1985 Evinrude 150 will not go above 2000 rpm in gear

I put it in the water and it started fine and ran great at first. I noticed as I was running at almost full speed that it was slowly loosing power. I shut it down to do some fishing and when I went to start it up again, I noticed that it would not idle unless I gave it some gas. From then on it would not get over 2000 rpm in gear. It would rev up to full speed, 4000 rpm, no problem as long as it wasnt in gear.

It didn't sputter like it wasnt firing on all 6. It just would not get up and go.

Any thoughts?

Thanks A lot.

Re: 1985 Evinrude 150 will not go above 2000 rpm in gear

check your filters for a fuel restriction first.

But what it sounds like to me is either stator or timer base (check for metled varnish from the stator that drips on the block)....the idea behind the stator is that it takes more juice to power the powerpacks and send the proper votlage down to the spark plugs under a load. Also could be timer base, the faster you go the six embeded magnets in the timer base don't trigger the power packs properly.

I have had the same problem on a 1986 225hp and it was the stator. It ran fine to redline on water muffs and not in gear, but put it in the water and in gear, just about 2k in RPM was all she had to give.

Then a few years ago the timer base went bad ( had the original one so nearly 30 years is not too bad) which presented itself as eratic voltage, that time the stator was deemed bad too as well as a powerpack...the concensus was that the bad stator messed up the timer base and one powerpack.

You have to get the DVA adapter to diagnose these ignition problems and not spend gobs of money with testing new parts...also with that approach you could fry a good part.

Using the proper tools (DVA Adapter) and multimeter I was able to confirm that indeed all three pieces were faulty.

That and the service manual is well worth it..

let us know the outcome.

Re: 1985 Evinrude 150 will not go above 2000 rpm in gear

You shouldn't be reving it to 4000 rpm in neutral unless you want a rod to come out and say "Hello" to you. But it is your mtr.

Re: 1985 Evinrude 150 will not go above 2000 rpm in gear

clean yer carbs..and do not rev motor out of the water

Re: 1985 Evinrude 150 will not go above 2000 rpm in gear

Check your spark on all 6 plugwires. Make sure you have strong, rhythmic flashes from the gun on all 6 wires. An inductive timing light will show you the condition of the spark on each plugwire. Any engine idle fine with less than 6 cyls firing. It's when it is in gear and under load that you will see/feel an ignition problem.

Re: 1985 Evinrude 150 will not go above 2000 rpm in gear

Basic health check and report back the findings. Anything else is a shot in the dark from your description. May well be any or all of the above suggestions or something else.

Compression
Spark
Fuel delivery
Spark plug condition

Info on "How To" is in the Top Secret Files at the top of page one of this section.
Post your results

My 2 cents.

Re: 1985 Evinrude 150 will not go above 2000 rpm in gear

dtemp said:

It would rev up to full speed, 4000 rpm, no problem as long as it wasnt in gear.

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When you say "full speed, 4000 rpm" are you implying that 4000 is your normal in gear max rpm as well? If so then combined with the poor idle and lack of top end rpms it sounds like you're not firing all 6. Maybe you were firing 5 and it ran ok now you're firing less?

Spark test is in order.

Re: 1985 Evinrude 150 will not go above 2000 rpm in gear

boobie said:

You shouldn't be reving it to 4000 rpm in neutral unless you want a rod to come out and say "Hello" to you. But it is your mtr.

Click to expand...

You are right, but sometimes you get so frustrated that you do stupid things...