Sears 7 HP - Gas/Oil Mixture -

This is site is awesome.

I was given a 7 HP Sears Outboard Motor that was simply forgotten over time.

Followed the advice from other posts and went in to Sears website and got the following information.

7 HP Sears Outboard Motor
Brand: Craftsman
Model #: 271-58531
Serial #: LO4825

On the motor I see the following:
7 HP
Solid State Ignition
Clutch Shift
Air-Cooled
Sparkplug - J8C Champion

On the cover it says:
Use 1/2 pint of SAE 30 or 40 outboard oil per (1) gallon of regular grade gasoline.

My question(s):
1. Can you tell me what year this is from?

2. Is the gas/oil ratio mentioned above what you would recommend with so many changes in gas and oil nowadays?

3. What type of oil should I use with this? chainsaw? 2 cycle oil?

4. This is the first motor I have ever owned, but want to learn more about outboard motors. I'm illiterate when it comes to any type of motor, but I figured I couldn't break it. Is this motor worth my time? Would you mind going through some of the steps I should do to try and bring this back to life?

Thank you in advance for your help

DA

Re: Sears 7 HP - Gas/Oil Mixture -

That's a 1970 model. It's an Eska, with a Tecumseh powerhead. It's air-cooled, but has a water pump impeller to cool the exhaust. You shouldn't run it without the water-cooling, as this will overheat the leg and possibly harm the engine.

Stick with the fuelil ratio shown on the engine. Use modern two-stroke oil designed for air-cooled engines like chainsaws.

As for get started with it, check the FAQ section for the thread on waking a sleeping outboard.

Your best source of parts for this older model is certifiedpartscorp.com. You have to call their number with the model number. You can see exploded parts diagrams and parts lists by entering your model number at www3.sears.com.

You can find a manual for eska outboards in general on ebay. Just search for Eska. There's a guy who's reprinting them.

Is it worth it? Well, maybe. Since yours has the solid state ignition, you will have a tough time if it doesn't have spark. The parts are either unavailable or very, very expensive. If it has spark, you can probably get it running.

Don't spend too much on this outboard. I has a low value on the marketplace. If you get it running, you might want to consider selling it and using the money to help buy an older Johnson or Evinrude. Time and money spent on one of those will be worthwhile, and you'll end up with a good engine.

Most questions you'll have will already have been answered here. A search on this forum will likely lead you to the answer, but we're happy to help any way we can.