1979 Evinrude 115 LEAK?

[BoatDr]

Well, took my recently overhauled starcraft for its maiden voyage over the weekend and fished a salmon tournament. Here's what the engine looked like after I pulled her out:

Anyone know what could be leaking? She seemed to be running a little rich and stalled a few times on the water while trolling. Could it be a result of running the engine too slow for too long? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

-Erik

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1979 Evinrude 115 LEAK?

Looks like the powerhead base gasket has failed. While not a fatal problem, it is messy. Usually when that gasket fails, it will also leak exhaust gas/smoke into the cowling. This smoke will get re-ingested into the airbox and get sucked back into the engine. You may see some running issues as it gets worse. Time to pull the powerhead and replace the gasket. Some base gaskets are just paper, and others have a pc of metal sandwiched between the paper sides. The plain paper ones are no good.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 1979 Evinrude 115 LEAK?

The more exhaust that finds it's way under the cowling the less air there is to keep your motor running. Blown gaskets need replacing.

 

[BoatDr]

Re: 1979 Evinrude 115 LEAK?

Can I leave the engine attached and just lift the powerhead off with a chain fall? I've never done this before. Can someone point me to a thread on how to pull a powerhead? Didn't find much with the search. Is this a fairly common gasket that I can find locally (Northern Michigan)? Thanks again guys.

-Erik

 

[iwombat]

Re: 1979 Evinrude 115 LEAK?

It should be a fairly easy gasket to find. And, I can't think of any reason you couldn't do it w/ the motor on the boat. Perhaps if there's not enough clearance to remove a fastener or something, but I'm not coming up with anything. Get yourself an OEM service manual, read through powerhead removal a few times and ask questions on anything you don't understand.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1979 Evinrude 115 LEAK?

You will need to get the engine high enough to scrape the old gasket off the midsection adaptor and the underside of the block.