85 horse evinrude question

[hisey1]

i recently baught a boat from a guy i know. the deal he made me was incredible so i had to jump on it. the one thing is that the 85 horse evinrude on it has low compression on the #2 cylinder. a local boat shop did the test and concluded there is ring damage on that cylinder. i know nothing about boat motors but what does this mean to me? is this a problem that i'm going to have to deal with immediately or is it no big deal right now? for what i gave for the rig, i could probably run it till the motor poops and sell whats left for more than i have into it, but should i worry about that problem leaving me stranded on the lake with no way back to the ramp? any input will be greatly appreciated. thanks and great forum, i will be looking and posting a lot more now.

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

That is a problem best dealt with right away. If you repair now could make a big difference in repair cost. That engine will let you down, how long it woulde take would be just a guess.

 

[hisey1]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

thanks for the info. i hate to just ask question after question but i'm a dummy when it comes to this stuff so here goes. is the repair something i could tackle myself or is it well worth the money to leave it to the pros? i've never torn into an outboard before but i have the service manual and am pretty mechanically adept. should i even try or just take it somewhere. thanks once again.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

Look at it this way -- you cant hurt anything by taking it apart. Well OK -- dont lose any parts. And it has to come apart sometime. By someone. <br /><br />If you decide to do it -- once the flywheel is off you can remove the complete ignition system as an assembly. There's no need to remove each component one by one.

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

Dhadley is right! the engine has to come apart, but only to a point. I once came home to find my wife had taken in a 135, V-4. The shop floor was covered with carboard boxes, coffee cans, plastic butter tub's, paper, and zip-loc bags, you name it! A father, son had taken that engine down to the last nut, bolt, and spring. Including the mount, and swivel bracket. Don't do that!

 

[hisey1]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

man that must have been fun to piece back together. i dont want to get anywhere near being that big of a guru pro on the workings of my motor. i want to do no more than get it apart just enough to do the "REQUIRED" repairs and put it back together again--hopefully the right way!

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

If you get a OEM manual, it will take you thru the entire engine step, by step. It is broken up in sections, powerhead, gearcase, ignition, and etc. Plus! it contain's excellent photo's. We can also help you along here. Get the manual, read it over for a couple of evening's, and I'll bet you won't have much trouble.

 

[hisey1]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

i was recommended to you guys by a poster on the fishing notebook message board and i sure am glad. i need all the help i can get with this type of thing and hopefully someday someone else will have problems or questions that i can help with. this forum is now on my favorite list. thanks alot guys.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

Start by just removing the head and check for cylinder scoring (grooves, etc). If the cylinder is damaged the engine needs to be rebuilt. Simply replacing a piston and rings on that cylinder without boring that cylinder will be a waste of money. If however, the cylinder walls look good it will still need to be pulled apart to check the piston but the block would not have to be bored and an oversize piston and rings fitted. New rings on the good cylinders and you have a good engine again. Be sure to rebuild the carbs as there is a fair chance running lean is caused the intial damage. Fixing the result and not taking care of the cause will only have you doing the job again.

 

[ledgefinder]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

You will have to take the motor completely apart, in order to re-bore the cylinder. You have to remove the crank & strip the block completely. The repair is as major as an outboard repair can get. <br /><br />This has to be a 1980 or older (last 85hp), not sure I'd recommend sinking $1000 into a rebuild. I'd just run it until you find a better motor. You bet it may quit on you - from this or any number of other causes. Part of safe boating is preparing a backup plan in case the motor quits.

 

[hisey1]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

right now the motor starts easily and sounds to me like it runs beautifully. am dragging my feet about digging into it right now. if no scoring is found on the cylinder wall then rings on the pistons should get me going again? i have considered just running the motor til it craps and selling the whole rig. it is 1983 glastron 16' with bells and whistles on single axle tilt trailer with motor for $1000. n.a.d.a. value on boat alone is approx $2100 so i don't think i'm going to get hurt by doing it that way.

 

[ledgefinder]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

Possible that the walls are OK, but highly unlikely. I'd run what you've got, and in the meantime be looking for either a good used powerhead, or a different motor.<br /><br />When was the water pump impeller last changed?

 

[hisey1]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

just prior to me buying it. also had the carb rebuilt and the starter replaced. plugs are almost new the guy that sold it to me had the motor gone through pretty good except that one cylinder. they quoted him a price to fix it and he opted not to, of course.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

What plugs are in it?

 

[hisey1]

Re: 85 horse evinrude question

champions----checked with the owners manual and they are the right part number. also, took 'em out for the first time and two of them were badly carbonized--to the point where they looked tor me like they might not even spark. also they weren't gapped in spec--maybe .0020 at most. i took for granted what the guy that sold me the boat told me about the compression . i knew the motor needed work when i bought it. is it possible that the dirty plugs caused the compression problem all along? also what are the steps in taking off the head to actually see in the holes and see whats going on in there? by the way, the motor is a '79 evinrude 85 horse.