Engine wont turn over/trim wont move 1993 Evinrude 70hp

So the boat runs off and on. The other day it started and promtply quit. I tried starting again and nothing happend, no noises, no movement, and the trim wouldnt work. This is the second time it happend. I disconnected the battery leads waited a few minutes then reconnected. Tried her again and she fired up. Wondering if anyone has any ideas what could be going on? Dont know if its connected and dont think it is, but starting in general is a process sometimes cause she gets too much fuel to the point where when starting fuel will come out of the carbs. Usually a "lucky" throttle adjustment will make her fire up and then she runs great.

Thanks

Re: Engine wont turn over/trim wont move 1993 Evinrude 70hp

Sounds like an electrical problem AND a fuel delivery problem.
Check your ground connections to the motor - likely suspect for the electrical woes.

Re: Engine wont turn over/trim wont move 1993 Evinrude 70hp

The first thing to do is check compression and spark (using a variable gap spark tester set at 7/16").

Also, post your question to the Johnson/Evinrude repair forum, there are experts there who will help.

Re: Engine wont turn over/trim wont move 1993 Evinrude 70hp

Sounds to me llike you have a typical electrical problem of some sort, this is why most older professional electricians are bald.

Anyway you need to get a DVM, and start measuring resistance in your electrical system, somewhere maybe in a lot of places you are going to find corrosion or bad connections, check them all nothing is to small even the connection between your battery post and the terminal, power and ground both, resistance adds up so it can become a pretty substantial problem, but you need to start at the battery/s and move up each independent system, somewhere you will find a problem, fix it and then keep going, check all of your electrical circuits and repair/replace as needed. Like I said start at the battery/s.

Re: Engine wont turn over/trim wont move 1993 Evinrude 70hp

If it cranks intermitantly and tilt/trim doesn't work, but it did after you disconnected and reconnected the battery I'd say you have some corroded terminals. Take some 600 grit sandpaper and clean all connectors that screw onto the battery, make em shiny clean. Then go to the battery and clean the terminal, , super clean there too. When you have everything put back together smear some di-electric silicone grease on the terminals, that will keep them from corroding.
As far as starting, I had a Johnson (same thing) 70 hp a few years older. That thing should fire up and run like a champ with very very little effort at 40 degrees.
Check your spark plugs. If you don't know when they've been changed last, change them, make sure they are set to the correct gap. Make sure you have good fresh fuel and (others will say differently) high quality oil. Trust me, it burns better and cleaner.
And you should be good to go.
My 70 didn't have choke plates on the carbs, rather it had an enrichening valve. Starting was this simple: 1) pump the primer bulb on the fuel line till hard. 2) lift the start lever a little. Not all the way or you can over rev the motor and that's not good. 3) While turning the key/cranking the motor, push the key in 2-3 times (this squirted fuel in the carbs) and she should fire up. If the motor sounds like it will kill or shut off, push the key in (DON'T TURN IT) another time or two to squirt some fuel in. After that it should run all day. On my 70, unless it was really cold out, 50 or below, the first start of the day was the only time I'd use the starting sequence above. After that I'd literally click the key and she'd be running.

Re: Engine wont turn over/trim wont move 1993 Evinrude 70hp

Also: tighten your battery connections pliers tight. The thumb screws are just a mean trick!

There is a 20A fuse in a rubber holder inside the engine cowl that covers the PTT and the starter (at least on my 88 and 86 70's). But it shouldn't cause a shut down once the motor is running. Clearly with an intermittent problem the fuse didn;t blow but that might be where the bad connections are.


Not only might the terminals have corrosion, sometimes the cables are corroded up under the rubber. Using jumpers to trouble shoot helps find this.

recently my PTT quit but I found it was just the wiring plug insie the cowl needed attention.

Re: Engine wont turn over/trim wont move 1993 Evinrude 70hp

thanks for all the info. I'll be trying these all when i get out to the boat tomorrow.

Re: Engine wont turn over/trim wont move 1993 Evinrude 70hp

remove one terminal at a time clean and replace on the starting wiring (the large wires). This also includes the ground thats bolted to the block. Favorite place for what you are seeing in the starter solinoid battery side where the large positive is also joined by 2 other wires and you get corrosion inbetween the ring terminals. Also take the battery to a autoparts store and ask them to load test it for free. Homecookin is also spot on with checking the inline fuse that tends to corrode on the legs of the fuse.
12v likes clean, shinny and tight connections

Did this problem get fixed? If so what was the fault?