1964 Evinrude Big Twin Problems

[gogetter510]

Hello all,

I posted early about a 1964 Evinrude 40 horse on a mid 50's Crestliner. Im looking to get the boat going again while my dad is out of town for about a month. About 10 years ago the engine started to cut out at anything above idle. It was as if one cylinder wouldnt fire.... a violent cut out. Last year i rebuilt the carb, and yet the issue remained. My dad is now gone, so i looked over the engine and replaced all of the fuel lines which were loose and leaked a little. The fuel filter also was loose and leaked some, so i shimmed the plastic nut that holds the glass bowl up against the gasket. I started the boat up using the flushing pieces and it seemed to idle wonderfully. I revved it a little and it cut out like it used to. A little frustrated, but expected it, i let it idle for about 5 more minutes and gave it more fuel and it didnt sputter whatsoever. i had hoped that the new hoses and tight fuel couplers fixed the issue, but i suppose im wrong as i just went out and started it and it idled horribly and i couldnt rev the engine at all without it cutting out with the same violent sputtering. i pulled the plugs and they were both wet and black. These are some pretty simple engines, i know. Fuel, Compression, Spark. Im camping this weekend, but will have all next week after work to tinker and next weekend. Im very new on working on boat engines, so take it easy. Impeller is on order, and lower end oil will be changed as well. I do have the original tune up and repair manual. I understand that the coils crack easily. Could this be a sign of bad/cracked coil(s)? My thought is to check spark (is there a special tool for this?) check compression. then check points and coils. ANY help would be more than appreciated. What would your plan of attack, or thought process be? Thank you guys for your help.

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[gogetter510]

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[gogetter510]

Bump

[gogetter510]

nada?

[lindy46]

First, check compression. If compression is good, most everything else can be addressed pretty easily. Check spark with a $8 spark tester from an auto parts store. I'd be willing to bet you've got an ignition problem, probably a bad coil. If you didn't change the fuel lines with the carb clean/rebuild, it's time to re-clean the carb.

[gogetter510]

First, check compression. If compression is good, most everything else can be addressed pretty easily. Check spark with a $8 spark tester from an auto parts store. I'd be willing to bet you've got an ignition problem, probably a bad coil. If you didn't change the fuel lines with the carb clean/rebuild, it's time to re-clean the carb.

Thank you for your reply. I has suspected the coil as i have read that they are fairly common to crack and go out. i will check the spark and report back in the next few days. Would you think that the addition of an inline fuel filter would help? could this put too much strain on the fuel pump?

-Robert

[lindy46]

Wouldn't hurt anything.

[WA-Newb]

I am not sure if this will help or not but I just had a similar issue where I could run my motor until I reached a certain RPM and it would just start cutting out and shaking. Turned out to be wires supplying the power pack were bad inside the insulation....took about a half hour and maybe $1 to fix.

You can see how mine ran by watching the video in my thread:
http://forums.iboats.com/johnson-evinrude-outboards/got-old-68-running-much-better-than-before-video-560580.html

Again this may not help you since yours is a little older and may not be the same ignition but it's cheap to try / inspect your wires.
There is also a way to check your spark wires for cracks etc. I just don't know the method but you can search here and find it I am sure.

Good luck.