Flooded engine

[Jack Daniels]

OK so I am a NooB and ill admit it but i wanted some thoughts on this subject. The first time i took the 83 force 85 HP outboard out, i followed the start up procedures to the T. Well I guess my problem was that you don't have to do the initial start up i.e. choking the engine, every time especially when shes warm. So when the motor died on me and i couldn't get her started again. I got her home and after doing some research i realized that i probably flooded the heck out of her. OK so I took her home and aired her out for 12 hrs, removed the hood and spark plugs so they could get some air. So after 12 hrs i went outside with muffs to try and fire her back up. She tired to turn over but than died, well then i checked spark and found out that my number 2 didn't have any spark. So for me time to go to a mechanic, i took her in and received a call from him this morning saying she started right up, has fantastic compression, and spark is great. He also told me for the age of the motor she is in great shape and that i should get many more years out of her. Well thats great and I am very excited about it but am concerned that he is missing something.

So my question is, is it possible to flood an engine that bad (so it takes days to air out) and if it is would that cause spark on one cylinder to go bad temporarily? I know outboards are feisty little buggers which the previous owner told me this one was, i just want to make sure that i can celebrate and not have to worry about this happening again. Oh ya, and i learned the proper way to fire her back up once shes warm so flooding wont be an issue anymore.

Thanks guys, sorry for the long post.

 

[MikDee]

Re: Flooded engine

I found with my 89' Force 125hp, When cold, I pull out the control lever to set fast idle, I crank it, & choke it till it kicks, then stop choking, and it usually starts right up. Then it usually doesn't need to be choked the rest of the day. Most 2cycle outboards are this way, and they get flooded easily.

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: Flooded engine

Its very rare that you have to choke a motor again once its been ran. Flooding a motor will not keep it from sparking. I suspect you have a component or part breaking down from heat. That can be a real bummer to troubleshoot because by time you get it home its cooled off and working again.

 

[Jack Daniels]

Re: Flooded engine

Now im a bit worried, so hopefully the mechanic will run it awhile to check and see if heat is causing trouble with a spark. But even if heat causes the number 2 not to spark she should still start and get me home correct?

 

[Nate3172]

Re: Flooded engine

I wouldn't worry about it. It's not a part failure due to heat because when you checked the thing for spark on #2 it had sat for a while, right? Obviously cold so nothing is failing and showing up when warm. Did the mechanic put new spark plugs in it? Note, a fuel fouled spark plug will only fire 60 to 90% of the time. If fouled bad enough, not at all. Did you check the spark with the plug attached and grounded on the case of the engine? If not, how did you test for spark?

 

[Jack Daniels]

Re: Flooded engine

The Plugs are approximately a month old, but when i removed them i cleaned off what looked like quit a bit of oil on them. To test the spark i removed the plug end and held it about an inch from the plug and i could tell that it was sparking hard. The number two didnt hit as hard as number one and or number two.

 

[Nate3172]

Re: Flooded engine

That just tells me that the plug for that cylinder is probably no good. Best way to test your quality of spark, (because that is what truly matters), is to use a spark tester or build your own. I use a KV tester now, but they are expensive and are hard to justify the cost unless you are in the mechanic field and would use something like that frequently. To build your own is really simple. Just use a small 2x4 and drive 2 nails into it but leave them sticking up about 1 1/2 to 2".
Then, bend them towards each other until there is about 3/8 to 7/16" gap between them. Hook a wire to ground on the engine from one nail and the spark plug wire that you are wanting to test on the other. What you want is a nice "hot" blue arc across the gap. If it is orange or faint, than it is week and I would start doing tests on the coil and cd box. Those tests are easy too. To eliminate the coil as the problem, simply disconnect it from the cd box and hook it up to the cd box wires that are contolling a known good coil. If that coil starts to produce a good spark, than it is the cd module that is not good. If it still produces a week spark, than it is the coil.

 

[Jack Daniels]

Re: Flooded engine

So basically what your telling me is that what i did wasnt an effective way of testing the spark and i should trust what the mechanic told me about spark being good. He said he used a proper tester and everythign worked out fine and he wasnt concerned with spark. So to me it just looks like i did a great job of flooding the engine and it just needed a few days to dry out. I appreciate all the responses and this was a very imformative thread.

Thanks

 

[Nate3172]

Re: Flooded engine

Unfortunately, the method you used was not very effective. The current has to pass through the center portion of the plug which is insulated from gound to the tip of the electrode where it then jumps the gap to ground and therefore spark is created. If that path to ground is not very good, then the spark will be really week or non existant. Even if by pulling the plug wire off the plug a little ways, your still trying to jump a gap on the plug that does not have a good path to ground, therefore the spark will be week or not even exist. It would be like pulling the plug completely off and having it nowhere near enough to ground to produce a good strong arc. Glad to help. Go and enjoy your boat. It sounds like the mechanic you took it to is a good guy and knows what he's doing, so don't sweat the small stuff.

 

[Jack Daniels]

Re: Flooded engine

In this day and age its just hard to trust people expecially mechanics due to the bad wrap that some get. But its nice to know that the majority are good people and try to conduct buisness properly, its a shame that a few bad seeds ruin it for the majority. I will continue to bring this gentleman my outboard when it needs work. Thanks for the confirmation and I am glad to know that i found an honest guy to help me with my issues.

 

[Nate3172]

Re: Flooded engine

In this case, if he was a dishonest individual or an unqaulified mechanic, it would have been really easy for him to have taken advantage of you. All he would have had to do was confirm your suspicions of a bad coil or cd module and charged you out the butt for the repairs. He didn't, and he got it running again for you and gave it a clean bill of health. Sounds like a good guy to me.

 

[Jack Daniels]

Re: Flooded engine

Well it turns out that what i did was flood and foul the engine which caused it to not spark and not start. I had no idea that the oil at idle speeds had a tendency to foul the spark plugs and such. The mechanic taught me how to blow the engine out after idling and what to do to prevent it from happening again. So it seems that this was the best 80 bucks that i have spent.

I just wanted to post this because i know allot of other newbies will be searching a flooded engine topic as they will probably flood their outboard once also. Once again, thanks for the help.

 

[MikDee]

Re: Flooded engine

So, what was the procedure to blow out the excess fuel from the engine? take out the plugs, and crank it? if not, share with us if it's anything easier to do, so we'll know.

 

[Jack Daniels]

Re: Flooded engine

What he told me to do is after you go through an idle zone is to get the RPMs up and go faster so it clears it out. And if the idle zone is before you want to trailer the boat he said to put it in neutral and gently rev the engine a few times to blow it out then shut it off while your waiting for the trailer. However; he cautioned me to not rev to high and to long and just a few times or you can damage the outboard.

Seems like this all makes sense to me since i am familiar with dirt bikes and i you have to do the same thing with them. So two stroke engines are similar regardless of what type of vehicle they are on. I guess I should have known better but we all have to learn some how.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Flooded engine

Sounds like your engine could also us a "decarb" procedure.
Reward you honest mechanic, by taking the motor back to him this fall.

Have him do a thorough decarb, and winterize the motor for you.

 

[Jack Daniels]

Re: Flooded engine

I plan on it and also have three or four of my boater friends lined up to do the same, i.e. winterizing that is.