1998 Evinrude 225 Ocean pro - Wont pass 4500 RPM

[xNecessityx]

Hello Everyone,

I have had this engine for years and didnt think much of the 4500 max rpm and 25 mph until recently when I saw that many people with the same boat (1997 HS 2450 walkaround) and engine as myself were getting around 5500 rpm and + 10 or more mph. The engine also runs a little rough and will shake but does not stall or die on me. At first I thought maybe it was the prop that needed to go lower in pitch, it is currently 15x17 but Ken over at Prop gods stated that it should be performing better and I may only be running on 5 cylinders. He mentioned that the coil packs and power packs are known to go bad on these engines so I did some research. I bought an inline spark tester and a multimeter to read the ohms on the spark plug wires. The spark tester was lighting up for each plug but I noticed that the spark plug wires were corroded and did not look great at all. I was also not able to get a reading on most of the spark plug wires. I apologize for the long post but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[dingbat]

Your short 1000 rpm.

They are not the smoothest idling motors

Spark plug wires should have very low resistance. No reading is good.

What is the compression in each cylinder?

What do the plugs look like? One different than the others?

I would start the easiest, is the throttle linkage working correctly? Throttle plates wide open with control in full forward position?

The issue, do you have spark on all cylinders at all rpm?

Mark TDC of all cylinders relative to the index pointer. Connect the timing light to each plug to check for erratic firing at a given rpm.

 

[xNecessityx]

Your short 1000 rpm.

They are not the smoothest idling motors

Spark plug wires should have very low resistance. No reading is good.

What is the compression in each cylinder?

What do the plugs look like? One different than the others?

I would start the easiest, is the throttle linkage working correctly? Throttle plates wide open with control in full forward position?

The issue, do you have spark on all cylinders at all rpm?

Mark TDC of all cylinders relative to the index pointer. Connect the timing light to each plug to check for erratic firing at a given rpm.

Hey Dingbat, thank you for the quick response.

I will check the plugs when I get home, I replaced them about a month ago but hopefully I can spot any possible inconsistencies.

I have not checked compression yet, is it okay to disconnect all spark plugs and then check compression one by one with the tester?

The throttle linkage is working correctly and the plates are wide open with the control in full forward position.

Can you elaborate on the last sentence? I am new to working on engines but I am trying to learn as much as possible.

Thank you again for your quick response.

 

[Rustywrench]

Very easy to cross wire #2 & #4 primary. That is the top & middle cylinder on port side of engine. Top wire should be orange/blue stripe. One dead cylinder will usually be 900 RPM on that motor. Coils are not too troublesome unless corroded contacts, but power packs are. Check compression first & proceed with cylinder drop test.

 

[Rustywrench]

Very easy to cross wire #2 & #4 primary. That is the top & middle cylinder on port side of engine. Top wire should be orange/blue stripe. One dead cylinder will usually be 900 RPM on that motor. Coils are not too troublesome unless corroded contacts from plug wires, but power packs are. Check compression first & proceed with cylinder drop test.

 

[daselbee]

Very easy to cross wire #2 & #4 primary. That is the top & middle cylinder on port side of engine. Top wire should be orange/blue stripe. .

Yes very true it is easy to swap #2 and #4 accidentally. BUT the engine will not run, and in fact, will stall and kick backwards with it's last chug. I have experimented and tested this many times.

Hard to believe the OP has been running this engine "for years" without plug changes (should show a down cylinder)...
This post is not making sense.....some fact is missing....

 

[flyingscott]

ls this speed gps verified? Is your tach reading correctly? Get a spark tester with an adjustable gap. Make sure your spark can jump 1/2 ". What extras do you carry in your boat? What is the model # of your motor is this a crossflow or looper motor? Have you done a compression test? Have you verified the throttle is opening the carbs all the way?

 

[xNecessityx]

ls this speed gps verified? Is your tach reading correctly? Get a spark tester with an adjustable gap. Make sure your spark can jump 1/2 ". What extras do you carry in your boat? What is the model # of your motor is this a crossflow or looper motor? Have you done a compression test? Have you verified the throttle is opening the carbs all the way?

Hey Flyingscott thanks for the reply,

The speed was reading the same between my speedometer and gps, I have a spark tester coming in the mail today to test that it can jump the gap. It was just me in the boat and about a 3/4 tank of gas so it was a light boat. The model number taken right off of the engine is E225TXEUD which actually makes it a 1997, I apologize for the misinformation. I also have a compression tester coming today, can I just remove all the spark plugs at once and test each cylinder one at a time by trying to turn it over for a few turns? I have verified that the throttle does in fact open the carbs all of the way. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

 

[dingbat]

I also have a compression tester coming today, can I just remove all the spark plugs at once and test each cylinder one at a time by trying to turn it over for a few turns?

You don't need an umbrella to see if it's raining outside.....

Troubleshooting is a step by step process. You start at step 1, then go to step 2.

Step 1.....pull and visually inspect plugs. You're looking for inconsistencies between plugs. Any spark and compression problems will be readily apparent. Post pictures of your plugs.

Once you've identified the offending cylinder(s), if any, you can move to step 2.....spark and compression testing...

 

[xNecessityx]

You don't need an umbrella to see if it's raining outside.....

Troubleshooting is a step by step process. You start at step 1, then go to step 2.

Step 1.....pull and visually inspect plugs. You're looking for inconsistencies between plugs. Any spark and compression problems will be readily apparent. Post pictures of your plugs.

Once you've identified the offending cylinder(s), if any, you can move to step 2.....spark and compression testing...

Thanks dingbat,

I will pull the plugs when I get home in a couple hours and post the pics of them here.

 

[xNecessityx]

Yes very true it is easy to swap #2 and #4 accidentally. BUT the engine will not run, and in fact, will stall and kick backwards with it's last chug. I have experimented and tested this many times.

Hard to believe the OP has been running this engine "for years" without plug changes (should show a down cylinder)...
This post is not making sense.....some fact is missing....

Hey daselbee,

Sorry I haven't replied yet, I just saw your message. I have changed the plugs but I never paid attention to the wear on them unfortunately. I do admit that only recently have I made the effort to learn more about the engine itself and how it should be running. I ran it for years thinking 4500 rpm was all I could get and running rough was just how these older engines usually run. I am doing my best now to learn as much as I can though so I can remedy any issues that may be causing this. Some of the wires going from the power pack to the coils are corroded. I just did not want to change anything out until I was able to better identify whats going on, granted it could be a combination of things.

 

[dingbat]

Thanks dingbat,

I will pull the plugs when I get home in a couple hours and post the pics of them here.

Im still not convinced you don’t have prop issue.

i worked with Ken this spring to put a new prop on my 22’ Grady WA with the same year 200 Ocean Pro.

The 14.25 x 17 I had on it topped me out at 5100. You have 2 ft. and X pounds on me. Wouldn’t expect to see 4500 but your almost certainly over propped.

Per ken’s suggest I went with a 15x15. Performance is day and night.

 

[xNecessityx]

Im still not convinced you don’t have prop issue.

i worked with Ken this spring to put a new prop on my 22’ Grady WA with the same year 200 Ocean Pro.

The 14.25 x 17 I had on it topped me out at 5100. You have 2 ft. and X pounds on me. Wouldn’t expect to see 4500 but your almost certainly over propped.

Per ken’s suggest I went with a 15x15. Performance is day and night.

I spoke with Ken a couple days ago, he was certain that with my prop setup I should be getting more rpms at WOT. I saw a thread on THT where a guy mentioned he had the same boat with the same engine and he was going +10 mph and + 1,000 rpm faster than I was at WOT. If each pitch gives about +200 rpm I would still be short. But to be honest at this point I dont know for sure. Some of the wires coming from the power pack to the coil are corroded and I will probably pull the coils off and check for cracks as well but first I am going to check the plugs.

 

[dingbat]

I spoke with Ken a couple days ago, he was certain that with my prop setup I should be getting more rpms at WOT. I saw a thread on THT where a guy mentioned he had the same boat with the same engine and he was going +10 mph and + 1,000 rpm faster than I was at WOT. If each pitch gives about +200 rpm I would still be short. But to be honest at this point I dont know for sure. Some of the wires coming from the power pack to the coil are corroded and I will probably pull the coils off and check for cracks as well but first I am going to check the plugs.

Something doesn't add up.

If your numbers are right 4500 x 25 mph, you have almost 36% prop slip. A half way decent performing prop should put you into the low 30's at that rpm

What is the part number of your prop?

 

[xNecessityx]

As mentioned here are some pics of the spark plugs as well as a pic of the wire coming from the power pack to the ignition coil. All of the orange striped wires going to the coils pretty much look corroded like this one. The spark plugs were changed only about a month ago so they don’t show much signs of wear at all as the boat has only been run 7 hours since the change.

 

[xNecessityx]

Something doesn't add up.

If your numbers are right 4500 x 25 mph, you have almost 36% prop slip. A half way decent performing prop should put you into the low 30's at that rpm

What is the part number of your prop?

The prop is a michigan wheel 15x17 and the part number that I can see is 013044 which matches what I have if I google that number.

 

[xNecessityx]

Okay I also just finished a spark test and all plugs were jumping the gap.

 

[dingbat]

As mentioned here are some pics of the spark plugs as well as a pic of the wire coming from the power pack to the ignition coil. All of the orange striped wires going to the coils pretty much look corroded like this one. The spark plugs were changed only about a month ago so they don’t show much signs of wear at all as the boat has only been run 7 hours since the change.

First off, your running the wrong plugs.
You should be running Champion QL 78YC.....yes, it does make a difference.

The plug on the bottom in the first picture is the only one that looks even remotely suspect

 

[xNecessityx]

First off, your running the wrong plugs.
You should be running Champion QL 78YC.....yes, it does make a difference.

The plug on the bottom in the first picture is the only one that looks even remotely suspect

Okay I will make sure I get those plugs ASAP and gap them to .30. I also just did a compression test on the warm engine after a 1.15 hour ride, I tested with throttle down in neutral and the numbers are as follows:

Top left: 50

Left middle: 100

Bottom left: 100


Top right: 100

Middle right: 100

Bottom right: 100


I have heard of some getting closer to 120 during these tests with a similar engine so I am wondering if something is not right, especially with the 50 psi on the top left cylinder. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thank you

 

[dingbat]

Okay I will make sure I get those plugs ASAP and gap them to .30. I also just did a compression test on the warm engine after a 1.15 hour ride, I tested with throttle down in neutral and the numbers are as follows:

Top left: 50

Left middle: 100

Bottom left: 100


Top right: 100

Middle right: 100

Bottom right: 100


I have heard of some getting closer to 120 during these tests with a similar engine so I am wondering if something is not right, especially with the 50 psi on the top left cylinder. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thank you

I’ve had two of these motors. Never seen more than 102 even when fresh.

Looks like you found the bad hole. Was that the plug I pointed out earlier?

Best case scenario is a blown head gasket. Pull the head to take a look