[Fester]

I have a 1947 Evinrude Sportwin 3.3hp motor that has a leak on a small copper pipe on the right side of the motor (not the main fuel line) that looks like it feeds into the primer portion of the motor. If the motor is upright it does not leak but if I tilt it so that it is out of the water it leaks pretty bad. I checked it and it seems that there is a 1 inch pirce of hose that is dryrotted that is connecting the 2 pieces of copper together. The motor is pretty old and I know that replacing the small piece of hose will probably fix it but I do not know much about motors and wanted to make sure that this is common. I just purchased the motor on E-Bay and he advised me that it was in "Excellent working condition" but it has it's problems. I did have a chance to start it and it cranked up 1st pull and that was a great sign but it seems that it wants to idle very high and when I try to take the idle down it cuts out. The rich / lean dial on the front turns but is not attached to anything (is this normal?) Sorry for all of the questions, this is my 1st motor and I want to make sure that it is in good enough condition that I only have to put a little into it initially to get it running well. If so, I plan on restoring it. Any input would be appreciated.

[tmcalavy]

Replace the copper line with another, or mate in a rubber hose instead. The rich/lean knob should be attached to a high or low-speed needle that adjusts by turning clockwise or counterclockwise. You sure there's nothing attached to the knob? Photos would help. Have you checked compression, tank/fuel line/carb cleanliness, spark, lower unit lube? Those are nice little motors, very simple and reliable. You can get old Evinrude service manuals at www.acmeoutboards.com. Post back and let us know how it goes.

[Fester]

There is something attached behind the knob and it has a small thin metal bar attached to it with a obling hole at the end but that is attached to nothing. I will post pics later today to see if I can get more info from that. Thanks!