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40 horsepower evinrude problems. Please help!

C

ColdBeers

New member
Hello everyone. New here. I have a 1989 40 horsepower eveinrude...it has been sitting for 3 years or so. I rebuilt the carbs, drained old gas out, fresh gas and oil, new fuel lines, new plugs, battery, had to replace the starter...it fired right up out of the water but as soon as I put it in the water it will not start. I cannot figure it out for the life of me. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance
 
Failure to start in the water can be a sign of a severely worn out or damaged engine. If you haven't done a compression test, you should. You want to make sure you have something worth putting time and money into before doing so.
 
I was told the compression was good. The guy just wanted a lot of money to replace the starter so I didn't have him fix it. But he saidbcomoressikn was good. First thing that was checked. I should have also said that I did eventually get it started but I had to have the throttle lever thing up...yeah I don't know what it's called. Lol. But it would run with it up as soon as I put it down the motor just sputtered and died.
 
The compression was 120 on both. Sorry. Thought I put that in the last post. I'll check the spark in a few and let you know what I find.
 
Try rope starting the engine which turns the engine over quite rapidly!

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(Engine Won't Start or Hard Starting In Water)
(Joe Reeves)

The Evinrude and Johnson engines, starting in 1973, have what is called Magneto Capacitance Discharge ignition, self contained, not dependent on battery voltage. The engine must turn over at least 300 rpms in order for the flywheel magnets rotating past the stator ignition generating coils to supply approximately 300v AC to the powerpack(s), which in turn is needed to supply power to the coils etc etc (spark).


In the water, exhaust back pressure is encountered due to the fact that the exhaust housing (housing between the powerhead and the lower unit) is filled with water. This would drag down the needed rpms, affecting ignition.

Normally the clue to this type problem is that the engine starts fine on a flushette (hose), but is very difficult to start when in the water.


Should this be the case, check the battery, clean and tighten all conections (use a wrench or pliers, not your fingers). Any cable that gets overly warm or hot indicates either a loose, or tight but dirty, or internally corroded cable. And of course check the starter itself.

Thousands of parts in my remaining stock. Not able to list them all. Let me know what you need and I'll look it up for you. Visit my eBay auction at:

http://shop.ebay.com/Joe_OMC32/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
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ColdBeers said:
I was told the compression was good. The guy just wanted a lot of money to replace the starter so I didn't have him fix it. But he saidbcomoressikn was good. First thing that was checked. I should have also said that I did eventually get it started but I had to have the throttle lever thing up...yeah I don't know what it's called. Lol. But it would run with it up as soon as I put it down the motor just sputtered and died.
Click to expand...

Well with that said, I don't think there is anything wrong with the motor except idle speed adjustment. It is NORMAL to have to raise the fast idle lever to start it. That's what it is there for. It dies when you put it back down because the idle speed is set too low. Adjust that (with boat in the water) and you should be good to go.
 
Okay...so I put the boat in that water at the ramp but left it on the trailer ...the motor was almost all the submerged. Took a few turns but the motor fired and stayed running. The idle was around 650-800..it kept bouncing. I was unable to run it due to bad weather. But I let it run and turned it on and off a few times. Seems okay. Where do I set the idle at? I'm going to try and run it this week. I will post a new update when I do. Wish me luck!
 
Alright...got the boat out today. Started up great. Did what kimcrwbr1 told me to do. It runs great but at wot the rpms are only at 4000 to 4100...but moves pretty quick. It just seemed that it went slightly faster before...may just be me. Runs great though. Thanks again everyone!
 
I should also add that from dead stop to wide open boat gets up and goes. Planes out pretty quick and seems to run smooth. Like I said it may have always ran this way I don't remember for sure.
 
Sorry for taking awhile to get back. 17' Jon boat built up with fishing platforms and live wells. Right side console. Not too heavy. Have been out a few times and boat starts and runs pretty good. Stays around 4000 rpm. Hit 4500 the other day...then running wot went from 4 to 36...no idea why. But it's been running good.
 
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