cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

[wwerdell]

My motor is running pretty choppy right now and appears to me missing on the 4th cylinder. There is no noticeable difference if I pull the spark plug wire on the cylinder while it is running but I get a nice blue spark if I hold it about a quarter inch from the plug. When I pull the plug itself and start it up, the motor starts easier, and runs quite a bit bettter. I don't know enough about engines to know if this is a cylinder problem, a carb problem or a fuel problem somewhere in between and would appeciate any advice on where to begin.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[gr8rg8r]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

Are the spark plugs new? If not, replace all 4 spark plugs and report back.

 

[wwerdell]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

They are not new but have only been in about 6 months. I switched them around to see if it may have been a bad plug and none of the other 3 made any difference in the 4th clinder. I'll replace them and see what that does.

 

[gr8rg8r]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

They are not new but have only been in about 6 months. I switched them around to see if it may have been a bad plug and none of the other 3 made any difference in the 4th clinder. I'll replace them and see what that does.

Ugh. Time for a compression check. If you can rule out a problem with the cylinder, you can look at other things. But, I suspect cylinder problem.

 

[wwerdell]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

I ran a compression test on all 4 cylinders. After running the motor at about 2000 rpms for 10 minutes I pulled the spark plugs and the bottom right cylinder is testing at 72 PSI while the other 3 cylinders are between 110 and 112. I also noticed that the problem cylinder had fuel sitting in spark plug well outside of the threads after running it for a bit ( I got splashed with the fuel while blowing out the wells before removing the plugs). Could it be as simple as a cracked head gasket or would that have no affect on the compression in that cylinder?

 

[boobie]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

Pull the head and see what you find. It just may be the gasket blown.

 

[wwerdell]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

Well I pulled the head and its not looking good. I have attached pictures of the head and the piston. As you can see, it looks like something got in with the piston and chewed them both up. I am assuming at this point the only way to save this engine is to replace the piston and the head - probably not worth doing on this motor...

 

[rtek816]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

The top ring broke on the piston and got beat up between the piston and head. A rebuild is in order.

 

[boobie]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

Agree + 1.

 

[wwerdell]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

That's above my skill level. Any idea what I can expect that to cost?

 

[wwerdell]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

Also, if they replacing the rings on 1 piston is there an advantage to replacing them on all four pistons or should I leave the ones that are still solid alone?

 

[boobie]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

You can repair the cyl that blew and if the other pistons and cyl's look okay, just replace the rings on the pistons. You'll have to tear it down anyway.

 

[rtek816]

Re: cylinder problem with my 1996 Evinrude 88 spl

you can expect to spend $500-$1,000 depending on how many pistons are needed, cylinders bored, gasket kit, carb kits etc.
Get a manual and while you have it apart, fix it right and it'll last 20+ years.