OUTBOARD REPAIRS

[Dr_Dan]

After having the motor pack it in (AGAIN!), was thinking of trying to learn a little bit about basic outboard repairs and maintenance. Does anyone know of how to go about this???? Bear in mind, I'm not the most mechanically minded person!!!! WOuld just love to be able to have a bit of an understanding into the workings of a motor!

Dan

P.S. I think it may be time to upgrade the ol' evinrude 25. Maybe a yammy 30 4st. Santa?????? ;D ;D ;D

[dnej]

If you are going to keep the unit, buy a service manual, or get one from the library
David

[Dr_Dan]

Yeah, should look at that, but still....... as i said, with absolutely NO mechanical knowledge......... don't know if the manual will be much use. Plus for when i change units (somwhere in the next 50yrs), would like to have a bit of a basic knowledge.

Thanx for the quick reply! Keep 'em coming!

Dan

[NQCairns]

Hi Dan that is a shame, but we here might be able to get you going again[smiley=2thumbsup.gif]. What happened to it?
Let the good people here tutor you (almost real time) as you pull the old girl apart. You will need a compression tester as a minimum though. Nothing scary about small outboards really except stuck bolts.
It is a buzz doing it yourself and knowing the job was done right. I for one would enjoy helping if I can. cheers nq

[Dr_Dan]

Thanx NQ. Should give that a try. I'm sure i'm not the only one out there that hasn't got the faintest idea about outboards. Would probably make an interesting post, an idiots guide to outboards!

Now for the other stupid question. Where do i get a compression tester from???? :-/

Dan

[NQCairns]

Nah! nothing dumb about it, like everything if you felt the need and have spent the time you have the knowledge.
The cheap hold - in testers are around 35 dollars at auto stores, still with the cheap ones I would get the screw-in type for around $40, it will make the job easier.
So what happened? nq

[Dr_Dan]

Was fishing in hinchinbrook last week, and the motor started to "sound funny". The revs started to die, it felt like it was struggling. Looked around and it wasn't pumping any water, so killed it straight away. Was pretty hot. Took the cowel off, a bit of smoke coming off the head (does this sound like technical terms???!?!?!?!) Left it for a bit, but couldn't get it re-started. Just wouldn't kick at all. Tried it yesterday, started first pull, but still isn't pumping any water. So...... my guess is, HOPEFULLY i haven't done too much damage to it, just going to be a minor job to fix it.

WOuld also like to know enough to do minor maintenance occasionally so HOPEFULLY it doesn't have me stranded too often!

Dan

[NQCairns]

Big bumer that its the second most terminal blowup. :'( There may still be hope yet with a cooked motor, you will need to do a compression test if you can get it free but first pull the spark plugs and check them out for any bits of silver aluminium. Dont worry about the compression tester unless you can coax it to turn with heaps of oil down the plug holes and a gentle twist back and forth on the flywheel bolt with a wrench. If no luck pull the heads, and have a gander at what sort of damage has been done to the piston and cyl walls.
When a motor has heated far enough to lose power it has siezed, this will always de-temper the rings so they lose their sealing ability etc, they can still be run if warmed up slowly always but they are a time bomb. I know of a couple of very cheap spare parts shops (near half price compared to Aust)in the US near. pm if you want them.nq

[Dr_Dan]

BUGGER! I was hoping that it was only going to be a simple job! I'll have to start pulling her apart and see what the go is. As i said, i don't have a clue what i'm doing, so expect a few questions on here!

Pitty it didn't happen a few weeks ago, coulda spent the uni holidays looking at her, getting back into the study in a couplea weeks, so once inot that, no chance of working on it. As i said earlier, If santa is listening, 30hp yammy 4st!

[blaze]

hi dr dan
nq has got ya on the righrt track, if it went the second time i reckon it may be ok, probable be down on compression a bit but if it started fairly easy it could well just want a water pump and between us we will type our way through so you can do the job
dont dispair
cheers
blaze

[Burley_Boy]

You'd better check the water intake and the impeller. If the impeller is not pumping the water up into the engine you just can't run the engine. I'd start in that end so that you can run the engine. If you have done further engine damage due to the cooking...(very likely). You will quickly know how much by listening to the unhappy engine noises (bad bad bad please stop it now!!!) or if its totally gutless then its probably low on compression. Don't totally despair as if you don't want to bring the engine back to perfect state then it may be ok to run after you clear or replace the impeller. Enough to potter around in any case. That compression test will likely give you an indication.

Having said that and having a bit of a think about it I'd agree that it is a bit of a gamble as the rings may shatter one day, but I have an old engine on one of my boats that was cooked badly and will still run and it is just too corroded to spend the time trying to pull it apart (bolt heads just come off), so I guess it comes back to what you feel the engine is worth as opposed to your time and effort. I just would not trust such an engine without being restored.

The impellers are usually like a small pump in the bottom of the leg which will spin if the engine spins. They have like a little plastic propeller inside that may have totally crapped itself and is not pumping any water.
Good luck and have fun :)

[aido]

hi dan,
it sounds like you would be best advised to
bite the bullet at this point and take your motor
to someone who can check it out and fix your
water pump. maybe the home servicing guy someone
gave a plug for his great work (and relatively cheap).

from what your saying here, she needs a good looking over.
and you don't sound suitably geared to do that now.
home service may be the go, then you can maybe assist
or at least ask some questions to get your skills started.

cheers, aido.

p.s. your tell tale may be simply blocked up.
try clearing the hole with a fine wire while
your running the motor. if no joy, switch off
pronto and get help from the mechanic.

[Thud]

Hey Dan,
May get removed from this site but...... I have learned heaps from a site in the States iboats.com
Do a search with your symptoms and learn from the experience.

Cheers,
Tim..

[Dr_Dan]

Thanx for all the replies guys. Will look at the obvious things, if that doesn't work, i'll just have to put it in to get it looked at (there goes tax return :'( )

Dan

[Burley_Boy]

Let us know what you find out. Good luck. :)

[NQCairns]

Hey Dr Dan the mechanic is just going to pop the cyl heads/covers, you might as well do it yourself, he is also going to tell you that you need a full teardown as well, might as well do it yourself? if you have a go take heaps of pics for memory and check out the manual from the library. nq

[Burley_Boy]

Hey NQ you got any bright ideas on pulling out bolts out of the head that just want to snap leaving an embedded bolt with no head? I'm looking at the prospect of drilling and using ezi outs on every bloody bolt on a really old engine. (alternative is to just let the old beast die a graceful death.

I'd be happy to take a note of those cheap spare parts shops in the US you dicussed earlier.

[blaze]

If you have access to oxy acetlane, with a No 12 welding tip, heat the head of the bolts as hot as you can get them so the heat travels the lenth of the bolt, taking care not to over heat the aliminum, when hot, quench the block and head with water to quick cool. This process will expaned the bolts a franction by the heat and the quick cooling will shrink the aliminum, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO UNDO BOLTS WHILE HOT, After you have done this with all bolts, spray with crc etc and leave it untill completely cold (couple hours) then procede to undo bolts by slowly working back and foward
Bloody long winded i know, but with care and patience, they will all come undone, may have to repeat the procedure on some bolts
cheers
blaze

[NQCairns]

Hi Burley Boy i feel for you I really do, many times I have done the tantrum (spit the dummy) dance over a broke bolt ::) because I am no chop with the oxy like blaze's best practice suggestion.
Very often if after all the bolts are out or broke the cover they were holding can come of and reveal the broken stubs a pair of vice grips and penetrating oil + some gentle heat can work over a few days also welding another piece of metal to the stub also is a help for purchase, for some reason the weak link is always at the bolthead the broken shaft can be torqued at least a bit higher.
Good luck you will get there I am sure.
I will chase up some of the US sites soon and PM.

[Burley_Boy]

So blaze, [smiley=idea.gif] really I could have poured cold water over the engine just after the second time my mate tells me it "stopped" for some unknown reason. ::)
It must have been damn near close to hot enough as he'd melted each of the three coils down to a molten blob and there was no paint left on the head.

Thanks for the tips and apologies if someone feels I hijacked the conversation.

[Dr_Dan]

Don't mind others joining in on the conversation. Always interesting to hear others problems!

Dan

[dnej]

Hey Thud, got an address for the research site?
David

[JoeQ]

Was fishing in hinchinbrook last week, and the motor started to "sound funny". The revs started to die, it felt like it was struggling. Looked around and it wasn't pumping any water, so killed it straight away. Was pretty hot. Took the cowel off, a bit of smoke coming off the head (does this sound like technical terms???!?!?!?!) Left it for a bit, but couldn't get it re-started. Just wouldn't kick at all. Tried it yesterday, started first pull, but still isn't pumping any water. So...... my guess is, HOPEFULLY i haven't done too much damage to it, just going to be a minor job to fix it.

WOuld also like to know enough to do minor maintenance occasionally so HOPEFULLY it doesn't have me stranded too often!

Dan

dan i dont now much about outboard .You seaid ther wos no water comeing out some one told me to put a pin in the water out let to remove salt blid up or sand i hope that works fpr you

joeq
i hope it works