TOPIC: Getting my 1967 Evinrude 80hp to run!

Lets start of with the motor, it's a '67 Evinrude Starflite Electric Shift 80hp. I've had problems with the darn thing since day one and now I'm just frustrated. Maybe someone's infinite knowledge and experience on here could help me out. Lets start out.
The motor has a (having been run compression of 110-120, and 90 cold compression on all cylinders)
I've replaced every bit of bad wiring I could on the motor the best I possibly could have. We noticed at first the engine wasn't running properly at idle, it would spit pop like an after-fire and die at idle. We believed it to be running down on cylinder and we drop tested and confirmed this as well as points being bad.. I replaced the points with a kit from Sierra, new points & condenser, then the resistance of the old plug wires were varying greatly so I bought the kit to make your own, and made four and ignitor wire, tested the resistance and it gave me 0 to -3 ohms on each wire so the wires are presumably good, then attached the plug wires into the cap with the screw in terminals and tested resistance from brass terminals under the cap and the resistance was high because the brass terminals were burnt/corroded, so sanded them off lightly and tested resistance and got 0 to -3 just like wires, I lightly sanded the rotor tip and cleaned it off. I set the points to open at the point break but I couldn't seem to get them to be .020 and open at the correct time, is there a way to do this? Anyway I just left them opening at the correct time. Used a spark tester and I get a consistent bright spark on about a 7/16 gap, I bumped the motor over and stuck a lighter in the cylinders and got a noticeable whoosh of fuel igniting in each one, put my new champ plugs in (they are the correct ones for the motor JC4 or J4C) and at it'll start fine with the choke closed all the way, I've adjusted the idle needles six ways to sunday and when the choke goes all the way open it flat out dies. It WILL not start at all if the chokes open. It'll run on the two cylinders with choke all the way on, and only one side of the motor gets hot. I've taken apart the carb and cleaned it before, I just have no idea I have suck, blow and bang it just baffles me. Is there something simple I could be missing? I'm not a boat mechanic but I know the essentials are there. The fuel pump presumably works fine as it'll stay running at high rpm when chokes closed. I have no idea if it's dying when it idles down because of fuel pump, we had been running bottle feed directly to carb inlet but this is before we tweaked some stuff. I just am at my wits and wallets end. Please help me save this project, I've been dying for this motor to run!

Have you had the high speed jets out for cleaning --Yes or no.

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Have you checked the belt timing on the engine AND on the distributor ---Yes or no.----Do you have spark at all 4 cylinders and have you confirmed that with a timing light --Yes or no ????????

All belt timing marks line up on dist housing and flywheel at same point. When I cleaned carb, if the jets are little brass things with flat head scewdriver tips I removed and soaked them and blew out all passageways. Bright blue spark consistently on all four cylinders, can jump a 7/16 gap and confirmed with a timing light as well. Only one side gets hot when it's choked ALL the way, and as soon as choke opens it dies.

reeds? you got 110 lbs compression on 3 cylinders and 90 on one? They will idle rough if one cylinder is blown.
Professor and Bruce Gerard seem to be pretty knowledgeable so if they tell you something I'd listen to em.
Did you rebuild the fuel pump with a new diaphragm kit? If it is old, dirty, and tired it is not worth anything. Before you bother with the reed's visit the fuel pump 1st. fuel pump diaphragm kits are cheap and you can find them on ebay or anywhere.
Sorry if I am repeating any question or statement you may have made.
Good Luck
Jim

Plug wires on the correct cylinders ???

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Reed valves have nothing to do with compression in the cylinders !!

No, the warm compression is 110-120 on all cylinders, and cold compression is 90 across all cylinders. I've seen the reeds there fine, none stuck etc. Fuel pump isn't an issue, I've run gas straight into carb inlet with IV drip by using a bottle. As far as I know plug wires coming from cap are labeled, and the cylinder heads are also labeled. So I assume wires are right. Do you have any ideas professor? Thanks so far!

YOU are saying that you have 2 cylinders that are cold !!!

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You say fuel is OK. spark is OK and compression is good.

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So that means point set is out of time or plug wires are reversed.

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Top cylinder on the right of motor ( looking forward standing at the back ) is #1 and #3 is below that. The bottom cylinder on the left is # 4 and the one above that is # 2

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Double check your wires, don't go by labeling on the heads !!.

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I normally do thorough testing on motors as it beats guessing every time !!

Yes, two cylinders are cold(numbers 2 & 4). Fuel as far as I know is, but I'm not 100 percent sure, that silicone i used putting the carbs back together may have melted and caused something, but would that cause one half of the motor not to fire all together? I do quick tests, but it may not be enough fuel to run. The timing on flywheel and marks on dist base line up, and I checked all wires are running to the correct cylinders. Anything else? Thanks for the help so far again Professor.

Don't mean to butt in here LA, but if you used silicone anywhere near the carbs I recommend pulling them apart, cleaning, and re-assembling with fresh gaskets! Here's a thread (with pics) from way back when I got a heck of a deal on my Starflite with a sweet 115 V4 because somebody used it to mount the carbs instead of getting new gaskets. That stuff gets into everything and plugs up a lot of tiny orfices!
www.fiberglassics.com/glassic-forums/18-jegos-place/2311-1973-johnson-115-major-tune-up.html

Once again, sorry for butting in, the professor and Jim (and others) are the experts here, I'm merely a humble student with little experience.

I was thinking the same thing, it's just the carburetor kit for this motor is expensive (to me anyway) at $50+shipping and I'm never sure if this will fix my problem! This is why I'm at my wits end, thanks for the comment though! Thanks as always so far guys.

Timing is a real bear, even if the timing marks line up it doesn't mean that the distributer is advancing when it should. I fought mine for most of a winter before I gave up and found an Evinrude mechanic who know how to time it.

Can you post a picture of the linkage at full stop and wide open? Might have a suggestion if I can see it.

Carb float levels is another WA Guess.

This is the electric shift, it has WOT and a start position and a "shift zone" basically being idle. Would full stop be all the way back? Also, what angle do you want linkage picture at, I can have it in a few minutes.

Full stop really wasn't the right term, all the way back at low idle and then forward to WOT.

Alright the first few are at idle, and the ones after separator line are WOT.
IDLE:



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Never use RTV

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Silicone near a fuel system.

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Do you have spark ( 5/16" gap or more ) on each cylinder ???

Your carburator may have a clogged main jet. If one head is cold - and the plug wires are correctly installed, this is likely. The disto caps often will have the number of the corosponding cylinder embossed right on them. Also - check that the distributor cap is not cracked. A hairline fracture is a deal breaker.

Your engine has a 2 barrel carburator - each barrel has a seperate passage feeding the upper and lower cylinders on the side of the engine that the barrel is on. The barrels don't cross in an "X" pattern. So if the left bank is cold, the left barrel may be dry. Same for the right side.

The main jets are accessed from the front bottom of the carburator. There are two 7/16" or 3/8" hex head bolts with a flat screwdriver slot in them. Removing these will drain the float bowl, and will also give acess to the main jets. The main jets are brass, and they are threaded into the carburator body - a couple inches down inside those holes. They are removed with a flat blade screwdriver that must (must) be modified to do the job. I like to use a "medium" flat blade with a 4 or 5 inch handle. The sides of the blade have to be filed down to just barely fit inside the bores to reach the jets. Do not force to big a screwdriver in there or the carburator will be ruined. The slots in the jets are pretty wide, so use a screwdriver with a nice thick blade around 1/32" in thickness. Righty tighty, lefty loosie.... just like a regular screw. Remove the jets to confirm they are clean.

The booster venturi in the middle of one barrel may be clogged as well.

I can get a consistent (7/16) blue spark on a ll cylinders.

In your first post you referred to the motor as " the darn thing "

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Something very simple is being overlooked !----when you find that you will say

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" darn why did I not check that first a few months a ago !!!!

I redid a carb just after someone did it.
He used silicone as a gasket.
Huge mistake.
Gasoline makes it soft and runny.
I assume you used the black gasket sealer, but when you squeezed them back together there is no telling where that stuff went.

I did not know that you used silicone on the carb. Major no-no. Time to break the carb down & soak it over night in chem-dip. Be sure to remove all rubber & plastic parts first. Then put the carb in boiling water for a couple minutes. Follow up with a blast of chemtool in every orifice. Then blow out with compressed air.

You need to spring for a carb kit. Be sure it is of recent production and includes the float. The float in these is a stupid cork one - OMC failed on that big time. 1908 technology in the 1960s..... The old corks are red shellac coated, and the new alcohol laden fuels will make then look like a dried up dog turd. Get a float that is coated with the "clear" plastic stuff. Those are the only ones that will survive the new fuels. Every time you finish using the boat, unhook the fuel line & run the engine out of fuel. As the engine starts to die, choke it to draw all the remaining fuel from the carb bowl. This will make the float last 100X longer.

A factory OMC kit has the welch plugs and lead shot that are not included in the other kits. If you can fine one, remove the welch plugs and the shot to clear those hidden passages.

Good luck.

that motor looks to be pretty clean under the cowl. Take a step back earn the cash to go buy the proper kit then do as Bruce said. Silicone just turns into a fungu stickydu time for all.

Sprung on the carb kit a few days ago. Purchased this one, seemed to have all the welch plugs etc.

Any tips for reassembling the carb? I boiled it in water for 30 minutes, each half. Then soaked in carb cleaner for 24 hours both halves, and then cleaned with water and blew out all passageways where the lead welch plugs were and now it sits ready to be assembled anything I should blow out or check that ya'll recommend?

A very thin film of permatex on the edges of the welch plugs before installing them. This will help prevent any possible air leaks around the edges. Use a precise measuring device to determine that the booster venturis are perfectly centered in the main venturi. Don't "eye ball it" When you confirm they are centered - tighten the mounting screws securely.

Check that the fuel pump water seperator bowl gasket is in good condition & not drawing any air.

Hope it fixes the problem.....

Bruce