unidentified cover missing on my 1973 evinrude 65hp

[jyoc22]

I have a 1973 evinrude outboard,model 5373 triump 65 hp.I have not had a chance to get a manual yet,but there are three holes in the front of the engine that have small circular covers on them.I dont know if they are carburetor/choke covers,or air intakes.I lost one of the covers and without it being covered my boat won't go but 5mph.Can someone help me with this please?

[Joe Reeves]

Sittin..... That model number should be 65373. Those small black covers on the front of the carburetor face plate are simply access covers that have nothing to do with the power of the engine. You have some other problem. Check the compression and spark. Compression should be approx 100+ psi and even on all cylinders. The spark (with the s/plugs removed) should jump a 7/16" gap on all cyls with a strong blue flame. Check the carb linkages to see if the throttle butterflies are opening to full throttle position.

[jyoc22]

Thanks for the adsvice joe.I have had this boat for three years now and never had the first problem until this summer.We were tubing and came to a stop,when we opened the throttle up again we had no power.I opened the hood and only thing I seen wrong was that cover was missing.I put a piece of duct tape over it and we were in business for the rest of the day with no problems.Beside the bottom two covers one says "choke on" one says "choke off".the one that says choke off is missing.If they have nothing to do with power why does it run fine if I have that hole covered?I uncover it and no power.

[Joe Reeves]

Sittin..... That carburetor face plate is held on with six (6) small screws/bolts. It can be completely removed and will have absolutely no effect on the perforamce of the engine whatsoever. Whether those small black nylon access plugs are there or not also would have no effect.However, since you say it does, I'd suggest that you remove that face plate and inspect further. Having been a serious minded OMC technician since the early 1960s, I find this problem to be a first.