Dead or Not Dead (Problem Found and Fixed)

[chadpcb]

Alright here is whatis happening to my 1996 60hp Evinrude.

Me and my daughter took it out yesterday and the boat would come up on plan after about 30-45 sec of WOT. This boat has never done that before.
So we fish for a couple of hours and limped they boat back to the landing.

Things I have done and check so far.

Timing is good.
Spark is good on all thrree cylinders.
Comp is good 1.135 2.133 3.137

Now I did do the ole wisemesn trick of pulling each spark plug wire to listen for a difference in the motor. Cyl 1 and 2 about killed the motor. Cyl 3 did nothing, nada,zip,zilch and so on.

I have read several threads on dead cylinders but yet I have no clue on this one, as I don't classify as it is dead.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Chad

 

[oldcatamount]

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Try a continuity test on plug wire #3. It could be something simple (and cheap) like a bad plug wire. If it's OK, check the coil, and all connections to the coil.

 

[chadpcb]

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Re: Dead or Not Dead

#3 cylinder has spark as you can here it when you pull the boot off the plug.

I have switched #2 and #3 coils in order to eliminate a bad coil.
Even switched the plugs to eliminate a bad plug.

Again the compression on #3 is 137
Has great spark that jumps a 7/16th gap on a spark tester.

I did notice tho the plugs 2 and 3 look different in the how they are burning.
#2 is normal and #3 is oily and gassy

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Sounds like a bad spark plug.
You said spark (assumes at end of wire) is good, compression is good.
How many carbs do you have? Possible if more than one, one not getting gas.

 

[chadpcb]

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Re: Dead or Not Dead

ok update.....

I changed all 3 coils, Sparkplugs, and power pack.
All these are extra items that I have had new from other motor.

Still the same scenario on the #3 cylinder.

I am leading to believe it is not gettig gas.

Question is where do I start to look for the problem.

3 Carbs where just rebuilt 3 months ago.
All new lines on carbs to filter and to tank.

Could it be the #3 carb or could it be the reeds.

If so how i the easiest way to check.

Thanks,
Chad

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Squirt premix into the "dead carb" and see if it picks up when it's running.
You need to get this one sorted out soon, because if the cylinder is running without gas it's running without oil......

 

[G DANE]

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Re: Dead or Not Dead

A broken reed leaf would cause that too, rare, but I had it once. Pull the carb, and you can see if all the leaves are intact. Check on fuel delivery first, and dont run it before this is fixed, or the cylinder will surely score.

 

[chadpcb]

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Re: Dead or Not Dead

First and foremost I want to thank everyone that has replied to the thread.

Everyone has made very valid suggestion and I followed everyone of them.

Especially want to thank TX1961Whaler for the suggestion of squirting premix into the dead carb. It work like a charm.

Now for the CURE.

The #3 cylinder had fire and great compression. One would believe that a dead cylinder would not have great compression like 137lbs. One I sprayed the premix into the dead carb the cylinder picked right up. The next step was to pull the drain plug off the carb, not even a drop of gas came out. Next I looked at the supply line to the carb and it was supplying fuel to the carb. I then pulled the carb off the motor. Disasembled the bowl and found 1 major flaw in the rebuild. Not really but always think to look at the float needle. The float needle had stuck in its orfice causing it not to fill with fuel. Once I switched out the needle the motor runs fine and the #3 cylinder is back working again like it should.

*****NOTE*****

Just becuase you rebuild carbs and know that you do them right don't hesitate to look there first. I later found out that Sierra had and issue with some of it John/Rude carb rebuild kits. Issue was the rubber tip float needle would swell when certain chemicals where use to clean the carbs and if wasn't blown out then it would swell the tip of the float needle.

The only chemical I use to rebuild the carbs was Chem Tool B-12. This is a great product to clean carbs. But BEWARE do not use it on plastic parts or rubber parts as it melts or swells the part causing problems later on down the road.

I hope this helps someone in the long run like it did me........

Again Thanks Everyone

 

[oldcatamount]

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Re: Dead or Not Dead

Thanks for the follow up! Interesting journey and very informative for all of us. It seems it's always the "little" things" that will give us fits and screw up a good day on the water. (there are some really sharp mechanics on this forum!)

 

[Will Bark]

Re: Dead or Not Dead (Problem Found and Fixed)

Thanks for letting us know what the problem was especially me since I had a needle sticking and didn't know what caused it. Glad you're back on the water!