88 70 HP Evinrude intermittent non start

[Uncivil]

So recently my 70 Hp Evenrude has decided it doesn't want to start. Last tuesday I had it out on the river and it ran fine going up river and after fishing I tried to start up and nada. I had to run it home on the kicker. So I change plugs and regapped and voila runs great. Saturday I had it out on the salt all day with no problems. Tonight I took it back out on the river and no joy. Both times it turns over great but it won't fire. It seems to be getting fuel and I have not been able to check directly if it is getting spark. But the weird thing is the intermittent nature of the problem. I have been perusing the Seloc manual I bought but I am dissapointed in the troubleshooting data in the manual. Basically there is no list of problems that give you an idea of where to start searching for the problem so I thought I would ask here. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Haffiman]

Re: 88 70 HP Evinrude intermittent non start

Next time it happens, disconnect the black/yellow wire going out from the power-pack.
Noteo not pull in the wire to get the pin out of the contact, split the contact and push the pin out.
That will eliminate any wiggling contact in the stop-circuit such as emergency switch, ign switch, harness problem.

 

[jtexas]

Re: 88 70 HP Evinrude intermittent non start

pulling the kill wire is the next troubleshooting step, *after* you've determined that you have no spark on any cylinder. Until then, you risk wasting a lot of effort.

If you just want to check for spark/no-spark, you can pull each plug in turn, reattach the boot, and hold it against the cylinder head while cranking.

To determine whether it's firing in the hole, you need do to a spark test (not a "spark plug" test). get an inline spark tester (couple bucks at autozone), set the gap for 7/16", clip it to the engine block, attach the plug leads (one at a time) and look for a strong blue spark while cranking. If it can't jump a half-inch gap in the open air without a spark plug, it's not firing under heat & compression.

If you got spark, then a compression test is indicated.

Report your results.

Also, could you be a bit more specific about "seems to be getting fuel"?

OEM shop manual is available at outboardbooks.com or marineengine.com -- well worth the price, IMHO.

 

[Uncivil]

Re: 88 70 HP Evinrude intermittent non start

Thanks for the suggestions. I never thought to check the kill switch. DoH! As far as It seems to be getting fuel I think it is just that as I could smell the gas after a series of cranks and there seemed to be a fair bit below the carb block when I got it off the water both times. As well when it ran it ran great although if there is an intermittent fuel pump problem that would be different wouldn't it. Thanks again. More things to try!

 

[Uncivil]

Re: 88 70 HP Evinrude intermittent non start

So an update.... Not what you might expect though. I went away this weekend with my fishing club and My partner in my boat took it out. Because i used the second battery for my electric motor ( I only used it so we could test out the new dual battery set up) my partner put in one of his battery to take it out and use. Problem is he reversed the polarity when he connected it. So when He tries to fire it up on battery 1 he finds it seems to be dead. Sooo he switches from #1 to #2 and flame on. The lovely new wiring we put in melted or melted teh insulation. He was lucky that it did not ignite the kicker tank. The fire extinguisher that I insisted on mounting at the control console rather than leaving in the storage boxes came in handy. Put out the fire and allowed my partner to switch off and then disengage the batteries. So I guess he was too depressed to do any investigation so he went sturgeon fishing with a buddy. I got the lovely news when I got home form my trip. It is more important that my pal was not hurt and it looks as if we avoided a total loss but... We will have to look to see how muych damage was done.