Help diagnosing problem 86 Evinrude 30hp E30TELCDM sputter

[ilikefishing]

Purchased two motors with a used boat to restore. The other motor is a 85 remote steer Evinrude 30hp model E30ECOLA and it runs fine.

The one I am having problems with is the tiller steer 1986 E30TELCDM 30hp. It has a push button primer and if I push the button once it starts up, It only runs smooth at low idle, as I power it up it hitches, misses for lack of a better description. I have rebuilt the carb (I have a nagging fear that I may not have set the float right) I have checked spark and swapped out coils, wires and plugs with the known good motor. I can take the carb off if that is recommended, just a pain. Any other ideas are also welcome. Oh... compression is 95 on both cylinders

Thanks

 

[racerone]

Compression of 95 is low.---Test with another gauge.

 

[oldboat1]

+1 -- different tester. Measuring spark? Think you should expect 7/16 inch, sharp spark.

 

[ilikefishing]

I got a loaner compression tester from auto zone. Good call, my harbor freight tester has gone belly up after a few years of service. The actual compression numbers are 110 top 105 bottom cylinder. I tested spark up to 3/4 inch with tester and it is good on both coils. Also replaced plugs and gap set to .3. they show good spark. Any other ideas are welcome.

Thanks

 

[oldboat1]

.03, yes?

 

[ilikefishing]

Yes, .03 sorry about the typo.

 

[kbait]

Sounds like a partially clogged main jet..you can tell if you push the primer and it runs better at higher throttle. If so, pull the drain plug bolt on front of bowl, and poke a wire through the jet behind plug with a thin wire (small paper clip will do for size). Then try it again. If still no fast.. clean carb again and check float level (should be level with carb body when inverted).

If pushing primer button only makes it worse, verify that the red manual prime valve on the primer solenoid ass’y is pointed parallel with primer body. If not, it WILL run too rich.

Good luck!

 

[oldboat1]

In addition, smooth throttle-up is one of the tests for setting the slow speed needle valve. Try setting it a little richer (c.clockwise about 1/8 or 1/4 turn).

 

[ilikefishing]

Thank you, I did clean the carb again this morning and lowered the float valve, it was about 1/8" above rim. My primer does not have the red knob on it. I had a johnson with an electric primer that had that though. I have tried the slow speed adjustment and neither running lean or rich seems to make a difference. I found that if I disconnected the plug wire on the bottom cylinder the problem went away. Of course it was running on only top cylinder but no miss, hitch etc. Running on bottom only or on both the problem reappeared. I swapped plugs, wires, then coils. still ran ok with bottom cylinder unplugged. I checked compression yet again after all of this running, found that top was 110 and bottom was between 90 and 95. Could low compression on bottom cylinder cause this issue? I am not familiar with compression related problems, I typically don't buy motors without good even compression, this came with the package.

If compression is the issue is it worth me fixing and is it something a shade tree mechanic without special tools can handle or would I be better off selling or parting this motor out?

Thanks