[Fish NY]

Help, I have a 1994 Evinrude 88 HP. This has been an excellent running motor for many years and I have never had any issue with it. “The day” I was pulling my boat out for the season this year, the motor started to miss fire, meaning I lost one cylinder (maybe a fowled plug or water in the gas). I took the boat to the shop to have it winterized and a tune up. The shop informed me that I have very little compression in one cylinder and that I needed a new powerhead at a cost of $3,500.00. They said the head gasket was not leaking. Once again this has been a very strong running engine with no issues, and I average more than 1000 miles per season on Lake Ontario (if my electronics is accurate). Is it normal for a one cylinder to just fail, I would think I would lose power over the season. If I need a new powerhead, is 3500 a fair price, installed with a 1 year guarantee? Not sure I want to put that much money into a motor with a book value of $900, thoughts.

[bgbass.1]

for 3500 i would look around for another motor or rebuild that one.

[tashasdaddy]

i would do a compression check myself. then pull the head and see if the gasket is shot, or other reason for loss of compression. then decide if a rebuild is in the future, or a new powerhead, or new motor.

[angus63]

What was the cause? Reboring, piston, and ringing one cyl will be a lot less than $3500 if the cause can be found and corrected.

[iwombat]

I'd love to know what the shop did to determine the "head isn't leaking". Did they replace the head gasket? 'Cuz that's about the only way to really know for sure.

[mikesea]

All the replies are great.has your engine been run on the lake its whole life.If so ,I would imagine its pretty clean.dont know what your mechanical experience is,but,with the the advice of this site,I would bet a guy (or girl)that knows how to use basic hand tools,you might rebuild it over the winter yourself.ANGUS mentions doing the one cylinder,which can be done,however it would still require a complete tear down,and with 1000 miles a yr.I would suggest doing the complete job,you can also check this site for the price of a replacement powerhead,it would be a rebuild,you would then use your own carbs,and electrical components,these items pretty much come off connected together as one big harness,if you just remove the hold down screws,the carbs can as well,though its usually a good idea to rebuild them,which is not a hard job either,reasn for doin carbs,it could have been the reasn for blown engine,a lean run can do it,

[CharlieB]

FGirst thing, call the shop and tel them NOT TO DO ANYTHING, go get your boat. Ask for the spark plugs, just in case they trashed them.

There are disreputable shops out there, ALWAYS get a second opinion or test yourself whenever anyone tells you that you need a $$$$$ rebuild.

Simply tell them that you want another opinion and take your boat home.

Inspect the plugs, take pictures and post them here. We want to see it there are any traces of aluminum on the plug from a melted piston.

Now, you need just a couple of basic tools, spark plug wrench, remote starter bbutton and a compression tester. All available at Sears or NAPA.

Remove all the plugs, full throttle the control, in gear if you have too, but WATCH OUT FOR THE PROP or remove the prop, Connect the remote starter to the yellow/with trace color on the starter relay, smal terminal, connect the other wire to a battery cable (red), push the button, the motor cranks over. Remove all the spark plugs and screw the comp tester in one hole crank over about 6 turns, read the guage and write it down, repeat on all cyl's. Post your results.

If one cyl is noticably different, you have a problem which needs attention, how much isn't determined until you re-test compression, you may have to remove the cyl head but NOT until you verify the compression loss.

[Fish NY]

Bg bass, tashasdaddy, angus63, iwombat, and mikesea

Thank you all for your replies and advise.

I will spend the winter working on the motor, I have rebuilt several small blocks when I was younger so I can rebuild this motor or buy a powerhead and replace it myself.

I will first verify the compression issue, pull the head and inspect the cylinder walls. Then go from there.

Tight lines to all, thanks again

[Fish NY]

Charlie,

Will do, won’t be for a while though.

This is a reputable shop and I have used them for years. But you bring up a good point about the spark plugs and the compression difference between cylinders.

In a week or two I will post the pics of the plus with the compression test results.

Thanks,