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93 Evinrude 88 Spl misfire

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asouth7

New member
Hi there, as the title says I have a 93 88 SPL on a 93 Skeeter SS90. Had it out last night and it had been running fine, went to get on plane to go to a new spot and it started to shake / miss and didn't have much power. Pulled the plugs and 2&4 are much more black and soaked than 1&3. It has new plugs and wires. Am I looking at a bad power pack here? Coils? Any help is appreciated thanks!
 
Sorry to say but the trouble shooting on those motors starts with a " no money spent " compression test.----Post the numbers.
 
Planning on it I just can't get to my compression tester until tomorrow it's up at my work. I'm an automotive tech pretty new to outboards
 
These motors have a history of breaking piston rings !------If compresion is 120 + psi other trouble shooting can be done.-----Black / wet plugs are an ominous sign to me.------Some will argue but I have seen this issue many times.
 
You think two cylinders would break rings at the same time? If it loses spark on the two cylinders the plugs would be black and soaked in fuel would they not?
 
???----As stated I have seen this problem many , many times !----------These motors will run really well with one cylinder having broken rings.------Then the second one will go and folks say " there really is something wrong " and then you find out.----------I do not have enuff fingers and toes to count the ones on the shop floor with this problem.----------Then I may be wrong and all you need is a new head gasket.--------Testing needs to be done !
 
Fwiw I've run several of these V4s. And run em hard. The list of failures is long and distinguished, but I never had one break a ring.
 
I would assume that's a single 'cd 4/8' powerpack? Yes I have had em crap out on one or more cylinders before. But start with the basics: Fuel, compression, spark.
 
asouth7 said:
Yes it's a single power pack, 4 coils
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Check spark. If ya have no spark on one cylinder, swap the coil with one that does. If the problem moves to the other cylinder, that'll tell ya the coils bad.

edit. If the coil is/are good then yes it's a powerpack, or possible timer base/trigger problem.
 
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Fwiw yes you are absolutely correct. It's extremely rare for 'bad' things to happen to two cylinders at the same time.
 
71V153 said:
Fwiw yes you are absolutely correct. It's extremely rare for 'bad' things to happen to two cylinders at the same time.
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Well i ran in with the muffs on it and it runs really well with no load on it. Grabbed a spark tester from the store and all cylinders had spark. Revs out very nicely, but I'm thinking a load causes it to miss. At about half throttle on the water the other night it had a bad vibration and the engine had a clear miss. Seemed like it was smoking more than normal due to not burning it.

Really thinking I'm going to do the power pack and all coils
 
Won't be able to check compression until tomorrow but if it had low compression I don't think it would run so well on the driveway, with or without load. It revs out great
 
The V4's always sound great on muffs. You'd swear they were hitting on all four. Stick em in the water find out they're only firing on 2 cylinders.
 
71V153 said:
The V4's always sound great on muffs. You'd swear they were hitting on all four. Stick em in the water find out they're only firing on 2 cylinders.
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Im planning on checking compression still. My compression tester is at work can't get to it till tomorrow.
 
Getting in here late... read all of the above. It seems strange that the engine would be running fine, then as throttle was given to get back up on plane.... shaking and misfiring came into play. However, regardless of whatever problem the engine's encountered, the thing to do is start with the basic trouble shooting procedure.

What comes to mind due to the shaking mention is a powerpack diode failing, causing two cylinders to fire at the same time... BUT... do the following first.

Compression... All spark plugs removed to obtain the highest cranking speed available. What are the psi readings of "all" the individual cylinders?

Spark... Spark plugs (all) still removed. The spark should jump a 7/16" gap with a strong blue lightning like flame... a real SNAP! Does it?

Piston Play... A/Plugs still "all" removed. With a large screwdriver, or tool of your choosing, let it lay gently on top of a piston. Crank the flywheel by hand to TDC, then continue cranking the flywheel slightly, dragging the piston down a inch or so. Now, gripping the flywheel so that it cannot move, shove down on that large screwdriver... the piston should not be able to move without trying to cause the flywheel to move.

Let us know what you find.
 
joereeves said:
Getting in here late... read all of the above. It seems strange that the engine would be running fine, then as throttle was given to get back up on plane.... shaking and misfiring came into play. However, regardless of whatever problem the engine's encountered, the thing to do is start with the basic trouble shooting procedure.

What comes to mind due to the shaking mention is a powerpack diode failing, causing two cylinders to fire at the same time... BUT... do the following first.

Compression... All spark plugs removed to obtain the highest cranking speed available. What are the psi readings of "all" the individual cylinders?

Spark... Spark plugs (all) still removed. The spark should jump a 7/16" gap with a strong blue lightning like flame... a real SNAP! Does it?

Piston Play... A/Plugs still "all" removed. With a large screwdriver, or tool of your choosing, let it lay gently on top of a piston. Crank the flywheel by hand to TDC, then continue cranking the flywheel slightly, dragging the piston down a inch or so. Now, gripping the flywheel so that it cannot move, shove down on that large screwdriver... the piston should not be able to move without trying to cause the flywheel to move.

Let us know what you find.
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Got busy this week, finally checked compression Friday night. Was roughly 120 on all 4 cylinders give or take 2-3 psi. The fuel pump is new, and it seemed to be getting fuel last time out. I picked up an oem power pack and 4 new oem coils and installed them and am planning to take it out tonight. The engine now has a new fuel pump, plugs, wires, coils, and power pack and has good compression. Hopefully it runs good tonight!
 
asouth7 said:
Got busy this week, finally checked compression Friday night. Was roughly 120 on all 4 cylinders give or take 2-3 psi. The fuel pump is new, and it seemed to be getting fuel last time out. I picked up an oem power pack and 4 new oem coils and installed them and am planning to take it out tonight. The engine now has a new fuel pump, plugs, wires, coils, and power pack and has good compression. Hopefully it runs good tonight!
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Ok so I took it out and it's way better, by It will only run about 29-30 mph. Before any of this happened it would do 38-40 with two people onboard. Seems like it just wouldn't rev out fully on the top end. Suggestions? Did it ruin spark plugs when it went so rich? Pulled those on the water and they all looked good and the same
 
asouth7 said:
Ok so I took it out and it's way better, by It will only run about 29-30 mph. Before any of this happened it would do 38-40 with two people onboard. Seems like it just wouldn't rev out fully on the top end. Suggestions? Did it ruin spark plugs when it went so rich? Pulled those on the water and they all looked good and the same
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Always possible that a plug has fouled. Compression you quote of 120 psi (all) is good. Sounds like you may be running on three cylinders. You didn't say anything about the spark.

Spark... Spark plugs (all) still removed. The spark should jump a 7/16" gap with a strong blue lightning like flame... a real SNAP! Does it?
 
joereeves said:
Always possible that a plug has fouled. Compression you quote of 120 psi (all) is good. Sounds like you may be running on three cylinders. You didn't say anything about the spark.

Spark... Spark plugs (all) still removed. The spark should jump a 7/16" gap with a strong blue lightning like flame... a real SNAP! Does it?
Click to expand...

I pulled the plugs on the lake last night and they were all the same color / amount of buildup or anything. With a spark tester connected in between the plug and wire the spark looks the same and is present on all cylinders
 
Does spark jump a gap of 7/16", yes or no.-----Believe it or not when you answer questions in detail folks may be able to help you and save you a pile of money and agravation !!
 
racerone said:
Does spark jump a gap of 7/16", yes or no.-----Believe it or not when you answer questions in detail folks may be able to help you and save you a pile of money and agravation !!
Click to expand...

I dont know that yet chief. I told the guy everything I know to this point
 
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