66? Evinrude 6hp Motor stuck after transporting

rude_dude · #1 September 13th, 2007, 09:01 PM

OKay, we brought our 66 (we think) Evinrude Fisherman 1600 miles from Seattle in the moving truck. We tried to pack it carefully and packed it upside down on resting on the engine. It seemed like the right way to pack it at the time! The drive lever was broken when we unpacked it and when we tried to start it the rope was will not come out more than a couple of inches or so. We can still shift the drive with a vise-grip and the rope will uncoil and recoil just fine. The flywheel (?? the big metal round thing with a bolt in the middle of it. I know I'm an idiot!!) will not move. It ran perfectly the week before we moved and now it's totally jammed. Any thoughts or helpful hints! Thanks very much.

angus63 · #2 September 13th, 2007, 09:32 PM

Welcome!!!!!
Take out the spark plug, squirt some 2-stroke oil in the cylinder, work the flywheel by hand (with the plug out!!!!) back and forth until it turns freely. If it doesn't, we'll go from there!!!
Good luck

jspringator · #3 September 13th, 2007, 10:34 PM

I've had both issues you describe, but on 2 different motors. PB blaster freed my stuck cylinder on my 3.5 Tohatsu after 3 days. I broke my shift lever on my Johnson 6 and am still trying to figure out how to fix it.

rude_dude · #4 September 13th, 2007, 10:43 PM

Thanks for the help. I was planning on trying the twc in the plug holes after reading another posting. Just tried it and let it sit for about an hour. Flywheel still not moving. I also changed the lube out which was pretty milky. Any other suggestions??

jspringator · #5 September 13th, 2007, 10:45 PM

Are you in neutral?

F_R · #6 September 13th, 2007, 11:24 PM

Seattle, huh? So, the last time it ran before being packed, was it in salt water?

Turning an outboard upside down allows any water that has not completely drained out, to run into the exhaust ports. Bad news, and very bad news if it was salt water.

rudedude · #7 September 14th, 2007, 12:13 AM

Man,I sure hope no one confuses us.

rude_dude · #8 September 14th, 2007, 12:47 AM

Saltwater it was! Oh no. What does that mean? Anything I can do?

rude_dude · #9 September 14th, 2007, 12:50 AM

Am in neutral. Any help would be great! Was such a good runner before we moved, would hate to think it's junked now because of us transporting it upside down!!!

Xcusme · #10 September 14th, 2007, 02:29 AM

Lay the motor down with the plugs pointing up. Remove plugs. Spray PB Blaster into each cylinder and let it work. After a few hours (sometimes it takes days) try rotating the flywheel clockwise. Resist the urge to put a wrench on it to break it free just yet. Sometimes if you get it to turn a small fraction, try rotating the flywheel clockwise and then counter clockwise gently. Using too much force on the flywheel nut can damage the connecting rods, crank, rings etc. Patience is a virtue with a frozen motor.

One last thought...if there's any doubt that your problem isn't in the lower unit, drop the lower unit and try turning the flywheel again. It's it's free, you're problem is in the lower unit. Since you have the lower unit down, replace the water pump impeller if it hasn't been done in awhile.

F_R · #11 September 14th, 2007, 05:39 AM

Sounds like you dumped salt water into the cylinders when you turned it upside down. My advice is to remove the cylinder head and exhaust covers and take a looksee at what you have. Also, be aware that the water could have ran into the crankcase as well.

My advice is to forget about the freeing it up with solvents and stuff until you know the extent of the damage. You could make a bad situation worse if you start it up with rusty bearings and toss a connecting rod through the case.

bubbakat · #12 September 14th, 2007, 07:22 AM

F R has made a good point here. Pull that head and look to see if the wall are rusted from the salt water. Small cost to doing this. I had a six do me this way and that is what I did and if I had forced it to turn loose it would most likely broke the rings but as it was I had just a little pitting on the wall.

jspringator · #13 September 14th, 2007, 09:54 AM

It takes PB Blaster DAYS to work The books say removing the head and removing carbon and planing the head with emory paper on a known flat surface (like a piece of glass) is a good idea anyway.

I think I did something similar with my Tohatsu last time I used it in salt water in 2004. I laid it on its side. I freed it up 3 years later with PB Blaster. I didn't have to take the heads off, though.

rude_dude · #14 September 14th, 2007, 10:07 AM

Thanks for all the help everyone. I'll attack it this weekend and hopefully we'll have some success. Thanks!

rude_dude · #15 September 16th, 2007, 03:06 AM

Still stuck! Spark plugs are out and PB blaster has been soaking for over a day. The flywheel barely moves. Just clicks back and forth. Haven't gotten into the lower unit yet, but any other suggestions? Thanks!

F_R · #16 September 17th, 2007, 12:37 AM

The fact that the flywheel moves a tad is good news. Now you need to decide whether it is the powerhead that is stuck or the lower unit. I'm still betting salt water in the cylinders. Stick a scredriver into the spark plug holes and touch the piston tops while you click the flywheel back and forth. Can you detect even the tinyest bit of movement of the pistons? If not, they are stuck. However, if they move even a tiny bit, the lower unit is stuck.........Probably. But not written in stone.