Brendanpd2
New member
Hey all,
Looking for a little insight from any marine mechanics out there. 1990 Evinrude 88 SPL. Have had the motor for over 6 years and have done a lot of upgrades myself (ignition coils, rectifier, carb rebuilds, impeller, etc...) While making a hard turn at WOT the other day she bogged down and died. I was able to get her running again but only had about 1/2 power. immediately felt like I lost a cylinder so I pulled the plugs. 3 were fine, 1 was covered in molten metal (from piston). So I pulled the cylinder head to inspect and found what I expected.....see picture. BUT....this damage is only on the piston face. The cylinder walls are perfect with no scoring as well. I decided to see what happened by simply changing out the spark plug.....ran absolutely perfect as usual even at WOT for a few laps around the lake. Pulled the plug again and it only had a couple metal specks. My main question is.....will this require a cylinder/piston rebuild or can I somehow repair the piston face? Or can I just run her as is until she eventually calls it quits on me? I am also trying to figure out why this even happened since my carbs are rebuilt, impeller is fine, oil/gas mixture is 50:1, etc.. This motor has served me well over the years and I am not interested in a full rebuild....I would rather re-power if that's the case. I appreciate any advice/expertise you can offer! Thanks! -Brendan
Looking for a little insight from any marine mechanics out there. 1990 Evinrude 88 SPL. Have had the motor for over 6 years and have done a lot of upgrades myself (ignition coils, rectifier, carb rebuilds, impeller, etc...) While making a hard turn at WOT the other day she bogged down and died. I was able to get her running again but only had about 1/2 power. immediately felt like I lost a cylinder so I pulled the plugs. 3 were fine, 1 was covered in molten metal (from piston). So I pulled the cylinder head to inspect and found what I expected.....see picture. BUT....this damage is only on the piston face. The cylinder walls are perfect with no scoring as well. I decided to see what happened by simply changing out the spark plug.....ran absolutely perfect as usual even at WOT for a few laps around the lake. Pulled the plug again and it only had a couple metal specks. My main question is.....will this require a cylinder/piston rebuild or can I somehow repair the piston face? Or can I just run her as is until she eventually calls it quits on me? I am also trying to figure out why this even happened since my carbs are rebuilt, impeller is fine, oil/gas mixture is 50:1, etc.. This motor has served me well over the years and I am not interested in a full rebuild....I would rather re-power if that's the case. I appreciate any advice/expertise you can offer! Thanks! -Brendan
