Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

TomRay

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Jan 27, 2012
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I was working on my 1986 Evinrude 15 and found this part laying down under the gear shift.

evinrude-15-part.jpg

Does anyone know what it is and where it is supposed to go?

The back story, for those interested:

I found this engine on craigslist. The owner said it had been in his family since new and had maybe 10 hours of freshwater use. He said he had installed a carb rebuild kit w/new plastic float, fuel pump rebuild kit, new plugs, and replaced gear oil. He did not know the age of the impeller. Judging by the lack of marks, I'd guess it's a 1986 impeller, but it still works. The previous owner was an auto mechanic (I picked it up where he works) and seemed to know/care little about boats. He seemed honest. I paid $750 since that's what he was asking, then told him I would have paid more.

First test, upwind and upstream in the creek, not far from the ramp. Ran for an hour at all speeds. Performed perfectly.

Second test, way up a small creek. 2+ hours of slow speed with some planing at each end of the trip. Performed perfectly.

Third test, down to the Peace River. Ran perfectly for about half an hour, then suddenly died at cruising speed. Like a kill switch lanyard was pulled, but they started installing those the next year, so this engine has none.

It has not even popped since, except one time when we squirted a bit of starting fluid in, and even that was less of a pop than I expected.

The plugs spark blue when removed and grounded to the block. Disconnecting the kill switch ground lead from the block does nothing. The fuel pump and carb appear to be working. Bad fuel is a virtual impossibility. I use only fresh, ethanol-free fuel from properly stored plastic cans, which I visually inspect. There is a filter in the fuel line.

We dried the plugs, pulled the choke, and attempted to start it several times to flood the engine. The plugs came out bone dry. Gas came out the front of the carb. A friend said, "Reeds." Really?

And what about that little orange plastic part?

Here's the engine. That's all original paint, even on the skeg.

1986-evinrude-15.jpg
 

SeaKaye12

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

It seems that you have done most all the tests I would do....and I would be stumped as well. I would suggest two things. (1) With the plugs removed, squirt a little pre-mix directly in the cylinders and see if it fires then. (2) Test the spark with a proper spark tester and see if it will jump a 1/2" gap.

Let us know....
 

kd4gij

Seaman Apprentice
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Feb 28, 2013
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45
Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

this is your mystry part. 0391105 - STARTER PAWL & SPRING it it goes on your throtle
 

TomRay

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

SeaKaye12, not trying to be difficult, but I have never seen a proper spark tester. To me, that's a guy who does a good job holding them against the block. I already used one of those! ;)

this is your mystry part. 0391105 - STARTER PAWL & SPRING it it goes on your throtle

Hmm... Looks like I have recovered part of it.

Evinrude Johnson OMC 0391105 - Starter Pawl & Spring @ MarineEngine.com

That has a picture of the whole part. I don't see the rest of it anywhere on my engine. Here is a picture of the throttle/starter area. Where is the complete part supposed to be?

evinrude-15-starter.jpg
 

Chinewalker

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Messages
8,902
Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

In your photo, just under the flyhweel you'll see a shoulder screw with a washer under it. That's where the lock-out arm goes. It engages into the "saw teeth" on the rewind pulley when you've got it throttled up to highly. There's also a spring tab that goes with it that holds it out from the teeth when not engaged.

Sure sounds like you're getting a fuel draw issue. Gotta pull the recoil anyway to get at the lock-out, so you might as well pull the carb and give it a go-through...
 

nwcove

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6,293
Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

I was working on my 1986 Evinrude 15 and found this part laying down under the gear shift.

View attachment 214340

Does anyone know what it is and where it is supposed to go?

its a penny!! we used to have those up here north of the border, everyone still has some, but nobody has a clue where they go anymore!! :D
[/QUOTE]
 

TomRay

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Jan 27, 2012
Messages
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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

In your photo, just under the flyhweel you'll see a shoulder screw with a washer under it. That's where the lock-out arm goes. It engages into the "saw teeth" on the rewind pulley when you've got it throttled up to highly. There's also a spring tab that goes with it that holds it out from the teeth when not engaged.

Sure sounds like you're getting a fuel draw issue. Gotta pull the recoil anyway to get at the lock-out, so you might as well pull the carb and give it a go-through...

When I was young, we had a 1960 10 hp Johnson on the same boat. I really hated that engine. It would get you there, but not home, and we didn't have Sea Tow back then.

It had no safety lockouts. It would start in gear at full throttle. Sometimes, that is the ONLY way it would start. On one of those occasions, the boat went out from under me and I was pretty lucky I was not injured as it did mad donuts.

If all this little red part does is prevent me from doing that again, I'm not going to bother with it. I'm over that!

I did pull the carb off. The punch-out plate over the idle jets has been removed and repaired with JB Weld. I didn't disturb it. The one over the high speed jet has been battled but seems to have survived without being removed. I didn't bother it either. The float and needle seemed fine. I blew through the bottom and air came out inside. I'm not a mechanic and don't trust carburetors that have been messed with by the likes of me, so I put it back on the engine.

I really find it hard to believe that fuel starvation could result in the sudden stoppage I experienced. There was no surging at all. It was running smoothly at cruising speed and just stopped.

I think I have some kind of electrical problem just because of the way the engine quit. Guess I will have to figure out what a proper spark tester is and locate one!
 

V153

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

Granpappy Jack liked to say if'n ya rebuilt something & it ran. Any leftover parts musta just been decorations ...
 

TomRay

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

I was hoping that little plastic part might have something to do with the engine not running, but yeah, it was decorative.

The 1960 10 hp finally spit a spark plug across the canal one day in 1978 and my father bought a used 1975 9.9 to replace it. The older engine was harder to pull. The first time I tried to start the 9.9, I nearly jerked it off the transom. That was the beginning of my love affair with these little engines.
 

brim_buster

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

without your starter sprawl your engine wont fire.hence the broken red thing. you need it to de-activate the kill switch which isnt allowing you to get spark. or you can by-pass it.
 

Chinewalker

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

without your starter sprawl your engine wont fire.hence the broken red thing. you need it to de-activate the kill switch which isnt allowing you to get spark. or you can by-pass it.

The starter lock-out has nothing to do with the ignition... It's just a simple engage/disengage lever with no electrical component.
 

SeaKaye12

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

OK....about the "proper spark tester"....

Sometimes even though you might see a spark at the plug as you have described....it might not be strong enough to fire under compression in the cylinder.
So; using a spark tester like the one in the photo....set the gap between 3/8" and 1/2" and see if the spark is strong enough to jump that.

Consensus here seems to indicate a fuel issue...and I guess I might tend to agree....but....the abrupt way your engine shut down sort of sounds more like ignition.....so.....
 

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iwombat

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

^^ The above is correct. Holding plugs against the block is nothing more than a false confidence booster. It's not a proper spark test.
 

TomRay

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

Thanks, SeaKaye12. The shutdown did seem too sudden to be fuel-related, so I suspect an electrical problem, but I'm very puzzled as to why the plugs came out bone dry when we tried to flood the engine. Maybe I have both kinds of problems, or maybe my friend who suggested broken reeds was right.
 

boobie

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

Very rare to have a broken reed and the mtr will not run. They'll run but very poorly.
 

V153

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

Ya I kinda doubt it's a busted reed. It'd still run. Have we checked compression yet?

The more i read'n reread, sounds like ya ran outa gas. And still have a fuel delivery problem. Witness "dry plugs"?
 

TomRay

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

I don't have a compression tester, but the previous owner said he checked them and they were around 120. Compression feels good when I pull and the engine had plenty of power when running. Besides, anything that caused a complete and sudden stoppage of the engine due to compression would be likely to make some kind of noise, wouldn't it?

I know I did not run out of fuel in the tank and when we did the test that came up with dry plugs, we had just verified fuel flow from the tank to the fuel pump. The fuel pump seems fine, and like I said, gas came out the front of the carburetor, so fuel was getting at least that far. Why the plugs remained dry is still a mystery.
 

brim_buster

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

I thought it was the plastic piece that attached to a cord to the kill switch. Thats what it looked like to me. when not attached it kills the motor.MY BAD....
The starter lock-out has nothing to do with the ignition... It's just a simple engage/disengage lever with no electrical component.
 

TomRay

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

Kill switch trivia:

Lee Roy's Ramblings says that they started including kill switches on these engines in 1987 and I can verify it's true from personal experience. My current (problem) engine is a 1986 and has no kill switch. Back in 1987, I bought a brand new Johnson 15 that came with a kill switch.

The 1986 has the cable throttle control and the stop button on the end of the tiller integrated with the idle speed stop. The stop button seems fine.
 

TomRay

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Re: Mystery Part from 1986 Evinrude 15

I visited helpful iboats forum member clanton yesterday and he fiddled with my 1986 engine a bit. He concluded that it likely has a bad powerpack.

In other news, I donated my 1975 Evinrude 15 to a local sailing program and they took the lower unit off a 1987 engine with a blown powerhead. The 1975 engine is back in service, and now they have a blown 1987 powerhead with no lower unit.

But that 1987 engine has a powerpack that was last known to be working.

Does anyone know if the 1986 and 1987 powerpacks are interchangeable?
 
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