Old outboard hasn't been ran in years-What to do?

[AaronM]

I just found an old 1956 Evinrude 3hp outboard in near mint condition. I was told it only had about two tanks of gas ran through it, but it hasn't been ran in a veryyyyy long time. What do I need to do to get this running again? It was stored in a non-heated shed, but at least it had a roof over it. The spark plugs were disconnected, and no gas was left in it. Thanks much for any help!

[lawdog]

First thing you better do is see that its not frozen from sitting that long it may be stuck. Second, is the carbs need to be removed and rebuilt as the gaskets and seals can't be any good anymore. Then you'd have to see where you are at. There could be any number of bad things in a motor that is that old now. Finding parts may be a real treat too...

You of course will also want to check out the lower unit and whatever type of cooling system a motor that old has too.

Did I mention this will be a big project with LOTS of potential problems?

GOOD LUCK!

[john.wells]

Parts shouldn't be too much of a problem. You can give Twin City Outboards a call down in Shakopee if run into roadblocks up where you live. You will be amazed at what they carry. The first thing you NEED to do is put a new impeller in the water pump. From there, you can pretty much go through the motions trying to get it running. It might just fire up and run fine. If you need to coax it a little to get it running, do NOT use starting fluid. WD40 is a good choice as it is explosive, yet has lubricating properties. On that note as well, take the plugs out and spray some marine fogging oil into the jugs and slowly pull the engine over to get some lube into the rings and cylinder walls. Also, get some new plugs that match the old ones, even if they look good. Often times on those old OMC's, the coils will be cracked and consequently won't produce a good spark, if at all. A simple visual inspection SHOULD be adequate, but not always. Also make sure the gear lube is new. Those old outboards are built like a brick shat house, and will run forever if treated right. Good luck, and enjoy your "new" toy

[AaronM]

Thanks for the reply guys. Lawdog, you really got me nervous with your post there. I'm hoping this doesn't turn out to be a huge project. How do I go about putting a new impeller in the water pump? After that gets done, what are "the motions" in trying to start this up? I'm pretty illiterate with motors, so I'm hoping doing a project like this can help me out a bit. Thanks again for any replies!

[mjrfishing]

kneel down and pray to the lord lord, if that doesn't work sink it; as it will make a good reef

[bassNspear]

clean it up before using it.

[eurolarva]

Some 3 HP motors are air cooled and dont have impellers. You might want to go to iboats and post it in their evinrude section and see what they say. Might find someone there who knows that motor

[sparcebag]

If its the 3 HP> with the fuel tank on top,there're tough! pull the plug put some 2 stroke motor oil in the cylinder 3-4 OZ let it sit plug opening up so oil lubes piston put plug in so nothing gets in cyl.2 days later turn flywheel by hand--get lubed.then turn to drain--Heads cuped it will drain out couple days.Replace plugs champion J-8.Fuel gas mix 25 to 1.put in tank of water start.if it dont start check spark no spark bad points or coil.then pull flywheel clean magnito replace points.check coil last one I bought 4 yrs. ago was easy to find cost about $68.00 really good motor but different gas oil mix.lower end same as todays motors gear lube.dont worry about water pump back then things were made to last!! PS If you want to off it I'd be interested

[AaronM]

Thanks again for the replies. Sparce, what plug are you referring to taking out and putting oil in?

[sparcebag]

The spark plug Hey.

[AaronM]

As I said, I'm a dummy when it comes to motors Thanks for the reply. I'll get on that tonight. Anything else I should do? The throttle lever is really sticky, anything I should do on that? If all goes well, I'm going to try fire it up this weekend. Thanks again!

[IFallsRon]

I'd fill up the tank with a gas/seafoam mix and let it sit for a couple days. Let some drain out through the fuel lines but not into the carb. Drain the rest out and at least you'll be starting with somewhat clean system.

[eurolarva]

If the motor is water cooled you will want to run it in water. A couple seconds out of water probably wont hurt it but if it has an impeller you dont want it to spin too long without water.

[sparcebag]

Great Hey; Your throtle lever is on front and slides left to right?Right below it is a pull out choke,and a dial, the dial controls slow speed gas mixture.Spray WD on the throtle lever through slot Also when you gas it up theres a pit cock (off on valve) to get gas flowing to cylinder It should be on the left side faceing the motor GOOD LUCK Keep me informed OK

[AaronM]

Thanks again for the replies guys. IFalls, good idea on the gas/seafoam. I'll be sure to do that. The motor is water-cooled, so I'll be running that in water in my basement. You guys have been a ton of help so far, I'm going to be getting this ready to fire up on the weekend so hopefully I can come back with a good report on Monday. Any other tips let me know!

[1DIRTBALL]

fishingfrenzy, I just noticed that you live in Warroad, which happens to be where I live also. I'm about 7 miles south of town on the old Buffalo Road, across the road from Bob and Kim Reinhardt. I used to own a 3 HP Evinrude from about that same period, so I'm very familiar with it. It is built like a tank and is really not very hard to work on. Should you encounter any problem that you feel you can't handle, please feel free to give me a call at 386-4569. I'm retired and have all the time in the world, besides, I love messing with those old Evinrudes! Good luck! 1DIRTBALL aka:Keith

[fiskyknut]

Yoe DB, FYI....fishingfrenzy = Penzacola over elsewhere.

[AaronM]

Thanks again for all the help you guys have given so far! A buddy and myself got everything ready and fired it up yesterday. The motor would start, but we couldn't keep it running for more than a few seconds. We managed to do this 4 or 5 times before it wouldn't go anymore. Not sure what to think about this..

Fisky, thanks for clearing that up Keith, I appreciate your offer on the motor, I may need to take you up on that sometime!

[eurolarva]

My guess is the carb is pretty gummed up. Float bowl may be filling real slowly and the motor is burning it faster then it can fill or the idle circuits are severely gummed up. Good news though it fires. Chances are pretty good that the ignition system is working. Motors that old arent going to like unleaded fuel and especially fuel with ethonal however 87 octane is the best bet for that motor. Higher octane gases dont run so well on older motors.

[sparcebag]

Euro is probably right! carb, spray it with carb cleaner,dont be skimpy spray in & out, disconnect in gas line and out line spray good let set 1/2 Hr.Blow it out with air hose AND then repete! You sure the gas flow screw (pitcock) is OK pull it all the way out blow carb cleaner in it to.Sounds like getting gas problem,Keep at it Good Luck

[mnhunter2]

Been in your shoes about 2 years ago, great little motor I just took it apart and put a carb kit in it and now it runs great I think the seals on the jets get dry and hard so the carb doesn't have the right vacum/pressure to run right, been using the gas for collector cars don't think it has any ethanol in it. I used seafoam product to decarbon the engine and it starts better.

[fiskyknut]

Hey Aaron I do plan on getting ahold of you here in the next month or so to get you to make me some of those special weights we discussed some time back. I'll need a bunch this year before opener.

Still can do some for me eh.

Norm

[sparcebag]

Hows your motor commin along is it puttin yet?

[AaronM]

The motor started, but we couldn't get it to stay running. No matter what we did with the choke or enrichment dials, nothing could coax it to continue to run for more than a few seconds. Finally, after about 5 attempts, it wouldn't fire up again. Any ideas?

[sparcebag]

Pull the flywheel off inside is a coil its most likly shot replace it. last one I bought was 60 bucks, while your in there replace the points there cheep and you probably dont want to keep pullin the fly!Have you checked for spark? if there isn't any then above info is most likly the thing to do.

[eurolarva]

Put the motor in a dark room and attach a spark plug to the wire and ground the threads of the spark plug to the metal chasis of the motor (wire wrapped around the plug threads and then the other end of the wire attached to a screw on the motor will work well. Crank on it a couple of times and see if you get a blue spark. If so compression and fuel are the next steps. A compression tester costs about 30 dollars. Remove both spark plugs. Compression numbers should be done on a warm engine with throttle wide open however because the motor does not start the numbers will be lower. YOu are looking for numbers above 100 and within about 5 percent of each other. So if cylinder 1 compression is 125 you want to see 120 to 130 in the other ( I am assuming you have two cylinders). If one has 120 and the other is 35 then then you have problems. If you start replacing coils, points, condensors and you find you have a bad cylinder you will have wasted all that money on a repair that will probably cost over a thousand dollars. If it were me I would test spark and if that passes I would rebuild the carb and the fuel pump. The cost of those two kits should be under 30 dollars.