johntwright27
Recruit
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2015
- Messages
- 1
Hey ya'll I am a college student fishing in the collegiate series and bought a boat last year. I am certainly no mechanic but have pretty good mechanical know-how, but am at a loss on this outboard. I bought a 1986 Stratos with an 150 Evinrude in good shape.... or so I thought. This thing has been to two different mechanics and nobody can figure out what is going on.
First Mechanic did this-
New powerpack
New impeller
New lower unit oil
New spark plugs
New spark plug wires
New fuel lines
New exhaust housing
They had it for three months but couldn't get it running right. I took it home and hooked up the muffs to see what it was doing. After a bunch of carb cleaner it fired up, but would POP every now and then. Sounded fine and would rev up good just popped every once and awhile. So I took it to another mechanic.
Second Mechanic did this-
Rebuilt carbs
Link and sync
New throttle cable
They had it for four months and I got tired of waiting for them to do nothing to it. Took it back home and hooked up the muffs again. Still having the popping problem. Did some research online on my own and came across an idea to check the spark plugs. I didn't think much of it since the first mechanic put new ones in but I figured I would give it a shot. Come to find out the wrong spark plugs were in. Replaced the plugs with the manual specs and boom the popping stopped! I thought I had fixed it. Took it out on the water for the first time since I bought it (which was February 2014) in September last year. More carb cleaner and the engine fired up. Idled well and revved up great. Stuck it in reverse and backed it off the trailer no problem. Then the problems started. Shifted into forward gear and the engine died. Several tries of the same problem and finally it went forward. At WOT the boat would only go roughly 5-10mph. Put it into neutral after realizing something was wrong and it died. Got it to fire back up but never could get it to go forward again, just died when it went into gear. Loaded it up and did more research. Decided it was time to do a compression test to see if there was a MAJOR problem. Did the test and I don't remember the exact numbers but all were in the mid 90s with none that was more than 5% different than the others. Figured since they were all roughly the same compression was not a problem.
Decided to rebuild the carbs myself so I could see for myself that they were done right. Took them apart and they were spotless, but rebuilt them anyways per the manual instructions. Redid the link and sync to manual specs. Drained the tank and put fresh fuel in the tank and headed to the lake. Still took a bunch of carb cleaner to start it up but it finally did. Usually when the motor is warmed up it starts right back up so I didn't think having to use the cleaner for a cold startup was a bad thing as I have heard these old Evinrudes are beasts when cold. First try it went into gear and off we went, though still only topped out at 5-10mph. Put it into neutral and it died. Took longer than usual to start up again but started up. Put it into gear and died. Never could get it to go forward again and loaded it up. Pulled all the spark plugs and found every single one of them is BLACK, I know it is a 2-stroke so some oil will be burned but I have a feeling that I am not getting enough combustion to burn off the oil and it is fouling every single spark plug.
I have searched this website and many others for countless hours and taken it to two mechanics and haven't found an answer that solves the problem I am having. Figured it was time to ask this question myself rather than find an answer to someone else's problem that usually doesn't sound exactly like the problem I am having. I know the carbs are good and the powerpack replaced what else could possibly cause this problem? Thank you in advance for any advice!
First Mechanic did this-
New powerpack
New impeller
New lower unit oil
New spark plugs
New spark plug wires
New fuel lines
New exhaust housing
They had it for three months but couldn't get it running right. I took it home and hooked up the muffs to see what it was doing. After a bunch of carb cleaner it fired up, but would POP every now and then. Sounded fine and would rev up good just popped every once and awhile. So I took it to another mechanic.
Second Mechanic did this-
Rebuilt carbs
Link and sync
New throttle cable
They had it for four months and I got tired of waiting for them to do nothing to it. Took it back home and hooked up the muffs again. Still having the popping problem. Did some research online on my own and came across an idea to check the spark plugs. I didn't think much of it since the first mechanic put new ones in but I figured I would give it a shot. Come to find out the wrong spark plugs were in. Replaced the plugs with the manual specs and boom the popping stopped! I thought I had fixed it. Took it out on the water for the first time since I bought it (which was February 2014) in September last year. More carb cleaner and the engine fired up. Idled well and revved up great. Stuck it in reverse and backed it off the trailer no problem. Then the problems started. Shifted into forward gear and the engine died. Several tries of the same problem and finally it went forward. At WOT the boat would only go roughly 5-10mph. Put it into neutral after realizing something was wrong and it died. Got it to fire back up but never could get it to go forward again, just died when it went into gear. Loaded it up and did more research. Decided it was time to do a compression test to see if there was a MAJOR problem. Did the test and I don't remember the exact numbers but all were in the mid 90s with none that was more than 5% different than the others. Figured since they were all roughly the same compression was not a problem.
Decided to rebuild the carbs myself so I could see for myself that they were done right. Took them apart and they were spotless, but rebuilt them anyways per the manual instructions. Redid the link and sync to manual specs. Drained the tank and put fresh fuel in the tank and headed to the lake. Still took a bunch of carb cleaner to start it up but it finally did. Usually when the motor is warmed up it starts right back up so I didn't think having to use the cleaner for a cold startup was a bad thing as I have heard these old Evinrudes are beasts when cold. First try it went into gear and off we went, though still only topped out at 5-10mph. Put it into neutral and it died. Took longer than usual to start up again but started up. Put it into gear and died. Never could get it to go forward again and loaded it up. Pulled all the spark plugs and found every single one of them is BLACK, I know it is a 2-stroke so some oil will be burned but I have a feeling that I am not getting enough combustion to burn off the oil and it is fouling every single spark plug.
I have searched this website and many others for countless hours and taken it to two mechanics and haven't found an answer that solves the problem I am having. Figured it was time to ask this question myself rather than find an answer to someone else's problem that usually doesn't sound exactly like the problem I am having. I know the carbs are good and the powerpack replaced what else could possibly cause this problem? Thank you in advance for any advice!