Evinrude fisherman questions...

[scipper77]

I have a 1961 evinrude fisherman, 5.5 HP. The model number is 5522. I have established in another thread that this motor runs at a 24:1 mix. I have other questions about my first outboard that I hope you can all help out with.

How do you change the impeller? How often should this be done?

What kind of heal lube do I need?

How often do o need to decarb? How do I know if it needs to be decarbed?

 

[lindy46]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

The impeller sits in the water pump housing on top of the lower unit. You have to remove the lower unit, and on that motor, you have to pull the powerhead to get to the shift rod disconnect.

"Heal Lube"? Do you mean lower unit gear lube? If so, 80-90wt. Marine gear lube, available at any Johnnyrude dealer or at Walmart.

If you have decent compression and it runs good, you probably don't need a full decarb. Just mix Seafoam with your gas - 2 ounces per gallon.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

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The impeller sits in the water pump housing on top of the lower unit. You have to remove the lower unit, and on that motor, you have to pull the powerhead to get to the shift rod disconnect.

"Heal Lube"? Do you mean lower unit gear lube? If so, 80-90wt. Marine gear lube, available at any Johnnyrude dealer or at Walmart.

If you have decent compression and it runs good, you probably don't need a full decarb. Just mix Seafoam with your gas - 2 ounces per gallon.

Yeah sorry about heal lube. I typed this out on my phone and it has an outocorrect feature that sometimes changes a mistyped word to some random guess as to what the word should be. I tried to type gear lube.

That procedure for changing the impeller sounds like a real pain in the kiester. I am so new to outboard. What exactly is the power head. I thought it was the motor side of the outboard bit apparently there is more to it than that.

 

[lindy46]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

See this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVOedhzPP7M
Procedure for removing the lower unit on a 5.5hp Johnnyrude.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

The impeller sits in the water pump housing on top of the lower unit. You have to remove the lower unit, and on that motor, you have to pull the powerhead to get to the shift rod disconnect.

"Heal Lube"? Do you mean lower unit gear lube? If so, 80-90wt. Marine gear lube, available at any Johnnyrude dealer or at Walmart.

If you have decent compression and it runs good, you probably don't need a full decarb. Just mix Seafoam with your gas - 2 ounces per gallon.

Thank you for a very helpful post.

I just went to Walmart and picked up 2 stroke oil (marine tcw3) sea foam, red stabil, and the lower unit gear lube. I actually looked up this thread from my phone in Walmart to make sure the outboard gear lube they had was the same as was suggested here.

When I drained the old lube out the good news was there was no water or metal shavings. The bad news is the old lube was black as tar and some of it came out clumpy. I have never seen lube this bad in anything ever in my life. I'm hoping it was just because the lube was likely 20 years old. This motor spent a lot of time in my wife's uncles garage. My brother in law ran it a few times over the last couple of seasons but he just started it up the way it was from storage.

So tomorrow I hope to start it up. I just need to mix 3 gallons of gas with 16 oz. 2 stroke oil and 6 oz. seafoam. I will watch for flow by eye as I have not even thought about changing the impeller yet.

Do you guys think I should add marine formula stabil as well? I feel like this is additive overload. I hate using additives but the darn ethanol forces me to. Even the sea foam I think is overkill. I think I'd rather just decarb and run without it.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

Yep, that motor runs 24:1 mix. All years prior run 16:1.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

I ran the motor today (yesterday). It looks like its not pumping water. I ran it for 5 minutes without water in a bucket. I hope I didn't do any permanent damage. The motor was very hot when I realized it was not pumping.

Well I am going to have to learn how to replace the water pump for this motor or buy another outboard for my pond hopper.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

How should I evaluate the engine to see if the overheated did any damage?

Engine was running when I shut it down so I'm hoping all is well. I like that its old iron.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

Just removed the power head and lower unit. No manual, real cowboy style. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me in the rear. The job was surprisingly simple.

Impeller is intact. I probably had the lower so deep in the bucket that I could not see the telltale. I'm guessing I didn't really overheat, I just got scared when I saw all the smoke.

Now I just need a lower unit seal kit, impeller kit, the gasket that goes at the base of the power head, and all new fuel lines.

Carb rebuild may be on my future as well.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

You want the water level to the lower mounts when you run it. That is a safe level above the water pump. On that motor, there is a thermostat, so don't get alarmed, if you don't see water pumping immediately. One way to tell if your water pump is working, is just remove the thermostat housing and pull the thermostat out. Once you start it up, water should gush out there.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

Marine Stabil is actually a much better deal than the regular red stuff. Thee marine version is concentrated and treats a lot more gas than the regular.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

I had the lower unit pressure tested and it held pressure. Today I bought new fuel lines and reassembled with new impeller and gasket under the powerhead. I didn't quite get it all back together as I had to go to work. I still need to trim the new fuel lines to rout them neater. Also I am not sure of the correct position for the low speed jet's attachment to the knob. I plan on disconnecting the knob when I run it (uses a lever system to turn the jet) and adjust the jet from under the cowl. Once it is set I don't really care where the knob points.

Will it hurt anything if I run in neutral with no gear lube in the lower for the initial start up?? I guess this doesn't matter because if I have to take it back apart due to assembly error I will not need to drain the lower.

Also, is there any merit to pouring a little seafoam in the spark plug holes and letting it sit overnight??

There was a good amount of carbon in the powerhead/upper unit connection. I want to get the motor running before I start decarbing or messing with the carb. I don't see any harm in trying to get a head start on breaking up the crud (if any) in the combustion area.

 

[AlTn]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

never a good idea to run the l/u w/o lube..Seafoam over night..sure...if you have Deep Creep in your area it takes some of the hassle out of getting it into the sparkplug holes

 

[AlTn]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

bad info on my part....Deep Creep is NOT Seafoam in an aerosol form....use Sea Foam Spray instead for the carbon removal

 

[scipper77]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

My plan was to turn the motor on its side and pour some down the holes. Pull the rope to push that around and out. Next pour more in the plug holes and let sit over night. Tomorrow I will spin motor without plugs to get it out and then try to start the motor.

I can not wait to get this motor started.

 

[lindy46]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

Sounds like a plan!

 

[scipper77]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

I haven't gotten back to the motor to get it started yet but on to my next question (1961 5.5 hp Evinrude Fisherman Model 5522).....

I have a dwell meter and timing light I use for my I/O. Can I set dwell then the timing on my Evinrude the same way as with the I/O??

If so what is the correct setting for the dwell and timing?

And further more if I have my dwell meter attached I can set the idle rpm's. What should that be?

I know I'm getting ahead of myself here but I'm having more fun tinkering with this motor than I will have using it. I want to have the motor running like new just for the satisfaction of knowing I took a well preserved mess and brought it back to glory.

You guys are the best. I've never spent any time in the outboard forums before but I must say that I really like the vibe and level of help I am getting. I can tell that the little things I am doing many here can do in there sleep, and I'm sure I'm asking questions that have been asked 100 times before. Even as such, I have not seen a hint of attitude. The I/O forums are a little more cut throat when you don't know what you are doing.

 

[AlTn]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

google..bringing a 1956 15 hp. johnson back to life...parts 4 and 5 deal with ignition setting....if you want to delve further look up timing fixtures and setting the timing with a continuity check...idle is in gear at 600-700 rpm <that's approximate as I don't know the factory recommendations>

 

[scipper77]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

google..bringing a 1956 15 hp. johnson back to life...parts 4 and 5 deal with ignition setting....if you want to delve further look up timing fixtures and setting the timing with a continuity check...idle is in gear at 600-700 rpm <that's approximate as I don't know the factory recommendations>

Awesome link! It looks like this pretty much kills all of my questions. I only read through some of it though so we'll see. First thing I notice is that I may need a flywheel puller. I have a feeling that my coils are in good condition however because my wires look like new. Someone has been in there before.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Evinrude fisherman questions...

I replaced all of the rubber lines today, filled up the oitdrive and started the motor today using the instructions found on the sticky I set up the carb (sort of).

When I first got the motor to start it was running like crap. The amount of smoke and black oil in the bucket was surprising. I did not mess with the high speed jet because it was in a bucket. I did adjust the low speed jet and got the motor to idle down quite nicely.

Seems like the longer I ran the motor for the better it ran. I really need to get the boat out on the water so I can get the high speed jet adjusted.

This motor smokes a lot in the bucket. Is this normal for a 24:1 outboard? I have a feeling It's running rich because I did not set the high speed jet first.

The bad news is that this motor still belongs to my wife's uncle (technically). I have got to talk to him to see about official taking over ownership of this beautiful motor.