1993 Evinrude 150hp V6 Intruder Spitfire Series, VE150GLETG.
The problem with this outboard has always been (for the 5 months I’ve owned it) stalling when put into forward or reverse. It doesn’t always happen, but 19 out of 20 attempts at shifting, it dies.
The last time I had the boat fully launched was the day after Thanksgiving. It took a long time to get it to stay running in gear, but when it did, it ran very well. And that’s how it’s been every time I’ve had the boat in the water, which is only 6 or 7 times. With the exception of once in October, after I ran concentrated SeaFoam from a separate tank of fresh mixed fuel. It did its smoke-like-heck thing, and I took it to the nearby launch. It started easily, idled evenly, and I was able to shift into forward and reverse with no stalling, hesitation, or anything bad. I thought I was good-to-go. A week later, I took the boat fishing, and had the same trouble with it dying when put into gear about 19 times out of 20. Perhaps my regular gas tank has some crud or water in it, and when I switched back to it, I crudded it up again. I did drain the tank, but not completely dry - there was still a half gallon or so of who-knows-how-old gas. I replaced the second gas line and primer bulb, but there is a line before it, from the tank. It’s interrupted where it goes through the hull. I know it’s clear, but do not know if it’s shedding its lining.
I’ve had this outboard only since late September. It used to start-up pretty well, but now it takes a lot of attempts. After a while, it’ll cough once. Then cough twice for a few attempts. After about 5 more attempts, cough or no cough, it will start and idle. There’s a fair amount of white smoke, but it could still be left over from some carb cleaner earlier today and yesterday. Or maybe it’s just stale gas. There is Stabil in it, but the gas is from late November.
Yesterday, I took it to a launch on Lake Michigan to get some real back pressure. It idled fairly well after hard starting at about 625 RPMs according to the tach on the dash, but would sneeze/stumble and drop periodically to 400 RPMs, then come right back up to about 625. I was only
Today I pulled all 6 carbs again and really cleaned them out, made sure every orifice was clear. All floats appear in good positions and move freely, and all needles moved well. I didn’t like a couple gaskets (0335067 SEAL, Carb body) as they seem stretched, too big for their purpose, and I really can’t see them seating correctly between the carb and the throttle body assembly. I made sure the tiny orifices in the throttle body walls were clear by spraying carb cleaner and seeing it come spraying through.
Today in carb #5, I found that the high speed orifice behind the bowl screw plug was not threaded in, so I tightened that up. That probably has nothing to do with with the in-gear stalling problem, but I’m trying to be thorough in my description. My overall impression of the carbs is that they are clean, but some of the bowls look a little warped. I sanded a few of them down a little.
I bought a spark tester today, and saw consistent spark on all 6 plugs. It was purplish in color. I did not buy an open air spark tester to see how far they could jump, but I will purchase one tomorrow. All 6 plugs were wet with oil, and a little dark, but not gunked or cracked. All gaps were 0.03.
While (eventually) idling on the muffs today after cleaning the carbs, I manually depressed the shift interrupter switch, and heard the starboard cylinders 1, 3 and 5 shut down. That did not occur yesterday. Then I disconnected the plugs on 2, 4 and 6 and manually depressed the interrupter switch again, and the engine quit. The switch seems to be doing what it should. But yesterday, before cleaning carbs 1, 3 and 5, manually depressing the interrupter switch seemed to do nothing.
I rented a compression gauge today from O’Reilly. I got 20-30psi on all 6 cylinders. Yes, the engine shifts into forward and reverse on the muffs with no trouble at all, but I am hoping the rented gauge was malfunctioning. If the compression is that low, I don’t know that the engine would have ever idled in water, much less occasionally run great at high RPMs in gear. I assume if compression is toast, it’s toast, not-come-and-go. The exhaust in the water makes a good amount of turbulence.
Yesterday at the launch, I was able to get it to stay running when put into gear only a couple times out of many attempts. I was trying it with the interrupter switch removed from the shift mechanism the whole time. I couldn’t reach far enough to reconnect it, and I was feezing my arse off. It’s pretty cold yet in Wisconsin.
Please ask me any questions you can think of. I’m a full-time single dad of two young kids (get yer violins out), and money is definitely an object.
The problem with this outboard has always been (for the 5 months I’ve owned it) stalling when put into forward or reverse. It doesn’t always happen, but 19 out of 20 attempts at shifting, it dies.
The last time I had the boat fully launched was the day after Thanksgiving. It took a long time to get it to stay running in gear, but when it did, it ran very well. And that’s how it’s been every time I’ve had the boat in the water, which is only 6 or 7 times. With the exception of once in October, after I ran concentrated SeaFoam from a separate tank of fresh mixed fuel. It did its smoke-like-heck thing, and I took it to the nearby launch. It started easily, idled evenly, and I was able to shift into forward and reverse with no stalling, hesitation, or anything bad. I thought I was good-to-go. A week later, I took the boat fishing, and had the same trouble with it dying when put into gear about 19 times out of 20. Perhaps my regular gas tank has some crud or water in it, and when I switched back to it, I crudded it up again. I did drain the tank, but not completely dry - there was still a half gallon or so of who-knows-how-old gas. I replaced the second gas line and primer bulb, but there is a line before it, from the tank. It’s interrupted where it goes through the hull. I know it’s clear, but do not know if it’s shedding its lining.
I’ve had this outboard only since late September. It used to start-up pretty well, but now it takes a lot of attempts. After a while, it’ll cough once. Then cough twice for a few attempts. After about 5 more attempts, cough or no cough, it will start and idle. There’s a fair amount of white smoke, but it could still be left over from some carb cleaner earlier today and yesterday. Or maybe it’s just stale gas. There is Stabil in it, but the gas is from late November.
Yesterday, I took it to a launch on Lake Michigan to get some real back pressure. It idled fairly well after hard starting at about 625 RPMs according to the tach on the dash, but would sneeze/stumble and drop periodically to 400 RPMs, then come right back up to about 625. I was only
Today I pulled all 6 carbs again and really cleaned them out, made sure every orifice was clear. All floats appear in good positions and move freely, and all needles moved well. I didn’t like a couple gaskets (0335067 SEAL, Carb body) as they seem stretched, too big for their purpose, and I really can’t see them seating correctly between the carb and the throttle body assembly. I made sure the tiny orifices in the throttle body walls were clear by spraying carb cleaner and seeing it come spraying through.
Today in carb #5, I found that the high speed orifice behind the bowl screw plug was not threaded in, so I tightened that up. That probably has nothing to do with with the in-gear stalling problem, but I’m trying to be thorough in my description. My overall impression of the carbs is that they are clean, but some of the bowls look a little warped. I sanded a few of them down a little.
I bought a spark tester today, and saw consistent spark on all 6 plugs. It was purplish in color. I did not buy an open air spark tester to see how far they could jump, but I will purchase one tomorrow. All 6 plugs were wet with oil, and a little dark, but not gunked or cracked. All gaps were 0.03.
While (eventually) idling on the muffs today after cleaning the carbs, I manually depressed the shift interrupter switch, and heard the starboard cylinders 1, 3 and 5 shut down. That did not occur yesterday. Then I disconnected the plugs on 2, 4 and 6 and manually depressed the interrupter switch again, and the engine quit. The switch seems to be doing what it should. But yesterday, before cleaning carbs 1, 3 and 5, manually depressing the interrupter switch seemed to do nothing.
I rented a compression gauge today from O’Reilly. I got 20-30psi on all 6 cylinders. Yes, the engine shifts into forward and reverse on the muffs with no trouble at all, but I am hoping the rented gauge was malfunctioning. If the compression is that low, I don’t know that the engine would have ever idled in water, much less occasionally run great at high RPMs in gear. I assume if compression is toast, it’s toast, not-come-and-go. The exhaust in the water makes a good amount of turbulence.
Yesterday at the launch, I was able to get it to stay running when put into gear only a couple times out of many attempts. I was trying it with the interrupter switch removed from the shift mechanism the whole time. I couldn’t reach far enough to reconnect it, and I was feezing my arse off. It’s pretty cold yet in Wisconsin.
Please ask me any questions you can think of. I’m a full-time single dad of two young kids (get yer violins out), and money is definitely an object.