4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

I recently found a 70's 4.5 HP Sears/Ted Williams motor for sale locally. I went to look at it and it seemed in decent shape although it hadn't been run for a couple of years, when it was run it was always cleaned up, lubed, and carbs emptied out etc. It came w/ the remote tank/accessories and owners manuals etc.. Well I bought it, and did manage to get it started up last night and it seemed to run ok granted I haven't had it on my boat yet and i let it run for all of about 30 seconds last night. (Didn't want to tick off the neighbors too bad) I bought this on based on the fact that I needed a 6HP or less motor, and I didn't have a lot of cash to spend (Max $150 or so)
Well after running into a few posts on this board and reading through a lot of different information about these motors did I get taken on this deal? I'm generally new to boating, and especially to the world of outboards. From what I've read these motors can be a bear to keep running properly and are under powerd?. Was $75 for this setup a decent price or will this thing end up being more trouble than it's worth?

217.59463
3B 117107

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

$75 is about right for one of those in running condition. Frankly, they're noisy, they vibrate a lot, but they do run OK, when they're running.

Put it on your boat and go fishing. When you find a motor you like better, you can sell the Ted Williams for the same $75, as long as it's still running.

If it doesn't work right when you test it on the boat, get back to us. We can lead you to parts sources.

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

At $75 it's hard to find a running motor.So even though it is a marginal motor
it may serve for now.If you are going to work on it you should have a service manual.There are after market manuals that cover many brands under 30 hp.Thats what I have.Sometimes you can find them at the library.If you give us a model number we can tell better what you have.
Number usually appears on the mounting bracket.
Probably built by Eska 71-74. Weakest part is probably the fuel pump built into the carb.A little bladder the is sensitive to improper install and fails easily.
It has a Tecumseh aircooled power head with a water cooled exhaust leg.
Hopefully if it was treated as you described you won't have too much trouble with a fouled fuel system.

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

From the model number, that one was made in 1973...not that it matters all that much, they were all the same.

Go to www3.sears.com. You can find exploded view diagrams and parts lists there. Some parts are available, like that fuel pump bladder mentioned in a previous message.

Since it's eska-based, you can get other parts, like carburetor kits, from certifiedpartscorp.com. They have just about anything you'd need.

Still...if it's running now, it'll probably keep running OK for some time. There's little to go wrong with them, really.

Use chainsaw oil to mix in your gas. I don't know the exact ratio, but I use 24:1 in mine, and it's doing just fine after lots of use.

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

Well hopefully this weekend I'll get to take it out and see how she runs on the river instead of in a trash can in my driveway. So, I should be using std chainsaw oil instead of the 2 cycle outboard oil stuff that they sell at walmart (super tech or whatever in the blue container)? (Sorry i'm sure this has been answer numerous times). Oh and it is 24:1 according to the owners manual.
Thanks for all of the info. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes this weekend on the river.

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

Yup...chainsaw oil. It's an aircooled engine, so it runs somewhat hotter than a watercooled outboard. No biggie, and that oil is readily available. I'm glad your manual confirms the 24:1 ratio. It'll smoke a little, but don't let anyone talk you into 50:1. Just ignore 'em.

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

Well I got anxious and took it out tonight after work. It works great. Started on the 2nd pull and took right off. Having never owned an outboard before I dont know what to expect as far as how 4.5 HP feels on a 110lb boat but it did just fine dragging me up the river. Never really sputtered or complained the entire time at any speed. While slowly cruising may way up the river I wondered, if it was ok to run the engine at full throtle for long period of time. Not that the 30 minutes i cruised up the river was a long time, but so I give the ole' girl a break? I realize that it's an old motor and don't want to risk damaging it by going full bore for long periods of time...
After using the motor I'm pleased w/ my $75 purchase

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

Good news on your outboard. Sounds like it's running OK. As for running that outboard wide open, you can, but I recommend that you back off about 10% on the throttle once you get up to speed. You'll notice that your boat's speed doesn't change much, but you're not working the outboard to its limit.

Also, although you probably won't be doing this, it's not a great idea to idle those air cooled motors for long periods. Since they're aircooled, they depend on a fan to blow cooling air across the fins of the cylinder. Slow speed means less air.

That said, I'd keep looking for a bargain on a good 5.5 or 6 hp Evinrude or Johnson. Once you put one of those on your boat, you'll never go back to an air-cooled outboard. Seriously.

I'm in the same boat as you are, with an old Clinton-based Sea King 5 hp. My 9.9 died, so I'm down to that one now. I'm hot on the trail of a Johnnyrude, though.

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

There is a slim chance if you rig a tiller extension you may be able to plane the boat by sitting in the middle seat.Of course that depends on the type of boat.

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

steelespike said:

There is a slim chance if you rig a tiller extension you may be able to plane the boat by sitting in the middle seat.Of course that depends on the type of boat.

Click to expand...

Nah. If the boat weighs 110 lb, as he said, it's probably a 12' aluminum boat. I have one of those, with an aircooled 5hp, similar to his, in perfect running order. No way will it ever plane that boat. It'll plug along, though, OK.

A healthy johnnyrude 6hp might plane it. Might. They plane really nicely with a 10 hp, though.

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

I know these little Eska/clinton types are a little gutless. I thought maybe if it was a little jon it might get up We used to easily plane our 12 ft flat bottom steel boat with a 5 hp Gale w tiller extension and a 180 pounder driving.
Of course the Gale is in another class.

Re: 4.5HP Ted Williams, Good buy, or POS?

My boat is a 12 foot Plastic Jon boat, I dont remember the brand, but it's the same as those Pelican ones.