big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

Hambone187

Cadet
Joined
May 10, 2012
Messages
7
i have a 1963 evinrude big twin 40 hp. the motor ran fine a month ago. i had to replace the shifter rod a few weeks ago. so i dropped the mid section from the powerhead, replace the part and put it back together. put it on the water a week later. and it will not throttle up in forward gear. it throttles up fine in neutral. any help would be greatly appreciated. iam not looking to spend a bunch of money on this motor, so iam hoping i can do this my self
 

Daviet

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
8,958
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

Running on both cylinders?
Spark and compression OK on both cylinders?
 

Hambone187

Cadet
Joined
May 10, 2012
Messages
7
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

i know it has spark in both cylinders, i havent done a compression test. but it seem fine in neutral
 

Hambone187

Cadet
Joined
May 10, 2012
Messages
7
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

i will get a compression guage here today and get back to you
 

HighTrim

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
10,486
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

Are you saying that it will mechanically/physically not throttle up in gear....

OR that is just sputters and you have no power?
 

Hambone187

Cadet
Joined
May 10, 2012
Messages
7
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

i had a mechanic look at it and he couldnt figure it out. when its on the water it runs at 1/4 its normal speed. sometimes it kicks in for a second or 2 and then goes back to running slow. any thoughts?
 

Hambone187

Cadet
Joined
May 10, 2012
Messages
7
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

i did a compression test. both cylinders are at about 120
 

Bigkat650

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Feb 3, 2010
Messages
127
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

Sounds like a poor spark in 1 cylinder. If you are sure its not the plugs or the wires, it could be a bad coil. Might have a bad coil that is sending a real weak signal to one of the spark plugs. You can check them visually, they are under the fly wheel--if they look old, weathered or cracked, they may need to be replaced.
 

Hambone187

Cadet
Joined
May 10, 2012
Messages
7
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

thanks that will be my next plan of attack
 

matth121

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 19, 2011
Messages
275
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

i had a similar issue with a new to me motor- ran great in the barrel, nothing on the water. for me it turned out to be my carb- high speed needle was out of adjustment. Anychance it might have gotten moved while you were servicing it? all i had to do was gently seat it, back it out 3/4 of a turn, then while in gear at WOT slowly adjust back in until revs start to drop, then back out 1/8th turn. Running great now. Might not be your problem but worth a look. i'd mark its position and then turn it in and count- if you get one full turn- it's too far out, if you find it's set correctly, just back it off until you reach your mark, no harm done. Good luck
 

matth121

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 19, 2011
Messages
275
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

also, just as an FYI- everything thats been suggested to you was also suggested to me in a thread i started- http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=556633
everything suggested checked out ok so it lead to the carb. Some pics of the carb if it helps, not sure yours is the same but probably is
 

Hambone187

Cadet
Joined
May 10, 2012
Messages
7
Re: big twin will not throttle up in forward.help

i replaced the coils and the condensers and the plug wires and it works much better. not sure if its running at 100% yet but its runni9ng 2 or 3 times faster than it was. thanks so much for all your help.
 
Top