spark? Is there a way to test the coils?

 

[Jbridered]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

Anyone?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

19 mph may be a "normal" top end for that boat. Compression is fine-there can be a variance of 5-8 lbs between heads, due the way it was manufactured. An inductive timing light will show you the quality of spark on each plugwire. When running under load, you can pull off one spark plug wire at a time and see if it makes a difference in the engine rpm and the way it sounds. That test can isolate just which plug/wire is not firing properly. If it comes down to one cylinder not firing properly, you can swap a coil from another cylinder. Generally, the coils are pretty reliable. Weak ignition components tend to fail when they reach normal operating temps. Do you notice a difference when running it when first started vs after it is well warmed up?

 

[Jbridered]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

I had a same year 50hp evinrude push my boat at 21mph so i know its got more than that. It runs the same warmed up or not. I am gonna do like you say and get a timing light. I thought i needed a spark gap tester to prove good spark. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Jbridered]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

I pulled the spark plugs out to make sure the gaps were set and noticed that two of them were brown as coffee where the ceramic is inside but like a dummy dont know where they were on the motor.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

So what color were the other two?

 

[Jbridered]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

The other two looked brand new.

 

[jimdd810]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

take your carbs apart and clean them again. chase the ports with a syringe full of alcohol. pull the jets and make sure they are clean and make sure where they seat is clean as well. should get you on your way.

 

[Jbridered]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

I will give it a try. I really hope thats the problem.

 

[archcycle]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

Make sure the contacts on your plug wires are clean and corrosion free, same for the contacts on the wires from the powerpack and the coils themselves. I had a very similar sounding problem from bad powerpack to coil wires/leads that got exposed when I took the leads off the coils to swap coils. Mine must have broken whatever fine connection they had beneath some corrosion? these wires need to be in very good shape. Also Do you have dielectric spark plug grease on those connections? If not they corrode up fast.

 

[Jbridered]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

Yeah the wires on the older powerpack going to the coils looks a little rusty. I put some grease on it though.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

I would expect plugs that are firing would have a brownish appearance.

 

[Jbridered]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

I took the carbs apart and cleaned them again. I chased all the jets with a needle. It started up easy and i got it up to 24mph. I parked the boat and went back out later to run it again and it wouldnt start. I guess its time to get a carb kit and install an inline filter.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

Did you have spark on all 4 cyls when it would not start?

 

[Jbridered]

Re: 1987 evinrude 88 trouble?

I didnt check for spark. I tried again last night and it started up and ran fine. I am gonna get it warmed up today and try again. Ok so i went and ran my boat for about 5 minutes and after killing the motor it would not start again. Does this mean my coils are bad?