1975 evinrude 85 hp has been sitting

[Jmed8507]

Ok so I bought an evinrude 85 hp outboard motor for 150 dollars this includes a 16 ft bass boat. This is my first boat and don't know a lot about them. I know it has been sitting for a couple of years and the owner said he cleaned the carberators not long ago and ran it with the ear muffs on it. I have ran it with ear muffs while on idle. I took it to a mechanic and he tried to scam me saying it wouldn't start and needed a 1000 dollars worth of work and tried to trade me another boat plus give him a 1000 dollars. I am thinking of putting it in the water and trolling out to the middle and cranking it up and seeing what happens. I know this probably isn't the best idea but it would give me a better indication of where I stand with it. What do y'all think? It may run fine or it could run really bad but I don't want to keep spending money on things that MIGHT be wrong with it. Thanks for your help

 

[Jmed8507]

Re: 1975 evinrude 85 hp has been sitting

Ok so I bought an evinrude 85 hp outboard motor for 150 dollars this includes a 16 ft bass boat. This is my first boat and don't know a lot about them. I know it has been sitting for a couple of years and the owner said he cleaned the carberators not long ago and ran it with the ear muffs on it. I have ran it with ear muffs while on idle. I took it to a mechanic and he tried to scam me saying it wouldn't start and needed a 1000 dollars worth of work and tried to trade me another boat plus give him a 1000 dollars. I am thinking of putting it in the water and trolling out to the middle and cranking it up and seeing what happens. I know this probably isn't the best idea but it would give me a better indication of where I stand with it. What do y'all think? It may run fine or it could run really bad but I don't want to keep spending money on things that MIGHT be wrong with it. Thanks for your help

Also I have put new oil in the lower unit and new gas and oil in the gas can

 

[weekendfisher]

Re: 1975 evinrude 85 hp has been sitting

Hi,
First of all check all of the wiring and hoses on the motor for perishing or damage then look over the whole block for corrosion signs of leaks ets.
If it has been sitting for a long time before i would even consider taking it out i would have the compression tested if that checks out then get the carbs rebuilt get the impeller replaced spark plugs replaced and the gearbox oil changed these are things that are usually just done as maintenance so it's a good place to start on an unknown motor.
If you can when you make your first trip try and have someone else go out with you on their boat so you have someone to tow you back in if all goes wrong.
Good luck.

 

[Jmed8507]

Re: 1975 evinrude 85 hp has been sitting

Hi,
First of all check all of the wiring and hoses on the motor for perishing or damage then look over the whole block for corrosion signs of leaks ets.
If it has been sitting for a long time before i would even consider taking it out i would have the compression tested if that checks out then get the carbs rebuilt get the impeller replaced spark plugs replaced and the gearbox oil changed these are things that are usually just done as maintenance so it's a good place to start on an unknown motor.
If you can when you make your first trip try and have someone else go out with you on their boat so you have someone to tow you back in if all goes wrong.
Good luck.

I have had the compression checked it is good. There are new spark plugs and a new power pack installed by the previous owner. When you say gear box oil do you mean the oil that goes in the lower unit? What is an impeller? I have a new water pump and carberator kits that I just need to install. Would that be considered rebuilding the carberators by putting new carb kits on?

 

[eavega]

Re: 1975 evinrude 85 hp has been sitting

First off, get yourself a repair manual for that motor. The OEM one, not the Seloc "range of years and HP" one. That will be invaluable for a motor that is almost 40 years old. Most mechanics will look at an outboard built in the 70's and tell you its not worth fixing, mostly because they can have problems, they are not worth that much, and mechanic's time is expensive. You will have to learn how to work on this motor yourself.
The basic checks on these motors are spark, fuel, and compression. You say you have already checked compression and "its good" What is good? Have you checked spark with a spark tester, not just holding the plug against the side of the block? If your spark and compression are good, and the motor starts, the last thing you should check is that it is cooling properly. first of is to remove the lower unit and check the water pump impeller to see if it is in decent shape. Given that it has sat up for a couple of years, you might as well replace the impeller. Its a relatively cheap and quick PM process and needs to be done every few years anyway.
If spark, compression, and cooling check out on muffs, and the motor starts reliably, can go into gear and out of gear smoothly, and you can throttle it up to about 2K RPM, there is no reason to take it out to a lake and give it a whirl.
Of course, that would be if and only if the boat itself is safe (transom is sound, steering, deck, etc).

Good luck

Rgds