1988 Evinrude Idle Problems

[Mike in Tac]

I have a 1988 25 hp Evinrude outboard on a 14' Livingston - I got both off of craigslist. Today, I took it out on the salt water with my kids for the first time and had a blast. The motor worked great while we were out and about - after months of fiddling with it on my part, and then finally taking it to a mechanic to actually get it fixed in February.

On of the problems that I had previously was that after starting up the motor and letting it idle for a minute or two and warm up, I would gently lower the idle lever (so I could put the motor in gear), and the darn thing would stall on me EVERY TIME. It was ridiculous, and really frustating - because otherwise, everything seemed fine. I returned to the mechanic, and he tinkered with some screw near the top of the motor to set things right - and at no charge.

Like I said before, the motor worked great for me on the water today. However, when I brought the boat home and proceeded to flush the motor with fresh water, guess what happened? Everytime I tried to go from idle to in-gear the darn thing would stall. Not to mention, when the motor was idling, it seemed to be having a tough time - it would chug along and then every 10-20 seconds it would lose it's rythm and seem to "cough" - a couple of times this led to stalls when I still had the idle lever raised.

Does anyone have any advice? Is this an easy fix? The motor cost me $900 a year ago, and I've already dumped another $600 into it via a few trips to the mechanic and getting "new" (used) controls.

I'd like to avoid going back to the mechanic with my tail between my legs if I can avoid it.

Thanks a lot for looking,
MIT

 

[soup1279]

Re: 1988 Evinrude Idle Problems

I'm having pretty much the same issues with my 73 65HP Johnson. I can keep it running with the "cold start" lever in the up position but when I drop it down in order to change gears it will die every time. Sometimes it takes a little longer than others to die but it still stalls out. I ordered the rebuild kits for the carbs in hopes that helps solve the issue once they are done properly and adjusted properly.

If you solve your problem before I solve mine post back here maybe we can figure this out with more than one person trying?

 

[Mike in Tac]

Re: 1988 Evinrude Idle Problems

I'm having pretty much the same issues with my 73 65HP Johnson. I can keep it running with the "cold start" lever in the up position but when I drop it down in order to change gears it will die every time. Sometimes it takes a little longer than others to die but it still stalls out. I ordered the rebuild kits for the carbs in hopes that helps solve the issue once they are done properly and adjusted properly.

If you solve your problem before I solve mine post back here maybe we can figure this out with more than one person trying?

I figured out that on my motor, the fuel pump had rattled loose and fallen off of the motor itself - I guess at a high rev enough gas was getting into the motor, but when I turned things down not enough could make it in. Anyway, that seems to have been the problem with mine - good luck with yours! I hope it doesn't cost too much $$ and time....

MIT

 

[soup1279]

Re: 1988 Evinrude Idle Problems

Thanks. I think I've figured out some of the issues. When the previous owner rebuilt the carbs he never adjusted the floats properly as well as a few other things. I'm picking up a new high speed orifice tomorrow as the previous owner striped it pretty bad. When I get that I'll have the last carb rebuilt and the motor will be ready to be test run..... fingers crossed it works!

 

[soup1279]

Re: 1988 Evinrude Idle Problems

Seems like I have it figured out. Rebuilt all three carbs and it starts up now right away with the turn of the key. it might need a little tweaking as far as idle goes but it starts and runs with out fail now.