1976 15Hp Evinrude - Cam Plate

[OptsyEagle]

I have a new to me 15Hp Evinrude (1976) and noticed that the plate, underneath the flywheel, that the two little nuts screw to, that are used to synchronize the roller cam from the carbs throttle, is loose.

The two little nuts are still tight but the plate that they screw to just rotates on its own, irrespective of whether the throttle is turned or not. It seems to me that it should not do this and I am wondering if there is some way to tighten up this plate.

A secondary question is when it is tighened I am going to want to sync the carb and will need to loosen the two little nuts. They sit underneath the flywheel in such a way that my wrenches don't fit underneath the flywheel. How do you guys tighten and loosen those two little nuts? What tool do you use?

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1976 15Hp Evinrude - Cam Plate

Rotates on it's own, as in you can rotate the plate a little by hand without moving the throttle? To me this is quite common, it's wear. Now if you can move the plate side to side that's totally different.

 

[OptsyEagle]

Re: 1976 15Hp Evinrude - Cam Plate

Thanks BK. If I hold the throttle tight, I can rotate this plate about 3/4". Hopefully that is OK. What about those two little nuts? Do you use a special tool? I have maybe 1/8" clearance between this plate and the flywheel and my wrenches are too thick to use.

I need to adjust the plate and I kind of noticed the wear in this plate because instead of loosening those nuts and moving the plate out to touch the roller at the arrow, the way the manual suggests, I can almost just rotate the plate myself without touching those nuts to align the arrow to the roller. Is this OK?

What exactly is this alignment doing?