14 HP McCulloch Question

[LaqueRatt]

I'm ashamed to admit I may have killed this motor. Water in the test barrel kept leaking out. Having trouble starting it. Finally she roared to life and I turned the hose on. After about 30 secs to 1 min I realized it was taking too long to cover the water inlet and I shut it off. Once water came up, restarted. Motor sounds healthy, but no water coming out the weep holes in the rear. Did I trash my impellers? I feel so dumb. Never had an outboard before. I can't seem to locate any new ones either, but not really sure if that's what's wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[racerone]

Install a new impeller and test run.----Water in your test bucket must be 6" above the impeller.

 

[LaqueRatt]

The impellers seem to be unavailable. Has anybody been able to adapt another one to fit?

 

[flyingscott]

The impellers seem to be unavailable. Has anybody been able to adapt another one to fit?

There is a McCulloch site on facebook and The AOMCI can help you.

 

[LaqueRatt]

I've been to both sites and so far haven't had any luck. Surely somebody must have tried to make another impeller work haven't they? Are they all so unique that they can't be made to work? I've never even seen one. Are they made of rubber? Seems strange to me that an impeller in you car's water pump is basically indestructible, but these seem so fragile. Guess I got me an anchor now instead of a motor. :-(

 

[flyingscott]

Baron0418 @att.net 810-794-7685 Brian

 

[LaqueRatt]

Thank You Admiral Flying Scott! I'll give Brian a try.

 

[LaqueRatt]

Wow what a nice guy that Brian is. He told me everything could ever want to know and then some. Said he wasn't surprised my impellers survived running dry for a little while. That they are a very good design that almost never fail. Fired up on 3 pulls and started spewing water right away. I just never had enough water in the can last time. She runs strong under load all the way to WOT, but doesn't idle too well. Either that or I'm trying to idle it down too low. I'm getting like a chug sound that doesn't sound right, but only when throttled way down. Is there a thread with tips on dialing in your carb? Any thoughts on what oil mix I should be running? I'm at 50/1 right now and thinking of going to 40/1 or maybe even 32/1.

 

[flyingscott]

50-1 is fine. I am glad Brian could help you. I am glad he is still making impellers I need a few for my 75 hp.

 

[LaqueRatt]

Is there any info out there on how to dial in the carb? I watched a few youtube vids, but they were pretty generic. I'd like to hook up a dwell tach to the motor but am at a loss where to pick up power from. Can I just use a spare car battery you think?

 

[flyingscott]

Set the points to .020 you will be fine. 1.5 turns open on the carb will get you started. Fine tune on the lake when warm.

 

[LaqueRatt]

The meter works as a dwell or tach, but what I'm mainly interested in right now is finding out how many RPMs the engine is turning to aid in adj the carb. Mine has an inductive lead that clips over a plug wire, I'm just at a loss where to pick up 12V from to power the meter itself. Is there a better way? I read something about using a multi-meter, but couldn't really follow what they were saying.

Could be wrong, but think the initial setting is actually 3/4 out. I've read that a couple places and Brian also said 3/4. Pretty sure the carb is a Carter Model N.

 

[flyingscott]

You are over thinking this.

 

[LaqueRatt]

Maybe so. Been guilty of this in the past. Just trying to do this correctly and most of what I'm reading says to adj carb for highest RPMs and then to set the idle at a specific value. At a bit of a loss guessing how slow is too slow on the idle. Current issue is if I shut the throttle all the way off it'll die. The idle screw doesn't seem to do much either. Other than that she seems to pull strong. My thought is maybe it's dying because I'm trying to idle it way to low. Remember I'm clueless here. I don't even know what it's supposed to sound like when it is running/idling correctly.

 

[flyingscott]

To set low speed screw. Turn screw in until the motor sneezes then back off 1/4 turn. If it bogs on acceleration open another 1/8 turn. Continue until it idles good and accelerates without hesitation.
The high speed needle you set when running wide open. Turn screw to rich until it stutters. Then turn back the other way until power falls off. Set screw in the middle of those 2 points.

 

[LaqueRatt]

Thanks again. I'm going to try your method tomorrow. This seems like a really good little motor. Found a sales brochure on line that said the 14 HP along with one of the bigger ones were designed to be workhorses and built with better parts than the rest of the line.

 

[LaqueRatt]

Just realized I don't know which way to turn the idle knob. I know, that sounds dumb, but there's no markings on it anymore and it doesn't really seem like it's working right. If I turn the throttle way down the engine wants to die. Doesn't seem like it matters where the idle is set. Weird idle on this motor. Is it just an air hole? The knob itself seems a little loose where it screws in. Could it be leaking air?

 

[LaqueRatt]

So, it's a Tillotson MD1388. Guess I'll go with the 1 1/2 turns out to start with. Unless I can find something specific using the search function. Is this a fairly common carb?

 

[LaqueRatt]

Well now the dang thing won't start at all. All I did was fiddle with the adjusting screws. Thought I had a Carter carb, but turns out it's a Tillotson. Never even heard of these and can't find this exact carb online. The m/n is: MD 1388. I was told to set the idle and high speed screws at 3/4 from seated and also 1 1/2 turns out. I tried both and she won't even pop. Also does this carb lack a low speed adj screw? I sure don't see one. The only thing that looks like it could be it is near the bottom of the bowl and it seems like it's too tight to be an adjuster. Thanks again for all the help, but looks like I'm going to need some more help to get this gem going.

 

[brim_buster]

Its a MD138 carb. You can get kits for them.

Tillotson MD112 MD113 MD115 MD118 MD131 MD138 MD141 MD144 MD145 Carb Kit | eBay

You are purchasing a Carburetor Kit for the following Tillotson Model Carburetor. This kit only fits the following Carburetors. MD-60 Power Products. We have 1000's of new Carburetors and Repair Kits for the following.

www.ebay.com