35 hp Chrysler Force starting problems

[ssmith1120]

HI, I have a friend that has a boat that we have been working on for the last few months and we are stuck right now. The first thing he had repaired was the pumps because they were not working. Now this year the engine had trouble starting. We changed out the spark plugs and played around with the carb to get it set right. We followed the steps in the manual. Now we were using a boot with a water hose hooked up and we had water coming out of the pumps and everything was working great. That weekend he took it out and it started right up and it ran great for a while. He turned it off fished for a little while and it would not fire again. Last night we filled up a trash can and put the outboard in to to see what is going on. It started up ran at idle for a while. Then we ran it to get is warm turned it of and it would not fire again. You can hear the engine spinning but not starting. It is turning over but not firing.

We heard water leaking and we found on the GEARCASE on the right side on the back screw there is a hole right next to it. We also saw light brown oil/greese with water mixture coming out when we lifted the outboard out of the water.

Is this a problem or is it our problem. I am wondering if water is getting into the engine and not letting it create a spark to start. Again when we had the boot on it a few weeks earlier it did not have a problem starting it. Only when it is in the lake or water.

I am sorry this is so long but do you have any suggestions or ideas on what we can try next? Do we need to replace the GEARCASE or can we take it off and put a weld on the hole?

He is about ready to throw in the towel and I think that we are closed to getting this working so any help would be appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: 35 hp Chrysler Force starting problems

What year is the engine? Is it a Chrysler or a Force? Anyway, the hole you describe is a drain hole to let water out of the engine leg when the boat is out of the water. If the engine has magneto ignition, replace the points and condensers. When a bad condenser heats up, frequently it will short out and the engine will not start. After it cools down the engine will start and run normally until enough heat gets up into the condensers to short them out again.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 35 hp Chrysler Force starting problems

Or motor is flooding when it is killed and then it is tough to get it to start again. Hook up your garbage can again and let it run till it is good and warm. Shut the motor off then try and re start as you did previously. If you cant get it to start test for spark on both cylinders. If you have good spark remove both plugs and let it sit for a little while then replace the plugs and try and fire it again. What type of spark plugs are you using? A model number is a must. Some models require a gapless plug while others will use a convetional plug.

 

[ssmith1120]

Re: 35 hp Chrysler Force starting problems

it is a 1987 35 hp Chrysler Force outboard.

It had champion plugs spaced at .030 and we put in NDK plugs and spaced them to .030 as well. Not sure about the name on the plug "NDK" but person helping us said it was the same plug.

We tried to see if it would turn over tonight but it is not firing at all now. The engine is turning over fine just not firing.

The head was replaced last year and we are going to get a spark tester within the next few days and see if we are getting a good spark.

I will post back as soon as we do the spark test.

Thanks for your help.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 35 hp Chrysler Force starting problems

Motor has a recommended plug of Champion L82C. Maybe get a couple of those.

 

[ssmith1120]

Re: 35 hp Chrysler Force starting problems

Ok, i just tested with a spark plug tester on both spark plugs. We had one hooked up normal and the other hooked into the spark tester. We got a little spark out of one and then nothing. We tried the other one and no spark either.

Now what do we need to check?

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 35 hp Chrysler Force starting problems

On the spark plug tester are you tying it to battery ground?

 

[ssmith1120]

Re: 35 hp Chrysler Force starting problems

The tester has a clip on the end of it and we are suppose to clip it onto ground. We put it onto a ground tried to start it up and we did not see any spark. Is there a better way to test this or did we do it wrong?

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 35 hp Chrysler Force starting problems

I am sure the test you are doing is working. Seems wierd it used to run cold and now nothing. You could try testing it with a bolt crammed into the spark boot and see if it will jump a spark to ground. Click HERE for a chrysler manual. Yours is a force but it should have good information on troubleshooting your motor. You can also look at the Iboats FAQ forum on Outboard wont start.

 

[ssmith1120]

Re: 35 hp Chrysler Force starting problems

Well, thanks to everyone that tried to help me out on this. We got it working but it was us being stupid.

First the spark plug tester I bought was not working it was a bad one. The way I figured this out was hooked it up to my working lawn mower and there was no spark at all. I tried it on a few other things and it would not work even though the thing being test ran fine.

Now, my friend was reading his boats owners manual and he found something that fixed the problem.

Here is where you can start giggling all day......

He found out that if you push the key in when you are trying to start it you choke the engine. Well, we were pushing the key in every time we tried to start it and was fludding the thing so bad that it would not kick over. Yesterday we pulled the boat back out gave it a water source and just turned the key without pushing it in and it started right up, and purred like a kitten. We are going to be taking it out on Sept. 22 to do some fishing and run the thing to see how well it does.

Thanks to everyone and have a wonderful week. This forum is awesome.