5.5 evinrude no start

mrk1980m1

Cadet
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Messages
22
I just recently aquired a 1964 evinrude fisherman 5.5 horse power engine that was not running. The first thing I did was rebuild the carb but I just recently noticed the main jet in the bottom of the carb was missing. could this cause a no start condition? I have been putting fuel mixture in a spray bottle and spraying a stream into the carb. When I do this is takes a couple of tugs on the rope then it will hit about 4 or 5 times and die until I guess it burns all the fuel out, and the I have to spray it again. where can i find a main jet. oh yeah, this is the first outboard engine I have ever messed with, but I've been a mechanic all of my life, but this thing is driving me nuts. The carb was disassembled when i received the engine, so i'm just going on my prior knowledge of small engines to help me along. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I also thought the reed valves may be burnt but they weren't, but they stuck out just a little off the plate so i turned them over and they are a little closer to the plate now. Will this have a negative effect on the engine??
 

Chinewalker

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Aug 19, 2001
Messages
8,902
Re: 5.5 evinrude no start

Hi '64,<br /> Couple of things - not sure exactly what you mean by the main jet missing... are you missing the high speed needle valve? If that was the case, then gas would be pouring out of your carb. I'm pretty sure they hadn't yet gone to fixed jet by 1964.<br /> Also, there should be a thick round gasket between the carb bowl's center standpipe and the main jet of the carb body. It's often overlooked, particularly if you received the carb in pieces.<br /> I generally do not flip reed valves and have found that a few thousandths clearance doesn't seem to hurt anything. I've been told that flipped reed valves are more prone to breakage due to the reversed stresses on the spring steel. Don't know if it's true or not, but it makes sense to me...<br /><br />- Scott
 

mrk1980m1

Cadet
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Messages
22
Re: 5.5 evinrude no start

Hello again, Tom that is where I got my information from and I noticed after looking at your pic that my I guess it would be the high speed jet, was missing, and yes mine has the fixed jet I'm assuming, because there is a plug with a screwdriver slot where the high speed needle would protrude.And also there is no hole in the front part of the cover for this needle or a control to protrude. Another question, would the high speed jet be in the carb bowl or in the standpipe of the main body? I got a chance to look at another engine of the same era as mine and noticed that i am missing the fuel pump. Would this cause the engine to not start or would the bowl just run out of fuel after a little bit?? Also i did install the round thick gasket between the fuel bowl and main body of the carb.
 

TTravis

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Dec 17, 2004
Messages
120
Re: 5.5 evinrude no start

Around 1964 or so, OMC started coming out with fixed high speed jets similar to the 3 HP on my site. These have have a screw plug that you screw in but there is no adjustment and no know to protrude through the front of your cover. If you give me your e-mail address, I will scan and send you an exploded drawing from my Clymer manuel, or you can check one of these out from your local library. I don't have this particular drawing on my site because I do not have permission to put it there.<br /><br />Here is a quote from their instructions:<br /><br />Disassemby step 3: If carburetor is fitted with only one needle valve, remove the screw plug and washer from the float chamber. Drain the fuel from the chamber into a suitable container and remove the orifice with a fixed jet driver (part No. 379664) or equivalent tool. Don't confuse this with the standpipe.<br /><br />For me the "equivalent" tool was a wide blade screwdriver!<br /><br />Whether or not you have a fuel pump is a different matter. If you have the older dual line pressure tank, your motor well not have a fuel pump. The tank gets its pressure from the crankcase. About that time Evinrude offered upgrades to single line / fuel pumps. Your motor may be easily adaptable to the single line setup. Read the articles (mine plus 2 others) about pressure tanks on my site. These articles are interesting whether you want to change to single line, or if you sinply want to understand how your double line works. I wound up mounting a remote fuel pump on mine and switching to a single line tank.
 

mrk1980m1

Cadet
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Messages
22
Re: 5.5 evinrude no start

Hello again, Tom.<br /><br /><br />My e-mail address is mrk1980m1@yahoo.com<br /><br />My engine has only one line, and on the side of the block there is a mounting boss and a hole where the fuel pump would mount, but when i got it there was nothing there. Also on the side of the block there are two fittings whick i am assuming are vacuum fittings of some sort and i don't know what should attach to them any info would be greatly appreciated.
 

TTravis

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Dec 17, 2004
Messages
120
Re: 5.5 evinrude no start

I'll scan some stuff and send it to you when I get home from work tonight.
 
Top