Rough Idle - Evinrude 1988 48 SPL

papakevin

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Messages
103
Any help I can get would be appreciated. Long story short - bought boat, engine had new carbs last year, would idle fine, then die when placed in gear. Messed with it, couldn't get it, so it went to the shop.<br /><br />Shop said there was water in the tank. The shop removed carbs, did a complete carb tear down and cleaning, and removed tank from boat to clean it. Charged me one arm and one leg, and sent me on my way.<br /><br />Took the boat to the lake this morning. Didn't start right up. After 10 tries, did fire. Idle was really rough. Got the boat going. Once it got moving (1/2 power or more), ran real smooth with no problems. Back near idle, runs bad and motor on back of boat jerks from side to side. Didn't die, which was good, but the boat did idle better before they cleaned the carbs. Any idea of how I can improve the idle on the boat? <br /><br />Running 50-1 mix (might be a little heavy, more like 45 - 1 mix) with 93 octane gas from a well-used gas station. Would running a little heavier mix mess with the idle? Any and all help is welcome.
 

papakevin

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Messages
103
Re: Rough Idle - Evinrude 1988 48 SPL

Also, any specs on the proper spark plug gap would be appreciated....
 

papakevin

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Messages
103
Re: Rough Idle - Evinrude 1988 48 SPL

Is a very rough idle common with these engines?
 

fireman57

Captain
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Messages
3,811
Re: Rough Idle - Evinrude 1988 48 SPL

Should idle very smooth. Do a search at the top of the page for Joe Reeves excellent post on setting the carb adjustments.
 

papakevin

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Messages
103
Re: Rough Idle - Evinrude 1988 48 SPL

Will do. I'm a little concerned because the shop did do a tear down of the carbs, gave them a complete cleaning, and said it was AOK. Maybe Joe's post will provide an "ah ha".
 

rodbolt

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 1, 2003
Messages
20,066
Re: Rough Idle - Evinrude 1988 48 SPL

while its idling trim the motor up. if idle improves with the motor angle going up post it back. if you dont have trim then manually change the angle with the engine off and retest. dont run it with the intakes out of the water. the test can be done on the trailer as well with muffs. make a record of idle RPM at various angles.
 

Mark42

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
9,334
Re: Rough Idle - Evinrude 1988 48 SPL

Set the plug gap at 0.030". Also would not hurt to check the linkages. Do a "link and synch" as per your service manual.
 

blackcatrain

Cadet
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
8
Re: Rough Idle - Evinrude 1988 48 SPL

Originally posted by Mark42:<br /> Set the plug gap at 0.030". Also would not hurt to check the linkages. Do a "link and synch" as per your service manual.
Please define "a link and synch" for me please.
 
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