another "Lucky" ESKA/Gamefisher 7.5 owner

[CheapboatKev]

Gee, imagine having problems with this great lil motor...

Started up pretty easily when I looked at it..Got her home and got a new tank, fuel fittings (didnt replace the male connector on motor) mixed fuel @ 50/1 + some seafoam...

Pulled her about 40 times no start.
Took plug out, wet..Put new plug and she fired up...then died.
Pulled her again another 10 times..Pulled plug..was dry...
Decided 98 degrees was to dang hot to be out there messing with her..

Around 7 pm, went to bring her in (why have this great motor stolen the 2nd day I own it?)
Pulled her once and she fired up and died. OK, pick up the 6 gallon fuel jug, and it dang near empty!!! WTH?
Look at the barrel of water, and obviously the gas is in the water..
I think the rubber do-hickey (technical term!) in the fuel pump is torn or maybe the float in the carb is shot...

Any ideas or am I on the right track?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: another "Lucky" ESKA/Gamefisher 7.5 owner

I'd check to see if you have spark when the outboard won't start, as , from what I've gathered, Eska's are known for ignition problems, especially at 20-30 years of age. If no spark, track down the ignition problem.

I would be surprised if you ran through 6 gallons of gas trying to test start the outboard, I used to have a 7.5 Eska (Gamefisher) and it would take about an hour at WOT to run through 3 gallons of fuel. The carb is easy to take off and rebuild, just watch the fuel pump element,,, it will get destroyed by carb cleaner (don't ask ) and needs to be "clocked" properly in the block, so it pumps.

I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but those 7.5 Eska's are dogs. I used to have a a 5HP Mercury and a 7.5 Eska, and the 5HP would run the boat just as well as the 7.5HP, speed, acceleration, were the same. The 7.5 Force/Gamefisher I have now would eat the 7.5 Eska's lunch, big time. I'm not trying to rag on you, just letting you know what my experience was, and I guess the reason a lot of people here say to get an Eska running good, and then sell it ASAP.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: another "Lucky" ESKA/Gamefisher 7.5 owner

Thanks FD..

I agree, these aren't the best lil motors..In fact it is my first OB in over 20 something years..Last OB was a old 35 rude Lark on my 17 ft skiff back in SoCal..

I traded a Mossberg 22 for it..about a hundred dollar rifle so I am not really out any $$$..

It has spark, I really think it's a flooding issue. The P.O. says he changed the coil/condenser..And it will fire now and then but shuts down..

Maybe I will turn my attention back to my "real" boat for awhile..lol

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: another "Lucky" ESKA/Gamefisher 7.5 owner

I spoke with the previous owner, and he and I discussed what was going on with the motor.
I mentioned the fuel diaphram and he mentioned that when he saw it he thought it was suspect..
A big THANK YOU to Mrcrabs for sending the manual, I fwd'd it to the previous owner and he went and bought a new diaphram and carb gasket, he installed it and I picked up the motor tonight from his house.
Much better

 

[mrcrabs]

Re: another "Lucky" ESKA/Gamefisher 7.5 owner

Your welcome CheapboatKev,
I just got back from a 2 hr sugar creek adventure with my my 6 yr old grandson and our 7.5 and all I can say is that for a "chain saw on a stick"...and only weighing about 40 lbs it pushed my grand son and i up the woolliest, creek I have been on in yrs( due to our bad ice storms ) and then out on to sugar creek lake here in southern IL, we have a 12ft 1965 sea king boat so with my big butt weighing in at lb 240lb I use the grandson ( 6yrs old ) about 40lbs and 2 ankers and the trolling motor battery for ballast and we planed off...but trolling is the most fun, I started and stopped 20 times fishing along the way, very dependable motor if you ask me and I have a cute harbor freight DIY trailer for it that I built which got a little scratched up to nigh, thats another story....good luck with your motor, and they run beter behind a boat than they do in a test tank...

 

[steelespike]

Re: another "Lucky" ESKA/Gamefisher 7.5 owner

Dogone it; sometimes they do run.
Don't know if its luck or skill??

 

[frank54166]

Re: another "Lucky" ESKA/Gamefisher 7.5 owner

carb kits need to be installed often in these motors,every few years,ethanol gas eats up the carb parts and so does seafoam or carb cleaner,sanfords goodies on ebay sells a great kit with instructions,1 hour you can be fishing again,go to ebay and find the eskaman2008

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: another "Lucky" ESKA/Gamefisher 7.5 owner

I've always liked the old Eskas. Very light motors, for the power they produce. One thing I have noticed, is the fuel pumps are underpowered to run on a remote tank. These motors are much better just to run on the built on tank. I can't see why anyone has any trouble running them, truthfully. The top end is built by Tecumse and have proved to be good engines. There isn't much to them at all and very simple to work on. They just don't run as smooth as the 2 and 4 bangers, but oh well.

I've fixed and sold several of them. I've usually got 100 bucks a pop for them.