97' Evinrude 225 problems

generallee01

Cadet
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
Messages
16
Long post, but trying to describe all issues! I recently acquired an old 73 mako with a '97 carbureted 225 evinrude. The guy told me it came out of the water when it started stalling on him (not mechanically inclined at all!). 5 years later here we are. I run a small engine repair service, but have little to no experience with outboards. Here's where I started: I drained the tank and replaced the fuel filters first off (one inline and a spin-on). I pulled apart all the carbs and they all were clean. Did a compression check (100lbs all holes) and replaced the plugs. On to the sea trials! Here are all the symptoms I'm having, some are probably separate issues.

-Seems to use alot of oil, I've been through a couple gallons
in only 8 total hours run time.
-Starts pretty easily and initially idles fine, it pops right up to full speed and will seemingly run like that all day no problems. No hesitation no excessive smoke.
-When coming into a no wake zone I pop it into neutral and it idles excessively high, about 1500-2000 rpm and also smokes quite a bit. I am able to take the engine cover off and push the carb linkage back against the stop, almost like it was binding. The throttle plates do not get stuck any other time. I checked everything and it does not get bound at all when I'm looking right at it and moving them by hand. Cables are fine too. I thought it was a vacuum leak initially, but it seems mechanical (like its getting bound). After I manually push it back, its fine for quite a while again.
-One time today when it started idling high, i shut the key off and it kept running for about 10 seconds (?)
-I sit around and have some beers after about an hour and I need to prime it to get it going again. It stalls again, I prime it....starts, a little bit of hesitation and then its fine again flawlessly bringing me back to home port.
-One time when it stalled i checked for spark and it was dead on that one plug...but almost immediately fixed itself....dunno what that was

It consistently did the same symptoms again and again, not bad enough to dock it....but bad enough! Like I said, could be a combination of things, but I need some direction. I can fix the hell out of your car or lawnmower, but these are new to me! PS all fuel and vaccum lines "look" fine and are tight to the fittings. Thanks for your help in advance!
 

ezeke

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Messages
12,532
Re: 97' Evinrude 225 problems

The oil ratio is approximately 60:1 so 2 gallons of oil should have been used with around 120 gallons of gasoline. At WOT the motor can burn around 22 gallons per hour.

The motor is supposed to have shift assist which momentarily disables half the cylinders when you shift out of forward gear; this may have been disabled or maybe has failed.

The motor should have a QuikStart ignition which advances the timing when the engine is cold. If you use a warm up lever it will reach 1100 RPM before it should and disable QuikStart prematurely. It best to keep the engine under 1100 until the engine warms above 96 degrees.

The engines are complex enough that a factory service manual is a good investment. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200362736481&viewitem=

The ignition coil may be the cause of the cylinder not firing; check them for swelling, cracking and discoloration also make sure that all connections are very clean, especially the ground. It's better to replace them when they are bad before they destroy that $300+ powerpack.
 

generallee01

Cadet
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
Messages
16
Re: 97' Evinrude 225 problems

I think the shift interupt switch was why I wasnt getting spark there that one time, just didnt understand how it worked. Thats really not the problem though. The big problem is the wicked high idle and smoke when put in neutral after running a while. Normal idle under load though. That along with losing prime after only sitting an hour or so. Thanks for your response!
 
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