need help 1998 Evinrude

[alexthompson2817]

Hello all, first time poster.

Have a 1998 Sprint 20' with a 98' Evinrude Vindicator (model number = E200STLECE). Just for the record, the boat has a hot foot throttle.

Put fuel in the boat and stored. One week later put boat in water. Boat would not reach cruising speed or rpm (60 mph, 4,000 RPM).

Boat runs fine in neutral, will reach up to 8,000 rpm in neutral. Put it in gear and it will not reach above 1,800 or 2,000 rpm. In addition, you cannot put it back in neutral after you attempt to "blast off". If you want to go back to neutral, you must turn the key, move "gear selector" to neutral and restart.

When problem first started, it had enough H.P. to get on plane but not reach a speed higher than 34 mph (GPS reading). Now it does not have enough power to get on a plane.

I have checked compression, all cylinders are within 10 pounds of each other, they avg. 95 psi. Checked fire on each cylinder with engine in neutral, all cylinders firing well. Siphoned 1/2 gallon of gas into clean container, no trace of water or contaminants in gas, replaced fuel filter. None of this has fixed the problem.

Oh yeah, I put new plugs in (original Champion)

Any help or tips are appreciated.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: need help 1998 Evinrude

OK, You may have several problems. First of all the compression numbers are an issue. If they are all even, it is likely your compression gauge is inaccurate, and the compression is fine. it should be 120PSI+ and even on all six.

Your shifting problem may be caused by a sticking shift assist switch. Look on the shift linkage for a push-in switch that is connected to the powerpack. It is supposed to kill 1/2 the motor's spark, when depressed.

Thirdly, if you run your motor up to 8000RPM in neutral, it will blow up. OK, why do you think that boat+motor will go to 60MPH at 4000RPM? Did it ever do that before?

I think you might check spark on the water under load. The SLOW system will kill spark to 1/2 the motor if it thinks it is overheating. You might check the temperatire sensors on the cylinder heads for proper operation. Does the motor rev up automatically when it is cold?

 

[alexthompson2817]

Re: need help 1998 Evinrude

Chris1956,

Maybe the tachometer is off but according to it, the engine runs 8,000 rpm in neutral and has run 60 mph at 4,000 rpm.

The engine idles fine cold or hot. The only time the motor revs up unexpectedly, is when you have the motor in gear, kill the ignition, put it back in neutral and restart the motor. When you do this, upon cranking, the engine will rev to between 6,000 - 8,000 rpm (according to in dash tachometer) and then returns to a very good idle.

You may think I am crazy but that is what it does. I personally think that something is killing the fire to one bank of cylinders while the engine is in gear, when the engine is returned to neutral and restarted, all cylinders are allowed to fire and it burns the fuel in those cylinders off causing the 3-5 second unexplained high rpm rev after re-start. Does that sound plausible?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: need help 1998 Evinrude

it sounds like you tach is set for a 4 cylinder, not a 6 cylinder.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: need help 1998 Evinrude

Alex, The S.L.O.W. system is designed to kill fire to one bank of cylinders when the motor overheats. I think you need to check your temp sensors.

 

[LubeDude]

Re: need help 1998 Evinrude

OK, You may have several problems. First of all the compression numbers are an issue. If they are all even, it is likely your compression gauge is inaccurate, and the compression is fine. it should be 120PSI+ and even on all six.

Most V6's of that vintage will have comp #'s around 100#'s!!!

Also, "STOP" reving the engine to 8,000 RPM in neutral or you will not have an engine to worry about!

 

[alexthompson2817]

Re: need help 1998 Evinrude

All,

Thanks for your help. I took the boat to a mechanic, he kept it for two weeks and now it is fixed. He said that he had to adjust the linkage on three of the carbs. He said essentially that the boat was attempting to fun on three carbs because the other three's linkage was loose and they were not "opening up".

At any rate we put it in the water yesterday and run it for about an hour. It ran better than ever (at least since we have owned it).

Happy boating.