78 evinrude140 ran good one day wouldn't turn over the next

[gcman49]

I have a 78 140 horse evinrude that was running fine until yesterday. Now when I try to start it only cranks about a quarter turn and stops. never had any knocks in engine and was running great the day before. Got in a little mud, but shut engine down and walk boat out to deeper water before restarting. The engine has never overheated, as a matter of fact it has always ran a little cold. Pulled all the plugs and tried to turn it over but it engine turns hard, can hardly turn flywheel by hand. Is this normal? Could piston be binding up or maybe starter going bad. New battery and I have put in on charge overnight so I will have a good charge when I go back to work on it. I'm at work now but would like some help on somethings to look for when I go work on it again this afternoon. Thanx in advance. <br /><br />gcman49

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 78 evinrude140 ran good one day wouldn't turn over the next

Drop the gearcase real quick (you most likely need a pump anyway) and see if it turns over now. Then you will know which end to attack.<br /><br />Good luck!

 

[gcman49]

Re: 78 evinrude140 ran good one day wouldn't turn over the next

I didn't drop the gearcase yet. the water pump was working fine before this little mishap. I did take all the plugs out and added a little oil to each cylinder, hooked the battery back up and the engine turned over fine, so battery may have needed a charge. Put the plugs back in and tried starting the engine. Again the flywheel turned about a quarter turn and stopped, turned the key, another quarter turn....and so on. SO it seems with compression in the cylinders the starter doesn't have enough power to turn the engine over. Time for a new starter???? I may just put a new solenoid at the same time since they are both pretty old. I did notice a lot of carbon build up on the pistons when the plugs were out it may be adding to my problem but I'll post a new message for that. Thanx in advance for any help.

 

[delsol]

Re: 78 evinrude140 ran good one day wouldn't turn over the next

i had same promblem last year check lower unit for oil if it does have water in it it might be seiged and causing the engine to chank slow or stall mine had water in it i thought it was a starter too .....not mech. just boat ower

 

[DJ]

Re: 78 evinrude140 ran good one day wouldn't turn over the next

gcman49,<br /><br />I would also be think about the lower unit.<br /><br />In the meantime, pull the negative battery cable completely of of the engine block, clean it and reinstall. These are notorious for corrosion you cannot see under the wire eye/bolt.