stalls when put in gear,idles great

[michaeljr02]

hi,i have 1984 chrysler 85 hp outboard.when i put it in gear it stalls out.can it be the spark plugs even though it idles good.when i have the ears on it the motor throttles up ok in gear.in real water it stalls when put in gear.need help ASAP.THANKS

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: stalls when put in gear,idles great

One of the first symptoms of fouled plugs is difficulty in starting and stalling at throttle-up.

So, even though it seems to start well, the first thing to do is to pull the plugs and clean them. Since they are surface gap plugs, cleaning with a Scotchbrite pad (green scrubee) is easy.

Then, if you still have the problem it really helps to have a tachometer. You need to check to see that the idle in gear, in the water is about 700-750 RPM. Less than that and these engines tend to stall on throttle-up under load.

If you do not have a tach, do not want to buy one, and can not borrow one, then try raising the idle just a "smidge" Try about 1/8 to 1/4 turn in on the idle stop screw at the bottom half of the control tower.

Quickly move the control lever to snap the engine into gear; do not ease it in thinking to be gentle with it. This just wears the drive dogs. You should hear a definite "clunk" when the engine is put into gear in the water.

 

[stack08]

Re: stalls when put in gear,idles great

I had the same problem with muffs it was ok and in the water it would stall..

i was also putting it into gear slowly,got to do it fast snap it in.

I also adjusted the idle screw a bit and never had a problem ever again..

The post above is basicly what i did.....

 

[godfather318]

Re: stalls when put in gear,idles great

Hate to say it but I think you are done for the season. I have tried all the above mentioned and then some, tried for over a month to get my 85 running as well. Mine ran great with muffs, minute you put in lake it idled great but when in gear stalled.

Now for the horriable news. Before attempting anything else, the first and most important of all is to due a compression test on all 3 cylinders. Once you find that your compression is bad the next step is to remove headgasket and inspect which of the cylinders is the problem. Just guessing but I'm willling to bet that #2 will be slightly damaged and #3 will totally need to be redone, hopefully you didn't damage the block at #3, depends how long you have been running it like that and for how long you have been trying to fix thinking it's a spark plug.

Hopefully I'm not the bringer of bad news, I'd just hate to see you waste more time and money into a blown cylinder, when you could go out and buy a new outboard.