1987 Evinrude 110 success

[whiterocksrt8]

In Spring 2022 i bought an old 15.5' junk boat (1971 Sangster )with a V4 evinrude on the back. I bought it to make a budget ski boat for my cabin on the ocean, on the sunshine coast of British Columbia Canada. I saved this thing from years of sitting in a storage yard. Boat floor and Transom were awesome though. I spent very little on the rig ($1500).

I had a hard time getting it running and thought it just doesnt sound right and decided to give up on the motor and look for another motor. All i did on that motor was carefully rebuilt the carbs (metal float bowls) after watching a "Brandon's Garage" episode on youtube. Still it didn't idle right and didn't want the headache. The motor looked like crap and was spray painted all black. I beleive it was a 100hp model. I wanted another V4 two stroke so i located one nearby at a used outboard shop. It was a very clean 1987 110 Evinrude with the bubble back. I stripped all the ignition, carbs, pumps, leg, and whatever else looked useful off the old motor - for spare parts on my newr motor.

Well the Newer "old" outboard started in driveway fine, but didn't run so hot out on the river where i was testing it. Shook at idle, stalled occasionally, surged at WOT, tach intermittent, and had a terrible shake when applying throttle past 2000 RPM.

Sent it back to shop where i bought it and shop owner said it was running fine, but he replaced the fuel pump with another used one (said it was questionable), replaced some of the reed assembles (said one looke a bit open), and "cleaned the carbs (although it looks like they were never removed". He also checked Compression all 4 were in the high 120s low 130s. I gave him a box of brand new parts including new CDI Voltage Regulator/Rectifier, new CDI stator, two carb kits, two new CDI coils & wires, and one new power pack. He didn't touch any of my new parts - said they werent needed and gave them all back to me when i picked up the boat.

Well get the boat back. Ran like crap still! Maybe only slightly better. Terrible idle, stalling, shaking under load, but better wide open throttle.

I took the boat up to my cabin and enjoyed it for a week. Ran generally poorly unless i was running Higher up in the throttle (boat ran 44mph gps with 17 pitch prop) . It would not cruise at 3000 rpm. Of particular concern i had that week was that i tried to slalom ski behind it and it had a terrible time pulling me out of the hole. Not good! (I also have another boat i keep at a water ski park on the fraser river near my house - its a tournament inboard ski boat with a 383 stroker - so i know how a boat should pull! - i din't expect the little 15' sangster to pull the same but i knew the boat should barefoot ski and slalom ski fine as i had a similar rig when i was younger)..... Back to the drawing board with the 110.

Back in town:

1) I performaded linc and sync to the best of my ability. One major change i made was having the carbs throttle cam activate later after it advanced considerably at partial throttle. I tested after this change and noticed the power out of the hole had improved. But the idle was still terrible and the motor shook fairly hard betweeen 2000 and 3000 rpm.

2) One week later I Cleaned and semi rebuilt the carbs. They had the plastic float bowls. And they didn't seal very well. I used a bit of high tack gasket sealant when re assembling them. Took it for a test on the river. Still the same. Shake at idle, shake 2000 to 3000 under load. WOT was "ok". But just ok. It seemed to be using a lot of gas.

3) The next Week I Changed out the regulator / rectifier to a new CDI one (due to tach not working reliably). And changed the Stator to a new CDI 35amp unit (torque to 105 ft pds - once after initial install - and once after running). Changed plugs to the champions (QL82C i beleive - gapped at 30). Checked for spark with my timining light. All good. Checked idle timing 4 to 5 degree. All good. I however didn't do the Joe Reeves WOT timing prodecure. Took the boat out for a test still the same! Shaking at idle, Shaking at 2000 to 3000, ok WOT 5200rpm. But smelled like fuel!

4) Following week. If you've been reeding carefully, do you remember the parts i pulled off my older V4 motor that came with the boat? I had drained the old and and freshly rebuilt metal float bowl carbs that were on the old motor, and had them stored in my garage in ziploc bags. I swapped the plastic float bowl carbs out, and swapped in the older metal bowl carbs. I also carefully looked at the visible idle orrifices and they were the same size (34). Not sure if the plastic float bowl carbs were original to the motor. But the metal float bowl carbs seemed dry after running it in my driveway in a tub of water. There was bunch of older two stroke oil and fuel laying on the bottom of the motor housing under the carb area. I cleaned this up with some brake clean. and monitored the area for leaks with the engine idling in a tub. It idled much better. 900 rpm in the rubbermaid tub. No drips from the carbs. all was clean. I took it for a test on the river the next day..... Voila! Started nice, good Idle, good idle in gear at 650 rpm, and good transition to load! Boat flew out of the hole at half throttle and was smooth! I was surprised. Kept testing.. Slow planed at 2500rpm easy and smooooth. 3000 rpm cruise - no problem. 4000 running beautifully. WOT and trimmed out a bit 5600 rpm and 45 mph. The newer plastic bol carbs were garbage. The older metal bow carbs are awesome. Done.

I'm writting you all this to give a rare success story in this venue. I've read a ton of posts and enjoyed them thouroughly. Thanks Joe Reeves, and Recerone if your still around. A lot of help from you and you didn't even know it. It's too bad about all the posts from others that went cold with no fix - those are dissapointing. I'm no expert here but have learned a few things. I threw new parts at it that it may not have needed - but there is nothing wrong with pulling out a 35 year old stator and replacing it with a brand new one! Test with every change you make. And the plastic float bowl carbs are very problematic. Eve after i sealed them up ok. Still ran like garbage. The all metal carbs were the ticket. And by the way i don't have a factory manual.

Happy wrenching, and happy boating.

 

[saltchuckmatt]

In Spring 2022 i bought an old 15.5' junk boat (1971 Sangster )with a V4 evinrude on the back. I bought it to make a budget ski boat for my cabin on the ocean, on the sunshine coast of British Columbia Canada. I saved this thing from years of sitting in a storage yard. Boat floor and Transom were awesome though. I spent very little on the rig ($1500).

I had a hard time getting it running and thought it just doesnt sound right and decided to give up on the motor and look for another motor. All i did on that motor was carefully rebuilt the carbs (metal float bowls) after watching a "Brandon's Garage" episode on youtube. Still it didn't idle right and didn't want the headache. The motor looked like crap and was spray painted all black. I beleive it was a 100hp model. I wanted another V4 two stroke so i located one nearby at a used outboard shop. It was a very clean 1987 110 Evinrude with the bubble back. I stripped all the ignition, carbs, pumps, leg, and whatever else looked useful off the old motor - for spare parts on my newr motor.

Well the Newer "old" outboard started in driveway fine, but didn't run so hot out on the river where i was testing it. Shook at idle, stalled occasionally, surged at WOT, tach intermittent, and had a terrible shake when applying throttle past 2000 RPM.

Sent it back to shop where i bought it and shop owner said it was running fine, but he replaced the fuel pump with another used one (said it was questionable), replaced some of the reed assembles (said one looke a bit open), and "cleaned the carbs (although it looks like they were never removed". He also checked Compression all 4 were in the high 120s low 130s. I gave him a box of brand new parts including new CDI Voltage Regulator/Rectifier, new CDI stator, two carb kits, two new CDI coils & wires, and one new power pack. He didn't touch any of my new parts - said they werent needed and gave them all back to me when i picked up the boat.

Well get the boat back. Ran like crap still! Maybe only slightly better. Terrible idle, stalling, shaking under load, but better wide open throttle.

I took the boat up to my cabin and enjoyed it for a week. Ran generally poorly unless i was running Higher up in the throttle (boat ran 44mph gps with 17 pitch prop) . It would not cruise at 3000 rpm. Of particular concern i had that week was that i tried to slalom ski behind it and it had a terrible time pulling me out of the hole. Not good! (I also have another boat i keep at a water ski park on the fraser river near my house - its a tournament inboard ski boat with a 383 stroker - so i know how a boat should pull! - i din't expect the little 15' sangster to pull the same but i knew the boat should barefoot ski and slalom ski fine as i had a similar rig when i was younger)..... Back to the drawing board with the 110.

Back in town:

1) I performaded linc and sync to the best of my ability. One major change i made was having the carbs throttle cam activate later after it advanced considerably at partial throttle. I tested after this change and noticed the power out of the hole had improved. But the idle was still terrible and the motor shook fairly hard betweeen 2000 and 3000 rpm.

2) One week later I Cleaned and semi rebuilt the carbs. They had the plastic float bowls. And they didn't seal very well. I used a bit of high tack gasket sealant when re assembling them. Took it for a test on the river. Still the same. Shake at idle, shake 2000 to 3000 under load. WOT was "ok". But just ok. It seemed to be using a lot of gas.

3) The next Week I Changed out the regulator / rectifier to a new CDI one (due to tach not working reliably). And changed the Stator to a new CDI 35amp unit (torque to 105 ft pds - once after initial install - and once after running). Changed plugs to the champions (QL82C i beleive - gapped at 30). Checked for spark with my timining light. All good. Checked idle timing 4 to 5 degree. All good. I however didn't do the Joe Reeves WOT timing prodecure. Took the boat out for a test still the same! Shaking at idle, Shaking at 2000 to 3000, ok WOT 5200rpm. But smelled like fuel!

4) Following week. If you've been reeding carefully, do you remember the parts i pulled off my older V4 motor that came with the boat? I had drained the old and and freshly rebuilt metal float bowl carbs that were on the old motor, and had them stored in my garage in ziploc bags. I swapped the plastic float bowl carbs out, and swapped in the older metal bowl carbs. I also carefully looked at the visible idle orrifices and they were the same size (34). Not sure if the plastic float bowl carbs were original to the motor. But the metal float bowl carbs seemed dry after running it in my driveway in a tub of water. There was bunch of older two stroke oil and fuel laying on the bottom of the motor housing under the carb area. I cleaned this up with some brake clean. and monitored the area for leaks with the engine idling in a tub. It idled much better. 900 rpm in the rubbermaid tub. No drips from the carbs. all was clean. I took it for a test on the river the next day..... Voila! Started nice, good Idle, good idle in gear at 650 rpm, and good transition to load! Boat flew out of the hole at half throttle and was smooth! I was surprised. Kept testing.. Slow planed at 2500rpm easy and smooooth. 3000 rpm cruise - no problem. 4000 running beautifully. WOT and trimmed out a bit 5600 rpm and 45 mph. The newer plastic bol carbs were garbage. The older metal bow carbs are awesome. Done.

I'm writting you all this to give a rare success story in this venue. I've read a ton of posts and enjoyed them thouroughly. Thanks Joe Reeves, and Recerone if your still around. A lot of help from you and you didn't even know it. It's too bad about all the posts from others that went cold with no fix - those are dissapointing. I'm no expert here but have learned a few things. I threw new parts at it that it may not have needed - but there is nothing wrong with pulling out a 35 year old stator and replacing it with a brand new one! Test with every change you make. And the plastic float bowl carbs are very problematic. Eve after i sealed them up ok. Still ran like garbage. The all metal carbs were the ticket. And by the way i don't have a factory manual.

Happy wrenching, and happy boating.

Awesome, it always rewarding when when you take a guess and it works! Not sure I would go back to the boat mechanic guy anymore.

 

[Dave1027]

In Spring 2022 i bought an old 15.5' junk boat (1971 Sangster )with a V4 evinrude on the back. I bought it to make a budget ski boat for my cabin on the ocean, on the sunshine coast of British Columbia Canada. I saved this thing from years of sitting in a storage yard. Boat floor and Transom were awesome though. I spent very little on the rig ($1500).

I had a hard time getting it running and thought it just doesnt sound right and decided to give up on the motor and look for another motor. All i did on that motor was carefully rebuilt the carbs (metal float bowls) after watching a "Brandon's Garage" episode on youtube. Still it didn't idle right and didn't want the headache. The motor looked like crap and was spray painted all black. I beleive it was a 100hp model. I wanted another V4 two stroke so i located one nearby at a used outboard shop. It was a very clean 1987 110 Evinrude with the bubble back. I stripped all the ignition, carbs, pumps, leg, and whatever else looked useful off the old motor - for spare parts on my newr motor.

Well the Newer "old" outboard started in driveway fine, but didn't run so hot out on the river where i was testing it. Shook at idle, stalled occasionally, surged at WOT, tach intermittent, and had a terrible shake when applying throttle past 2000 RPM.

Sent it back to shop where i bought it and shop owner said it was running fine, but he replaced the fuel pump with another used one (said it was questionable), replaced some of the reed assembles (said one looke a bit open), and "cleaned the carbs (although it looks like they were never removed". He also checked Compression all 4 were in the high 120s low 130s. I gave him a box of brand new parts including new CDI Voltage Regulator/Rectifier, new CDI stator, two carb kits, two new CDI coils & wires, and one new power pack. He didn't touch any of my new parts - said they werent needed and gave them all back to me when i picked up the boat.

Well get the boat back. Ran like crap still! Maybe only slightly better. Terrible idle, stalling, shaking under load, but better wide open throttle.

I took the boat up to my cabin and enjoyed it for a week. Ran generally poorly unless i was running Higher up in the throttle (boat ran 44mph gps with 17 pitch prop) . It would not cruise at 3000 rpm. Of particular concern i had that week was that i tried to slalom ski behind it and it had a terrible time pulling me out of the hole. Not good! (I also have another boat i keep at a water ski park on the fraser river near my house - its a tournament inboard ski boat with a 383 stroker - so i know how a boat should pull! - i din't expect the little 15' sangster to pull the same but i knew the boat should barefoot ski and slalom ski fine as i had a similar rig when i was younger)..... Back to the drawing board with the 110.

Back in town:

1) I performaded linc and sync to the best of my ability. One major change i made was having the carbs throttle cam activate later after it advanced considerably at partial throttle. I tested after this change and noticed the power out of the hole had improved. But the idle was still terrible and the motor shook fairly hard betweeen 2000 and 3000 rpm.

2) One week later I Cleaned and semi rebuilt the carbs. They had the plastic float bowls. And they didn't seal very well. I used a bit of high tack gasket sealant when re assembling them. Took it for a test on the river. Still the same. Shake at idle, shake 2000 to 3000 under load. WOT was "ok". But just ok. It seemed to be using a lot of gas.

3) The next Week I Changed out the regulator / rectifier to a new CDI one (due to tach not working reliably). And changed the Stator to a new CDI 35amp unit (torque to 105 ft pds - once after initial install - and once after running). Changed plugs to the champions (QL82C i beleive - gapped at 30). Checked for spark with my timining light. All good. Checked idle timing 4 to 5 degree. All good. I however didn't do the Joe Reeves WOT timing prodecure. Took the boat out for a test still the same! Shaking at idle, Shaking at 2000 to 3000, ok WOT 5200rpm. But smelled like fuel!

4) Following week. If you've been reeding carefully, do you remember the parts i pulled off my older V4 motor that came with the boat? I had drained the old and and freshly rebuilt metal float bowl carbs that were on the old motor, and had them stored in my garage in ziploc bags. I swapped the plastic float bowl carbs out, and swapped in the older metal bowl carbs. I also carefully looked at the visible idle orrifices and they were the same size (34). Not sure if the plastic float bowl carbs were original to the motor. But the metal float bowl carbs seemed dry after running it in my driveway in a tub of water. There was bunch of older two stroke oil and fuel laying on the bottom of the motor housing under the carb area. I cleaned this up with some brake clean. and monitored the area for leaks with the engine idling in a tub. It idled much better. 900 rpm in the rubbermaid tub. No drips from the carbs. all was clean. I took it for a test on the river the next day..... Voila! Started nice, good Idle, good idle in gear at 650 rpm, and good transition to load! Boat flew out of the hole at half throttle and was smooth! I was surprised. Kept testing.. Slow planed at 2500rpm easy and smooooth. 3000 rpm cruise - no problem. 4000 running beautifully. WOT and trimmed out a bit 5600 rpm and 45 mph. The newer plastic bol carbs were garbage. The older metal bow carbs are awesome. Done.

I'm writting you all this to give a rare success story in this venue. I've read a ton of posts and enjoyed them thouroughly. Thanks Joe Reeves, and Recerone if your still around. A lot of help from you and you didn't even know it. It's too bad about all the posts from others that went cold with no fix - those are dissapointing. I'm no expert here but have learned a few things. I threw new parts at it that it may not have needed - but there is nothing wrong with pulling out a 35 year old stator and replacing it with a brand new one! Test with every change you make. And the plastic float bowl carbs are very problematic. Eve after i sealed them up ok. Still ran like garbage. The all metal carbs were the ticket. And by the way i don't have a factory manual.

Happy wrenching, and happy boating.

I enjoyed ready your story. I also respect your courage to think outside the box and try a non-standard carb link timing change. Many forum readers might flame you for that. I cannot count how many times I have done that sort of thing myself and most of the time kept quiet about it. My methods may not always be by the book but my results often speak for themselves.

About that non-standard carb link timing change, did you try undoing it after you discovered it was the carbs causing the issue?

BTW, I'm running custom jetted 115 carbs on my 100, but don't tell anybody

 

[whiterocksrt8]

About that non-standard carb link timing change, did you try undoing it after you discovered it was the carbs causing the issue?

Thanks! I had to re sync after the carb change but left the top carburetor throttle cam roller about 1/4 inch away from the advance cam (not touching). When on the helm control in the water it advances after putting it in forward gear and continues to advance without carb throttle until approxiately 1500+ rpm. After this the throttle butterfly's begin to open. I read this in a post that the 3 cylinder and 4 cyclinder 2 stroke Evinrudes like a little advance before carbs begin to open. Seemed to improve the holeshot. Otherwise everything else is setup dead center (idle advance, eccentric screw on timing tree, and the full advance tab (the tab was specific to 1986 and 1987 models) is set in the middle hole - never changed this).

 

[tphoyt]

As they say there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Glad everything worked out out for. Time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

 

[Dave1027]

I tried your 1/4 inch gap on the throttle cam mod on my merc. It seemed that cold starting had improved. I barely touched the key and it fired up. Acted more like a warm start. It also seems like throttle response through the lower rpm range may be smoother. I'll continue testing to be sure.

 

[whiterocksrt8]

I tried your 1/4 inch gap on the throttle cam mod on my merc. It seemed that cold starting had improved. I barely touched the key and it fired up. Acted more like a warm start. It also seems like throttle response through the lower rpm range may be smoother. I'll continue testing to be sure.

Thats awesome to hear. It seemed to make sense to me.

I checked over my spark plugs after a few days of fairly hard running. Everything looks ok - i think!? (i pulled the plugs after a good run with about a 2 minute slow troll back to my dock afterward - which may explain why they are slightly wet ). Note that these spark plugs aren't very new and were very black and oily before my round of testing and tuning a month or so ago.. (cylinder 2, 4, 1, 3 fro left to right)