1958 Evinrude 35HP lark won't start

[jahughes]

Hi folks, what a great resource this<br />board is, I've been reading and benefitting<br />from what I see here, and now I need some<br />direct advice.<br /><br />My motor is a 1958 35HP Evinrude lark.<br />S/N 35514-03988.<br /><br />Seems to have sat a long time before I got it,<br />as there was jelly-like goo swimming around in<br />the glass fuel bowl on the fuel pump, fuel filter<br />was missing (or disintegrated, thereby forming<br />jelly-like goo?), and there was wet fuel getting<br />into the lower cylinder through a dried and<br />cracked fuel pump diaphragm, so I rebuilt the<br />carb and the fuel pump. <br /><br />Now I get a nice firm primer<br />bulb, and the fuel feed line to the carb pulses<br />fuel when I crank it, but it won't start.<br /><br />I have confirmed that I have spark, and have<br />put in new spark plugs.<br /><br />I sprayed a little starter fluid down the carb<br />throat, and it did start to run, but it dies<br />right off. It acts like it's starved for fuel<br />now.<br /><br />When I rebuilt the carb the adjustable<br />needle valves left me with a couple of questions.<br />I inspected the low speed needle, it looked<br />pretty good, but I wasn't sure how much I<br />should seat it before backing it out the recommended 1.5 turns.<br /><br />It was kind of hard to tell if it was seated, and<br />I didn't want to damage it.<br /><br />The high speed needle wouldn't budge at all. The<br />needle itself wouldn't even turn. I didn't have<br />replacement needles on hand, so I didn't want to<br />man-handle it, so opted to leave it alone. This<br />is of concern, since it obviously should be<br />adjustable, and it won't move at all.<br /><br />I blew out all the passages with compressed air,<br />and blew through them with my mouth to ensure<br />that they were clear, air seemed to go through<br />everywhere that it should.<br /><br />My questions are, could the apparent fuel starvation be the result of either an<br />improperly set low speed needle, or something to do with the apparently stuck high speed needle?<br /><br />Is there a recommended procedure to deal with<br />this stuck needle? I have the seloc book, but<br />it doesn't cover this particular question.<br /><br />Is there a way to test proper carb function to<br />see if I did something dumb during the rebuild?<br />This was my first carb rebuild. I followed the<br />book, and it seemed pretty straightforward, but<br />obviously something is still wrong.<br /><br />Any other suggestions for troubleshooting?<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />J

 

[alcan]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 35HP lark won't start

Hi Fish<br /> It sounds as if you have the fuel system fairly well coverd. That high-speed needle needs some work. Loosen the packing nut around the needle, then carefully garb the needle shaft with a pliers or small vice grip. Do so in an area of the shaft that won't affect the packing when screwed in or out. Also don't garb the end were it is split for the knob. With care you should be able to work it loose,and cause very little damage. Don't use starting fluid, there is no oil in it and can damage your motor. Use a squirt bottle with pre-mix. If a motor is going to light this is all you need.Set the High-speed needle to 3/4 turn from lightly seated. Did you ever test the compression on this motor? Have you inspected the ignition coils for cracks/splits? The hi-speed needle meters fuel to the lo-speed circut as well as the main nozzle. These motors require a pretty big drink of fuel for cold starting. Prime,set speed control to start position, in neutral, choke, give three good pulls on the rope. You shoud have fire on the third pull. Now if the motor pops on the second pull remove choke and pull again. When ever you get a pop you have enough choke/prime.

 

[jahughes]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 35HP lark won't start

Thanks Alcan, I'll follow up on your advice on the high speed needle and the ignition coils. I appreciate the word about the starting fluid, I was aware of that it wouldn't provide lube but figured that since the cylinders had been pretty well flooded with premix prior to the carb/pump rebuild a few cycles around on the starter fluid wouldn't hurt it. Hope I wasn't incorrect on that point. I'll put some premix in a spray bottle and use that for further testing. It did run for about 3-5 seconds before dying out, would that behavior have any impact on the likelihood of there being an ignition coil problem?<br /><br />From what you say about the high speed needle being sort of the gateway to the rest of the fuel path, it sounds like if the high speed needle were jammed down into it's seat that that might be causing it to resist removal and might also be the cause of fuel starvation (if that's really what's going on). I'll post the results when I get this figured out, any other thoughts/advice will certainly be appreciated in the meantime...<br /><br />Thanks!<br /><br />J

 

[Lark40]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 35HP lark won't start

How is your spark? If you pull out the plugs and ground them to block while cranking, do you see a strong, steady spark?<br /><br />If not, These engines had both kill switchs and vacuum cutoff switches. Their on/off switches are opposite of what a car ignition uses.<br /><br />You might try temporarily removing the wires from the cutoff switch on the right side of the engine (from the front) and see if you then get spark.

 

[alcan]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 35HP lark won't start

Hi Fish<br />The hi-speed needle may be jammed into the seat. Although I kind of doubt it. I think it is just stuck do to corrosion,too tight packing nut,etc. We don't know where it is set now. It could be too lean or too rich. Too rich would cause flooding. Flooding a 2 stroke would include filling the crankcase with an over rich mixture (not enough air to burn). This can take some time to clear. The best way to clear is to disconnect the fuel line,disconnect the plug wires , open throtle full,give three-four good cranks. This should ventalate the crankcase.

 

[jahughes]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 35HP lark won't start

It's running!! Looks like getting the high speed needle out was the key. I had to work at it a bit, but once it came out I squeezed the bulb a few times, flushing the passageway out, some bits of crud flowed out with the fuel, then I put the needle back in, set it as Alcan suggested, primed it with premix and after a little cranking it started up. Wonderful, it sounds great too!<br /><br />Next question, how can I tell if it's getting proper water pump operation? It has a thermostat, and I read on another posting that you'll want to give it a minute to open the thermostat before you should expect to see water flow out. I immersed the lower end in a trash can full of water and ran it for a few minutes. I didn't see a stream/jet of water coming out anywhere. On the back of the driveshaft housing, just under the cover there are 2 holes, one about 3/4" in diameter, the other below it and about 1/8" or so. After a minute or so water (hot) started to come out from the larger hole, not a stream or jet, but just sort of a dribble that accompanied the puffs of exhaust gas as they exited. I was kind of expecting to see a stream from the smaller hole, again my book doesn't really describe very well how to verify proper water pump operation, can anyone offer input on this last question?<br /><br />Thanks again, you guys are awesome!<br /><br />J

 

[alcan]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 35HP lark won't start

Hi Fish<br />If you have not replaced the water pump empeller and the t-stat, you need to do soon. Before heading to the water. The large hole on the back of the exhaust housing is the exhaust relief port. It's purpose is so the motor can run while at ldle in the water. If the motor did not have this feature it would not run do to the exhaust pipe being pluged (under water). When the motor is under way a vacuume is created behind the prop which sucks the exhaust and cooling water out. To check water pump operation while at the test tank, hold your hand down by the exhaust relief port. there should be water coming out ,enough to make your hand warm and wet. A seat of the pants method for determining engine temp is, dip up a hand full of water from the test tank and drizzle over the head, cylinder, and exhaust cover area. If the water droplets sizzle the motor is too hot. If the droplets just sort of roll around and dry slowly, your good to go. Some fellas suggest using your bare hand to feel how hot a motor is. I have become very attached to my hands and would like to keep them. A thermometer is the right way to go. If you remove the T-stat, and you test it and it tests good, you can get away with reinstalling it with new gaskets. Don't mess around with the empeller, they are cheep, just replace it. Don't forget to inspect those coils. If they are found cracked replace them at once. It does not matter they work while running in the tank. As soon as you get in the water with a little more moisture in the air they won't work. Don't bother tring to reseal them.

 

[rolmops]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 35HP lark won't start

Hello.<br />You should have a fairly strong stream of water coming out the hole that is halfway up the lower unit(According to "chinewalker" the strength of a gardenhose kinked around his doghouse). Do not run that engine again until you have replaced the impeller in the water pump.Do check that all the water passage ways are clean(no spider silk clumps or dead bugs and the like inside). Being too eager to get that thing running may well cause the engine to set up due to overheating.<br />Enjoy.