help! I did something dumb

[so]

hi all,

I was decarbing two evinrude outboards today(both mid 80's model). I finished with the smaller, 15 hp first. Since the mixture tank still had plenty of fuel in it, I decided to use it on my 90 hp which has vro(auto. oil injection). Now the mixture tank has about 1 gal of gas with 14 oz. of seafoam and 2.6 oz of 2 stroke oil already, which means I would be running with twice the oil amount. well, It ran for about 30 seconds or so and died.

After realizing what I shouldn't have done, I switched the fuel hose back to the regular tank and tried to restart it. It would start and die within a few seconds. How can I remedy this? I hope I won't have to clean the carb. I am thinking flushing the fuel line with regular gas and draining the carb(need guidance on how to do this also).

thanks in advance.

 

[OBJ]

Re: help! I did something dumb

Don't think the witches brew should have caused it to stall so. Worked for the 9.9. Even with the extra oil, should run. It is possible that you got a slug of oil/seafoam in the carbs.

Each carb should have a drain plug screw. Just remove them and let the old mix run out of the bowl. Hook straight gas up to the engine and see if it will start. Once it runs, swap the hoses over to the witches brew. Might agitate the can a little to make sure all the "stuff" is mixed up good.

 

[so]

Re: help! I did something dumb

I read up on the fuel/carb section of the clymer manual, it shows one screw plug that goes into an orifice at the bottom, is that what you're referring to as the drain plug, will I mess up the jet setting if I unplug that (I guess I can always count the # of turns.)

thanks

 

[casi77]

Re: help! I did something dumb

you can try to drain the carb bowls, there should be a screw on the bottom side of the bowl, remove it, and flush it with fresh gas by priming.. let the fuel leak out, then screw the screw back in.

maybe you had flooded the engine before thats why it didnt start!? when this happens again, remove the plugs and crank the engine couple times then dry the plugs and put them back in.. try starting it again..

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: help! I did something dumb

Pull the spark plugs and clean them up. Probably just fouled them out with the extra oil.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: help! I did something dumb

I think the decarb mix probably loosened some crud in the carbs or that it loosened some carbon which fouled the plugs. The extra oil likely had nothing to do with the problem. Pull the plugs as was suggested. Spin the engine over a cople of times, clean the plugs off, install them and I'll bet it starts fine.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: help! I did something dumb

If you unscrew the carb drain plugs, it will not affect the jet. The jet is behind the plug and will not come out. [You need a special screwdriver to get the jets out. ]

 

[so]

Re: help! I did something dumb

thanks for all the responses. I'll drain the bowl and clean the plugs today.

 

[so]

Re: help! I did something dumb

I think there might be another suspect other than the plug and the extra oil. need more advice.

I tried to start the engine today after cleaning the plugs, but no matter how many times I squeeze the prime bulb, it wouldn't get firm, but it was working fine yesterday. The 6-gal tanks has about 2 gal gas in it.

Also, if I spray some starting fluid in the air intake, it would fire up and die. I'm guessing there's no fuel going to the engine. where should I go from here? I've done some googling, is this because of a stuck needle in the carb? any help is appreciated. thanks.

 

[OBJ]

Re: help! I did something dumb

See any fuel flowing from the carb when you squeeze the bulb? If so, the float/needle vlv is stuck open.

If no fuel from the carb, check your connections at the engine and tank, make sure they have snapped on. Make sure the tank is venting.

Take the hose off and drain it. Shake the primer bulb. Is there any thing bouncing around in it? If you hear a rattle in the bulb, likely on of the vlvs in the bulb has come apart.

Do not use starting fluid to start the engine. There is no lubrication in it. Use some premix fuel in a spray bottle.

 

[so]

Re: help! I did something dumb

I removed the air intake cover. when I squeezed the bulb, I could hear some hissing sound from the carb, but no fule seem to be leaking out(where exactly will it leak from? top? side? bottom?) and once I released the bulb, it got soft almost immediately. I could see the fule flowing from the fuel/water strainer towards the pump direction, so i don't think it's the bulb problem.

If I proceed to drain the bowl, does that mean I have to take off the air silencer? a bunch of stuff is mounted on that thing, manual choke, fuel pump, throttle, etc.

thanks

 

[tschamp20]

Re: help! I did something dumb

have you made sure all the fuel lines are tight and clamped?if not the fuel will leak back down to the tank.just a thought.

 

[ezeke]

Re: help! I did something dumb

It should not leak out anywhere.

Squeezing the bulb is supposed to fill the float bowls, which raises the floats, which stops the flow of fuel until the engine pulls it through the carburetor.

 

[so]

Re: help! I did something dumb

I put in 4 new plugs and swtiched to a different tank, the bulb now gets/stays somewhat firm, but engine won't start. Should the bulb get softer after some cranking?

I cranked it for 3 - 4 seconds and repeated that many times(battery was fully charged this morning), I also tried spraying some premix fuel onto the throttle plate of the carb(is this the right place to spray the premix?) I checked the plugs couple times, they were not fouled, actually the electrodes were dry to semi-dry with fuel.

so is my next step to drain the bowl? any other suspects here. It was working fine before I tried to do the decarb, I even took the precaution of decarbing the 15 hp outboard first and that motor runs real smooth now.

thanks.

 

[ezeke]

Re: help! I did something dumb

Push the key in and crank it until it fires. The worst that can happen is that it floods.

If that doesn't do one or the other [fire or flood], put the red lever on the primer solenoid at 90 degrees and try it.

 

[so]

Re: help! I did something dumb

thanks ezeke. the red lever did the trick. Once I turned the red lever 90 deg, I could hear the fuel race thru the line and it started right up, but died almost immedidated. then I turned the lever back to its original position, squeezed the bulb and it started up with no problem. any idea why it failed previously? I didn't do anything different besides turning the red lever.

thanks