1986 Evinrude 90, dies slowly, one side weak spark, and Hello!

First off, Hello. My name is Travis.

I have been lurking for a month or so after trying in vain to get this boat running. Its a 79 valco 16.8 foot flat bottom aluminum sled with a 1986 Evinrude 90 with a jet pump. The pump is from that company in So. Cal. I cant remember the name.

My dad who owns the boat got it and promptly towed it to my house where it sat for a year. It had some gas in it, but added stabil and a bunch more fresh gas to it. It has an aluminun tank around 15-20 gallons up at the bow of the boat. It is secured to the wooden decking by screws.

My first time out in the boat...It had to be choked on startup, it was getting close to fall here in eastern washington but still warm (about 75 degrees). It ran fine and idled great.

Starting it up the snake river, I quickly noticed the powerband hits nicely in midrange and doesnt go any faster after 3/4 throttle. After about 4-5 solid minutes, the motor starts to make an "empty" hollow sound and begins to slowly decellerate until it bogs and shuts off. this takes roughly 10-20 seconds from start of the hollow sound till its death. I wait around 30 seconds and pull the choke half way up and it starts fine. After about an hour of this, i figured i would cut the motor down to just above idle when it started its hollow sound and thus avoid killing the motor. It worked alright. Also, if i stayed JUST underneath 2/3 throttle, it wouldnt die but run for a long time.

So the boat pulled out and sat another year. Actually almost 2 summers. About a month ago, I pulled the carbs and cleaned them. I was expecting to find lots of crap and gunk, but they were clean as a whistle. Honestly. I have done lots of motorcycle carbs and several Holley's and I know what to look for and clean. That was a little disheartenng, cause now i figured it was something else. Something that was harder to fix. the carbs were the ones with two jets in the float bowls and those little flat aluminum plates on top of the carb bodies. There are no needles anywhere in the carbs. They are twin 2 barrels.
I also noticed the fuel lines were old and some were cracking, particularly the ones that fed the float bowls. So i went through and replaced all of these using good quality clamps, not zip ties that were on there from the previous owner. Buttoning everything back up using a seloc (coles) manual, (which kinda sucks cause the pictures are dark and they blow right through the VRO system without explaining much.), i was now ready to run her for the second time ironically at the same dock 2 years ago. Armed with a 6 gallon plastic fuel cell (brand new) and a new bulb and connector (also new, thanks WalMart!) I was ready to test the boat.
In the water, It wouldnt even fire. Choke, no choke, shots of gas in it, nothing. I checked for spark and was getting nothing, I had done nothing to the electrical system except take one coil and wire off to get a new wire, ended up using my old wire. I didnt find any gas in the top two cylinders and the bottom two smelled like they had old watery gas in them even though I was using the fresh fuel from the little gas can. As a stab in the dark i hooked up the boats fuel line to the motor and tried cranking on it. Still no show. The watered fuel didnt smell like the older fuel that was in the boats tank.

After two hours of baking in the sun trying to fix it, we yanked it out of the water and headed back to camp where i drowned my memories in beer. The next day, we leave it on the trailer, and try to see why there is no spark. The port side of the motor has lightning (really good!) for spark and the starboard side has very weak spark. So i took a coil from the good side (port) and put it on starboard side. still weak spark.

So can I assume that the coils are firing properly? That would mean the power pack on the starboard side is not putting out the right amount of juice, correct?

I should point out that when the boat did its little death speech, I had a buddy squeeze the bulb to see if it was starving for fuel. The bulb was solid, and didnt have any give. The oil mixing bulb (its a VRO) is ALWAYS hard. and on the second trip to the dock, I undone the oil line into the VRO pump, and squeezed the bulb. Oil came gushing out so there was no restriction in the line like I thought.

The carbs are getting gas, but I dont know why those two top cylinders are dry as a bone, and the bottom two have some wet fuel in them. I eyeballed the reeds and reedcages from the carb intake, they appeared fine, no curls, none missing.

I will do a compression check on it and post the results here. I would really like help with the electrical stuff. Im pretty sure that im chasing at least two trolls here....fuel and spark. Possibly a third troll...compression in the lower two cylinders are gone.

What should the compression readings be?

Sorry this is so long, but its better to have as much info as possible when trying to diagnose over the net.

Thanks for all your help, guys (and gals)

Travis

Re: 1986 Evinrude 90, dies slowly, one side weak spark, and Hello!

welcome to the forum!

You want compression upwards of 100 and equal on all cylinders, highest within 5-10% of lowest.

You can check the operation of the powerpack by swapping it with the other side.

Sounds like you know carbs...but I'll mention it anyway...two dry cylinders fed by the same carb...you can't see into the orfices...did you soak 'em overnight and blast 'em with compressed air? Replace the needle valves & seats?

by the way that motor doesn't have a choke...the lever only adjusts idle speed; advances the spark and slightly opens the throttle plates.

Cold start procedure: pump bulb until firm, turn key to on, push and hold it in for 5 to 8 seconds, continue pushing in while turning until motor starts.

You sure those bottom cylinders are taking on water?

Re: 1986 Evinrude 90, dies slowly, one side weak spark, and Hello!

How much roughly should i pay for a new powerpack? Should i buy used? IF its bad.

Those carbs were spotless when i took them apart. The top plate on the bottom one leaks a bit (its a bad design, my opinion) and pools up behind the lower carb on the intake manifold. And the needle and seats were like new. No nicks, no lines on them, the rubber point is still in mint shape. I am baffled as to why there was no gunk in there after sitting.

I reckon that the bottom is taking some minute amounts of water...the gas smelled dilluted on the bottom cylinders, and didnt have that sharp burn which burns your nose hairs when you smell it. It could have been old gas from the crankcase when it sat. Maybe?

Well, that starting procedure would have helped. My dad told me how to start it, he learned from the guy who he got it from, so some info may have been mishandled. That may have been the reason it didnt even start.

Would a VRO malfunction cause a no spark condition? Or does it just alarm if something aint right?

Oh and it has since had fresh plugs installed before this weekend (Champions only!) Still no start.
Thanks for the reply.

trav

Re: 1986 Evinrude 90, dies slowly, one side weak spark, and Hello!

VRO sounds intermittent alarm, overtemp is continuous buzz. Ground the tan wires from temp sensors with key on to test the warning horn.

powerpack prices, plenty of online vendors, here's a couple:
www.iboats.com (of course) click on "marine store" button.
ishopmarine.com
outboardignition.com

I have no experience with used parts...maybe somebody will jump in here.

btw these engines were shipped with zip ties on the fuel lines, they're pretty secure, not real hi-pressure. Nothing wrong with clamps though.

Re: 1986 Evinrude 90, dies slowly, one side weak spark, and Hello!

Switch the two power packs. If the problem of weak spark also switches sides, then replace the pack. Check the fuel primer system (choke.) Remove the two small hoses on the top of each carb. Be sure the system is primed, then turn the key to the "run" position, and push in on the key. You should have fuel coming out of both small hoses.