New (old) Evinrude running rough

[sharkboy]

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Hello,

Just took delivery of a '94 Grady White 192 with 150 Evinrude. Only 153 hours and seemed to run fine during my sea trial. However this weekend right off the bat the engine was hesitating and running rough, like water is in the gas. I put in some fuel conditioner and 20 gal of fresh gas in which didn't help, and there is a water separating filter installed (but I don't know how old it is). My assumption is that the boat has done more sitting than running over the past 10 years and the carbs are gummed up. Told the marina to change the filter and clean the carbs. Some questions:

1. Anything else I should check?
2. I remember cleaning carbs can be pretty expensive, like $100 per carb. At six carbs = $600. Is this a reasonable price?

Thanks in advance

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: New (old) Evinrude running rough

that's about market price. have them check spark and compression also. could have a coil going bad.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: New (old) Evinrude running rough

Not knowing the age of the fuel, you are probably better off completely purging the tank of fuel than adding new fuel to it. If you think the fuel is suspect, try running the engine on a small 6 gallon fuel tank filled with fresh gas. That should eliminate the fuel issue. If it's still running rough, you should check the spark when it starts to miss.

 

[sharkboy]

Re: New (old) Evinrude running rough

Thanks for the replies.

Compression is good as new, I had that checked before I bought the boat. Don't know about spark, but just doesn't seem to be that type of problem in my experience. I thought of using a spare tank, which I have on my old boat always. Only problem is that the Evinrude 150 doesn't have the snap on type fuel hose -- it is "hard wired" to the fuel tank, so I'd need to splice onto the hose at some point which would be messy. I believe fresh fuel on top of the bad fuel with fuel stabilizer and a new water separating filter should eliminate bad fuel unless there is too much water, and in that case the motor shouldn't run period.

The carb job should be done at any rate, so I'll report back the cost and whether or not it helped. I'm pretty sure it will, just wanted other opinions since this board seems pretty knowledgable.

Thanks again.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: New (old) Evinrude running rough

New fuel will sit on top of any water which is in at the bottom of the tank. For peace of mind, I'd take a fuel sample. Pull the hose off the fuel pump inlet and squeeze the hose bulb till you get a pint of fuel into a clear glass container. Let it sit and see what you have. You can also dump the fuel out of the gas/water separator filter into a glass container and see if it has water in it. Once that filter fills with water, you will have running problems.

 

[Randybeall]

Re: New (old) Evinrude running rough

Old fuel can be a major headache. It will not burn properly in a combustion chamber. The lighter elements evaporate off and degrade the fuel to the point that it can be mixed with diesel. Drain and clean your fuel system completely. New water seperator filter and purge the fuel line with fresh gas. Take the fuel hose off at the engine and pump some fresh gas from your drained and refilled tank through it before trying to refill the cleaned carbs. No since in wasting your $600.00. You most likely need fresh spark plugs too since the non burning fuel will wet foul them and make it very hard to start. Once or twice a year we see an older car which someone has decided to get running and restore, it is always a challange to get the fuel system back up to par. Stabil fuel additive is good stuff! You can most likely change the fitting on your fuel tank and hose end to use the clip on style like your other boat so portable fuel tanks can be used in emergency. Happy Boating.