96 Evinrude 88spl - wont idle in water unless choked

Jmorrow78

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Jun 22, 2010
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I have a 1996 Evinrude 88SPL. I was having problem getting it to idle at all (on land with the "ear muffs"). After a previous post & some suggestions from it as well as reading a lot of other posts & suggestions, we took what we read & we rebuilt the carbs, cleaned the idle jets( which were clogged), we ran Seafoam in the Fuel. We have ruled out fuel lines, we replaced the bulb you pump for the fuel. We have managed to get it to idle & throttle up while on land. We decided to take it to the lake to see what would happen today.
We can crank it ok for the most part. It will not idle at all unless we continuously choke it. The 2 times we were able to throttle up any, it was really sluggish & sputtery....so it really doesnt accelerate at all without dying right away.
Also, there is a red plastic switch on the motor, looks like it is possibly an On/Off switch for the choke. It has fuel lines running from it to the carbourator. Any ideas on what this is, how it should be set, etc. would be helpful as well. We cannot find anything on it on the service manual.
Any help would be fantastic. We were hoping to take it with us on our next caming trip, especially since the little boat motor locked up last week:mad: Yeah, that will be our next project.
If I have left out any information that would help to determine what we are missing, please let me know, I will be more than happy to post any additional info.
We do have a service manual and have read through it, looked at it, and tried to resolve our issues using the manual, but it doesn't seem to cover this stuff very well.
 

Jmorrow78

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Jun 22, 2010
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Re: 96 Evinrude 88spl - wont idle in water unless choked

We thought the compression readings were 120, 130, 130, 130. But will recheck tomorrow & post findings.

Thank You for the link on the "red thing"! Great Help!
 

ob

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Aug 16, 2002
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Re: 96 Evinrude 88spl - wont idle in water unless choked

Make sure your throttle linkage is adjusted properly.The throttle link roller adjacent to the carb tree should be exactly on center with the scribe line of the fiber cam and just touching when controls are in neutral.This allows the carb flap opening to be in synch with the advance of the ignition timing.Critical adjustment.
 

Jmorrow78

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Re: 96 Evinrude 88spl - wont idle in water unless choked

Compression Readings are 140, 130, 128, 128.

We rechecked the throttle linkage and it all is adjusted as you stated.

We rechecked the butterflies to make sure they were completely closed in idle and they are.

What do ya'll reccommend to do next?

Thank You for all the suggestions and help, they are very much appreciated!!!
 

ob

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Aug 16, 2002
Messages
6,992
Re: 96 Evinrude 88spl - wont idle in water unless choked

If you can keep the engine running in water by continually bumping the fuel primer keyswitch,the carbs are starving for fuel. Possible causes are a failing fuel pump,an improperly venting fuel tank,a leak or rupture in the crankkcase pulse hose that drives the fuel pump.

Does the fuel line primer bulb pump up firm and hold hand pressure before starting the engine?
 
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