ncsuwlfpck42
Recruit
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2010
- Messages
- 3
So I bought my first outboard motor (s/n: 0A963606) from a seller who told me it had been sitting around in a guys garage for about a year and it looks to have been pretty well used before that.
As of right now, I have pretty well dissasembled the motor, cleaned the big parts, replaced the water pump, changed the lower unit oil, changed spark plugs, cleaned the 'newish' carb (though probably not as well as I could have), and got new gas tank/fittings. I'm currently using the main fuel line/bulb that came with the motor - after I ran the engine there was no debris or anything in the fuel filter and the bulb seems to work, so I figured it was ok.
So, after cleaning, replacing, and reassembling everything, I hooked up the 'muffs and let 'er rip (it's a pull start). After a couple tries, the motor finally woke up and ran for just a few seconds. While priming the fuel lines, I waited for the bulb to get hard and ended up squirting some gas out of the carb. (After some research, I gathered that this was a result of a bad needle valve?) I started it a few more times, with the motor runing for a longer period of time after each pull before getting bogged down and shutting off. I realize that 2-stroke motors like mine are going to shake, even moreso in idle, but it was shaking pretty hard, especially when it was getting bogged down. Initially, there was also a fair amount of smoke coming from the prop area (which I assume is where the exhaust is)...it was more of a white-smoke as I remember. After idling for a few seconds, I revved it up for a couple of seconds, and it continued to run, but after I brought the rpms back down, it bogged down and died again. After turning up the water, a stream exited the front left corner of the lower unit (if you're looking at it straight-on) and water sputtered out of the 4-5 holes on the back spine of the mid-section. I was really expecting a steady stream from the back holes, but after talking to a worker at a local boat store, he told me that smaller engines like ours (he had a 30 hp) won't really produce a steady stream from the back b/c it doesn't need as much water as a larger engine (for the record, that sounded a little sketchy to me). Anyway, I also checked the compression and after I hooked up the hose and the gauge, I pulled the rope and got nothing.....absolutely nothing - not 50 psi or 5 psi, nothing. I did notice, however, that pressure built up to about 3 psi after a couple of pulls. Out of my wonder and confusion, I failed to test the other cylinder.
So, what is wrong with my motor? (haha Isn't that what we all want to know?) Can a motor run with no compression or am I doing something wrong? (I did read up on compression checks earlier today and saw that you need to either ground the spark plugs or just switch off the kill switch - I just unplugged the spark plugs, which may have not been a smart idea). Why would my motor be smoking when it runs? (white smoke would denote burning oil, and I did just change the lower unit oil...so maybe thats it?) Why does the engine cut off when I shift it into gear?
This is my first experience with outboard motors, so any help/insight/tips are welcome! If it'll do any good, I'll post some pictures too.
Thanks for the input!
P.S.- I don't have an owner's manual. I know 'everybody' should have one, but I don't want to spend the money on it if I don't absolutely have to.
As of right now, I have pretty well dissasembled the motor, cleaned the big parts, replaced the water pump, changed the lower unit oil, changed spark plugs, cleaned the 'newish' carb (though probably not as well as I could have), and got new gas tank/fittings. I'm currently using the main fuel line/bulb that came with the motor - after I ran the engine there was no debris or anything in the fuel filter and the bulb seems to work, so I figured it was ok.
So, after cleaning, replacing, and reassembling everything, I hooked up the 'muffs and let 'er rip (it's a pull start). After a couple tries, the motor finally woke up and ran for just a few seconds. While priming the fuel lines, I waited for the bulb to get hard and ended up squirting some gas out of the carb. (After some research, I gathered that this was a result of a bad needle valve?) I started it a few more times, with the motor runing for a longer period of time after each pull before getting bogged down and shutting off. I realize that 2-stroke motors like mine are going to shake, even moreso in idle, but it was shaking pretty hard, especially when it was getting bogged down. Initially, there was also a fair amount of smoke coming from the prop area (which I assume is where the exhaust is)...it was more of a white-smoke as I remember. After idling for a few seconds, I revved it up for a couple of seconds, and it continued to run, but after I brought the rpms back down, it bogged down and died again. After turning up the water, a stream exited the front left corner of the lower unit (if you're looking at it straight-on) and water sputtered out of the 4-5 holes on the back spine of the mid-section. I was really expecting a steady stream from the back holes, but after talking to a worker at a local boat store, he told me that smaller engines like ours (he had a 30 hp) won't really produce a steady stream from the back b/c it doesn't need as much water as a larger engine (for the record, that sounded a little sketchy to me). Anyway, I also checked the compression and after I hooked up the hose and the gauge, I pulled the rope and got nothing.....absolutely nothing - not 50 psi or 5 psi, nothing. I did notice, however, that pressure built up to about 3 psi after a couple of pulls. Out of my wonder and confusion, I failed to test the other cylinder.
So, what is wrong with my motor? (haha Isn't that what we all want to know?) Can a motor run with no compression or am I doing something wrong? (I did read up on compression checks earlier today and saw that you need to either ground the spark plugs or just switch off the kill switch - I just unplugged the spark plugs, which may have not been a smart idea). Why would my motor be smoking when it runs? (white smoke would denote burning oil, and I did just change the lower unit oil...so maybe thats it?) Why does the engine cut off when I shift it into gear?
This is my first experience with outboard motors, so any help/insight/tips are welcome! If it'll do any good, I'll post some pictures too.
Thanks for the input!
P.S.- I don't have an owner's manual. I know 'everybody' should have one, but I don't want to spend the money on it if I don't absolutely have to.
