1962 Evinrude 5.5 hp Fisherman 5524R

[rustycat2007]

Hello everyone I have recently acquired a 1962 Evinrude outboard motor. The motor runs great at idle and in mid range but does not develop power at WOT. I have it on a twelve foot long aluminum Jon boat. Motor has good compression (80 and 85 psi) and spark which leads me to believe that it is a fuel problem. I took the carb apart and it looks good. It was flooding when I bought it and was almost impossible to start. I have that issue fixed and it starts on the first pull of the rope, but how do I make it develop full power at WOT. When running the motor it will develop full rpm without a load (in neutral), but not with a load (in gear). The motor will not put my small boat on a plane as it should. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[racerone]

There is a slip clutch below the water pump.---------When the spring breaks in that unit , it tends to get longer.-----That jams the unit onto the bearing plate under the water pump.----That will bind enuff to slow the boat.

 

[rustycat2007]

Is there a way to inspect this spring or the unit without removing the power head?

 

[racerone]

No there is not a simple short cut to this.----You say you have checked and have good compression , and " good " spark . and a clean carburetor and it runs good at idle.--------Not saying that this clutch is the problem , but I would check it.-------Others will chip in their 2 cents.

 

[rustycat2007]

Ok will check the spring thank you for your help.

 

[boobie]

Take the spark plugs out, grab ahold of the flywheel and see how free the motor spins over.

 

[F_R]

What boobie said.

Also, are you sure it is running on both cylinders? My bet is it isn't. But you don't know till you actually check it. They will run just fine on one, just no power. Disconnect and ground one spark plug wire and see how it runs. Then do the same with the other one. It probably won't make any difference with one disconnected, but won't run at all with the other one disconnected. That's the good one.

BTW, don't be running it "full RPM in neutral". (Cringe at the thought)

 

[rustycat2007]

No Title

F_R, I'm not running it full rpm in neutral, it will get considerably more rpm in neutral than with a load. The engine cowling states that the operating range for this motor is 3500 to 4500 rpm but I'm not getting anywhere near that. I will put a tachometer on it as soon as I get it back together to see what its running.

Racerone, I tore down everything south of the power head. I cant locate anything that resembles what I would think a slip clutch should look like. Could this be in the power head on this model?

Boobie, the motor will fire and run on both cylinders individually.

Also on this motor there are high speed and low speed mixture adjustments on the carb. To get the rpm that i have now the high speed screw is all the way in. could the mixture be too rich and cause this problem? If so how do I get the mixture to lean further if the screw is already all the way in?

 

[racerone]

????---The slip clutch is clearly shown in the first picture.---Between the driveshaft and the pinion gear !!!!

 

[rustycat2007]

Ok now that we are on the same page, how do I disassemble the clutch to inspect the spring?

 

[racerone]

Post a picture of the top of the clutch and the bottom of the bearing housing.

 

[rustycat2007]

No Title

 

[rustycat2007]

Also i removed the plugs and motor turns freely.

 

[F_R]

No Title

Pictures do not look like the clutch is bad. It causes damage to the top of the clutch and bottom of the bearing plate that goes below the water pump if it is bad. BTW,it is called a "Shock Absorber". There is a maximum length to it, but offhand I don't know what that is. Also, if it is causing a problem, the motor would be hard to turn over by hand with the plugs out, as somebody suggested.

Have you ever ran this boat with a 5.5hp before? Did it plane then?

 

[rustycat2007]

I had a six hp Mercury on it a while back and it was pretty fast and had no trouble getting on a plane. I don't expect that performance from this oldie but I did expect a plane from it. Any suggestions on how to enhance performance on these old motors or get more power from them. I am going to purchase new seals and soak the carb just to rule it out I have not cleaned the carb, only adjusted the float to keep it from flooding. Should I replace the needles (float, high and low speeds, and seats) in the process?

 

[Chinewalker]

If you need more power, get a bigger motor. Trying to wring more power from a 50+ year old 5.5hp is an effort in futility.

Also, I don't see where you actually checked to see that it was running on both cylinders. Do a cylinder drop test to make that determination, removing one plug wire at a time while underway.

 

[ddwilson]

if the high speed needle is all the way in may be too lean to get full speed out of it, may run that way in the tank but not with a load. Found this on
my 5.5 johnson