Upstate Meeker
Recruit
- Joined
- May 6, 2012
- Messages
- 1
I am looking for some diagnostic help on my 1992 Yamaha 115hp outboard. After owning the boat for a year and it running excellent all last summer, I stored it over the winter in my garage. Based on several recommendations, I ran the motor weekly in my garage throughout the winter to keep the carb and fuel lines active. I also added fuel saver to the tank. I used a water hose and ear muffs each time I ran it.
A couple of weeks ago I put the boat in the water for the first excursion of the season. The motor fired right up, but refused to totally accelerate when I engaged the throttle. It will cruise at 5mph, but nothing faster than that. In neutral, it will rev without a problem, but once I put it in gear and engage the throttle past low speed, I'm losing power and it will stall. After stalling it will start without a problem, but it still won't plane or go above 2k-3k rpm's. If I pump the throttle back and forth while cruising at low speed, I can sometimes get it to past the point of stalling and get a few more rpm?s, but nothing close to full throttle or plane. It will hold this pace for a few minutes then generally begin to stall back.
A little bit of background on possible culprits, both of which are my fault. First, I shorted out the battery, it actually exploded, the morning I was heading to the lake for the first trip of the season. I had a trickle charger connected to the battery which was disconnected from the electrical outlet, but it was still connected to the battery terminals. There was some moisture present as I had just washed down the deck of the boat. I wanted to verify that the battery was charged for the lake trip so I engaged the ignition and that's when the battery blew. Fortunately, the cover was on the battery and no one was injured.
Once I replaced the battery that morning, I made matters worse by then accidently adding 4 quarts too many of oil to the gas mix. I did this on the way to the lake after adding 13 gallons of fresh fuel.
Initially, I thought the oil/gas ratio was the problem, from it choking out the motor. But after running through about 20 gallons of gas by cruising at slow speed and adding fresh fuel to get the mix correct, the stalling continued. I also put in new plugs, which helped SLIGHTLY for a few minutes, but then the problem returned. A fair amount of oil was evident on the plugs, which I cleaned several times, with no improvement in performance. Photo attached. What has me thinking it is NOT the oil/gas ratio is the motor did not excessively smoke and when its running at its slow pace and I hit the choke it stalls the engine.
This has now led me to the possibility that the battery short is the problem. Perhaps I shorted out one or more of the ignition assembly coils? Any other possible consequences of the blown battery that would cause the stalling during acceleration? Ignition assembly coils, which I believe I have 4 of, are pretty expensive, so I?d like to try to determine if they are the issue prior to investing $90 each.
Would checking for cylinder spark help me determine if the coils are bad?
Any thoughts, suggestions, or recommendations from this community of experts that could help me make an accurate diagnosis as well as possible solutions would be greatly appreciated.
A couple of weeks ago I put the boat in the water for the first excursion of the season. The motor fired right up, but refused to totally accelerate when I engaged the throttle. It will cruise at 5mph, but nothing faster than that. In neutral, it will rev without a problem, but once I put it in gear and engage the throttle past low speed, I'm losing power and it will stall. After stalling it will start without a problem, but it still won't plane or go above 2k-3k rpm's. If I pump the throttle back and forth while cruising at low speed, I can sometimes get it to past the point of stalling and get a few more rpm?s, but nothing close to full throttle or plane. It will hold this pace for a few minutes then generally begin to stall back.
A little bit of background on possible culprits, both of which are my fault. First, I shorted out the battery, it actually exploded, the morning I was heading to the lake for the first trip of the season. I had a trickle charger connected to the battery which was disconnected from the electrical outlet, but it was still connected to the battery terminals. There was some moisture present as I had just washed down the deck of the boat. I wanted to verify that the battery was charged for the lake trip so I engaged the ignition and that's when the battery blew. Fortunately, the cover was on the battery and no one was injured.
Once I replaced the battery that morning, I made matters worse by then accidently adding 4 quarts too many of oil to the gas mix. I did this on the way to the lake after adding 13 gallons of fresh fuel.
Initially, I thought the oil/gas ratio was the problem, from it choking out the motor. But after running through about 20 gallons of gas by cruising at slow speed and adding fresh fuel to get the mix correct, the stalling continued. I also put in new plugs, which helped SLIGHTLY for a few minutes, but then the problem returned. A fair amount of oil was evident on the plugs, which I cleaned several times, with no improvement in performance. Photo attached. What has me thinking it is NOT the oil/gas ratio is the motor did not excessively smoke and when its running at its slow pace and I hit the choke it stalls the engine.
This has now led me to the possibility that the battery short is the problem. Perhaps I shorted out one or more of the ignition assembly coils? Any other possible consequences of the blown battery that would cause the stalling during acceleration? Ignition assembly coils, which I believe I have 4 of, are pretty expensive, so I?d like to try to determine if they are the issue prior to investing $90 each.
Would checking for cylinder spark help me determine if the coils are bad?
Any thoughts, suggestions, or recommendations from this community of experts that could help me make an accurate diagnosis as well as possible solutions would be greatly appreciated.