1997 Evinrude 150 ocean pro starting problems

Basin74

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Aug 1, 2014
Messages
30
I am having problems starting my outboard, it turns over fine and starts up for a second or two then dies right out, I changed the plugs fuel filter, fuel pump, new battery, and key starter. The motor was running fine on the lake for about a hour I shifted in to neutral turned off the key and it never started again, I have good fire on the plugs and like I said it runs fine for a sec or two then kills right away, any ideas or help would be appreciated.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,635
Your post is a bit short on info. Does it start when cold, but not warm? Did it start the next day? Did you try advancing the throttle when you went to restart it? Did you try choking it when you went to restart it?
 

Basin74

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Aug 1, 2014
Messages
30
Before I bought the boat I checked the compression all were right at 115#, I started it up with some muffs the same day, primed up the ball till it was hard and pressed the key in and it fired right up after the 2nd turn, the next day I met with the guy I bought it from to go for a test ride and once again it fired right up after 1 or 2 turns we ran about 5 miles round trip at different RPM"S stopping and going slow idle and wide open and it ran great and idled fine at the dock, now here is where I don't know what happened to the motor. I bought the boat went home and the next morning loaded up the wife and kids to go tubing on the lake stopped and put 30 gallons of ethanol free gas (87 octane) topped off the oil tank went to the launch primed the ball till it was hard preceded to start the motor just like the days before but it took a few minutes I advanced the throttle a little and it finally fired up and idled fine, started going out and got the boat on step and ran for about 5 minutes and the no oil alarm came on, I shut down the motor right away and checked the oil tank and the primer bulb which was rock hard, pulled the cover and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary
 

Basin74

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Aug 1, 2014
Messages
30
I restarted the motor and the alarm cleared right away I ran the boat another hour or so pulling the tube at different RPM'S in and out of neutral turning the motor off and on and it always fired right back up with a touch of the key. Decided to have a lunch break on the lake killed the motor and drifted for awhile 30-45 minutes, tried restarting till I killed both battery's 2-3 hour process tried choking, advancing throttle, check the fuel for water, let it sit for 20 minutes tried without choking nothing it would start only for a second or two then kill, no alarms or anything lit up on the panel had to get towed in, went home and changed all the items I listed above and would only run for a couple seconds, smoked real bad when it did this and even back fired a few times even changed the shift interrupter and still having the same issue, if you have any ideas please let me know or any questions I will be glad to answer for you
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,635
Well, I have some suggestions for you. First of all, the "No Oil" alarm means that the VRO (Actually OMS) Pump is not seeing oil at the motor. Keep an eye on it. If it happens again, premix all the fuel in your tank (or use an external tank), until you get it sorted out. The "low Oil" alarm is when the oil tank is low.

Secondly, is it possible you wired the ign switch incorrectly? Your motor will supply +12VDC to the ign system when cranking. After you release the ign key and it goes to the run position, the motor runs on the stator only. I would disconnect the black/yellow wire at the ign switch and retest.

Let us know if that makes any difference.
 

Basin74

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Aug 1, 2014
Messages
30
I bypassed the oil injection and went to a external tank like you suggested and disconnected the black/yellow wire at the ignition, problem is still the same, upon further investigation I noticed I am losing fire on the plugs as soon as the motor starts up causing it to kill and backfire, so now I can rule out fuel problems and find out what is killing fire to the plugs when it starts up any suggestions?
 

Saltlife8268

Cadet
Joined
Jul 27, 2014
Messages
7
I have a 92 johnson 120 and I have the exact same issue. Been trying to figure it out for weeks now. Very frustrating!!!
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,635
OK, I still think you should rule out the ign system. Can you disconnect the shift assist switch? That will (hopefully) help us to isolate the issue to the wiring. I would recommend you trace the black/yellow and black/orange wires around the engine. These are both grounded to kill the spark.
 

Basin74

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Aug 1, 2014
Messages
30
Have the switch on order, if the shift assist switch is bad will it cause it to not start at all and kill the fire to the plugs?
 

Basin74

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Aug 1, 2014
Messages
30
Just found out the one I swapped out was a used one from the mechanic thought the price was low for buying it.
 
Last edited:

joju0339

Recruit
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Messages
1
I had the same kind of problem about two years ago. I rebuilt the carbs and replaced a few other things with no results. One thing that you mentioned and caught my attention is removing the motor cover. Why you ask, when I removed and replaced mine I broke one of the plastic throtle linkage on the top of the motor. Finally noticed it broken and replaced it . 10 dollar piece of plastic caused a whole lot of trouble. Check the linkage and I hope you find the problem.
 
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