Evinrude Mate 1.5 hp -- Started, Now Won't Start

caberg

Cadet
Joined
Nov 30, 2013
Messages
8
This is a 1970 Evinrude Mate 1.5 hp. I bought it a few months ago with very little apparent use on it. Very clean all over and was told that it sat stored in a garage for decades by the widow of the original owner.

First thing I did was drain the gear oil from the lower unit. Looked good, not cloudy. Took apart the lower unit and replaced the impeller. Put back together, filled with new gear oil.

Gas tank was dry inside, no rust, no debris. All set there. I plan to do a carb kit but decided to give the motor a test drive. Filled a 55 gal trash can with water, put a bit of 50:1 gas mixture into the tank, and it fired up on the 3rd or 4th pull. Ran good, sounded good, let it run for 2-3 minutes. I was very pleased.

A couple weeks later, I tried firing it up again and this time no luck. Pull and pull and pull, and nothing. Try the choke in, out, half way. Doesn't even begin to catch. Nothing that I know of is any different than a few weeks prior when it started right up.

So, where do I begin.... I'd like to get this issue figured out before I go on to do the carb kit.
 

Crosbyman

Rear Admiral
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
4,914
Re: Evinrude Mate 1.5 hp -- Started, Now Won't Start

If sparking ok do the carb and clean all the fuel lines and tank because the fresh fuel loosed up any old dried gunk which likely plugged the carb orifices internally !!
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
36,047
Re: Evinrude Mate 1.5 hp -- Started, Now Won't Start

The ignition coils deteriorate with time.----Pull the flywheel and inspect.--Working on a very low hour 1973 Johnson.-----------Both coils were junk as I suspected.
 

Georgesalmon

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Apr 14, 2012
Messages
1,793
Re: Evinrude Mate 1.5 hp -- Started, Now Won't Start

+1, to above about carbs and gas stuff, that would be my first guess to
 

caberg

Cadet
Joined
Nov 30, 2013
Messages
8
Re: Evinrude Mate 1.5 hp -- Started, Now Won't Start

Okay, thanks for the quick responses. That makes sense with the new fuel, although my only doubt is that when I looked inside the fuel tank with a light (before adding any fuel) it was shiny clean in there. Not a speck anywhere I could see, but of course there could have been gunk in the lines.

I'm a complete novice on this stuff.... How do I determine first if it's sparking ok? I'm assuming that since it started and ran fine for a couple minutes, that it was sparking ok at that point in time.
 

itsaboattime

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
791
Re: Evinrude Mate 1.5 hp -- Started, Now Won't Start

There are various ways of testing spark. The best way is with a spark tester. It plugs into the spark plug wire and clips onto the spark plug. You pull the starter rope and look to see if there is spark in the tester. They are available at most auto parts stores.
I know I am going to catch grief for this but, you can also remove the spark plug(visually inspect it to see if it is bad) and connect it to the plug wire and ground it to the cylinder head. Then pull the starter rope and see if there is spark on the plug. The spark should be nice and blue in color.
This isn't the best way to test for spark.
The tester should have a variable distance that the spark jumps. A strong spark will jump 1/4 inch or better. The spark plug only has the distance between electrodes and you cannot gauge the spark strength.
If I were you, I would test the spark and see if it is there. If no spark is present I would try a new plug. When you ran it the first time you may have loosened up some carbon that was on the piston or the head and lodged a small piece in the spark plug and/or fouled it.
There also may have been something loosened up in the fuel lines that traveled down and lodged in the carb jets, as stated before. The gas tank may have been clean, but the old fuel lines may have degraded over time and the fuel flushed some gunk into the carburetor.
 

Crosbyman

Rear Admiral
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
4,914
Top