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Hi all,
Well, first to say, i am only new at this and of course this also involves boating!
To cut a long story short, i have been out and operated small\medium tinnies etc but never have owned one. I got offered a tinnie,trailer ,rego'd in extremely good nick for $750 with ores,life jackets,anchor,tiedowns etc. From a little research it seemed a fairly good price....i thought. However, with no motor. I stumbled across what was advertised as an Evinrude Fisherman 6HP boat motor that ran excellent. I am a mechanic by trade but in saying that have not done very much at all involving these earlier model 2 stroke motors or any general boat motor except the outer basics-tune up and the nack to be able to hear for irregular running\noise as with most motors.
I went and had a look over this motor for my tinnie and for its age it was very neat,tidy,clean and started first pull and purred like a kitten. The seller had some of his own boats in good nick and talked "boating" as knowing what he was talking about to. The motor was set up in a shortened 44g drum with fresh water in it when he got his wife to start it without any effort at all. I removed the lid and the motor never had signs of a quick "rag" wipe over to hide any leaks nor a detailed clean. It was just a tidy motor. Well after this idleing and all checks that i knew, there were still no leaks\fuel smell\noises or anything that i could fault as being a possible "dud" and so i nodded and brought it.
I had taken the boat out for the first time,a little nervous with this engine and certainly kept close to shore with my ores! This little motor never missed a beat and the more i stopped for a fish and started it again to move, the more i relaxed as it just purred and took me where ever i wanted to go. The 2nd and 3rd time just the same. A few little adjustments with the hand type throttle arm and making a new bush for the throttle linkage so everything lined up and was firm again is all i had to do oh and yes a grease of course.
Now....... here comes the damage.......! Now that i was very relaxed with this motor i decided to go out with a mate just for a few hours of fishing. My mate also owns a boat and has been doing it a little longer then me. All though his motor is a 4 stroke and a bigger boat but anyhow. I had asked him if he could mix some fuel up and fill the tank as it was getting low whilst i got everything ready to go. I had said just 50:1. I got the nod as though he knew what i meant.
Out we go..........a couples hours here.......a couples hours there..........and then decided to head back in. We were approx. 2 or so klms out from the ramp. About a klm in under close to full throttle i heard a slight change in the motor tune and kept an ear on it. For the next 100m or so it never changed and then all of a sudden it started to die and got a very quiet tick noise. i dropped the throttle back straight to idle but was concerned so i shut it off. I then pulled the starter there was a little more tension on the cord then usual but only on the first pull.After that of trying to start it again to see if there were any obvious signs of what had happened, It was freely pulling as per before this occured. I thought ok fuel starvation maybe as a start and released the lid on the tank to check. A big suck of air rushed into the tank as i started to release the lid. Bingo i thought, tank not venting properly,vacuum, lack of fuel, motor starving. I promply pulled te cord 3 times and away it purred again. I accelerated gently and got to almost full revs but the motor just didnt go to full revs and only seemed to be about half when i noticed within about 10 meters of travelling it started to die again and stopped itself within a short short time. I started to think "this aint fuel" and from how the motor was reacting and just the lack of reving gave me signs of getting hot and trying to sieze. After a few seconds of thought and some questins thrown around between my mate and myself i just asked him how much oil did he add to the fuel\mixing ratio just to clarify that............oif which i got a look i dint want to see.........that blank look like what are you talking about. Well yep yep, what i thought he understood as 50:1 was just a mear mummble to him and no oil was put in. The reply-"sorry i never knew-i have a four stroke!!
So after biting my tounge very very hard and relising it was just an accident , we started to ore ourselves approx 1 klm or so to the ramp. What seemed like alot of paddling that should of been some distance turned out that the pelican on the lake was moving faster then us....sitting still! Finally some skiers seen us,must of felt sorry and offered us a tow to the ramp, of which till now and forever beyond i owe them my life and thank them so very very much for there help.
This leads me to the "what should i do question?" and would really apprieciate any input from you all out there if you dont mind please. My questions are-1-do i MIX some fuel MYSELF and hope i havent done any damage and see how it goes?(i have pulled started it again after returning home and the motor was cool and it suprisingly pulled very easily again-not to start it though)
2-should i just bite the bullet and toss it and buy a new motor as i aint paddling again!
3-should i do something with it ie-pull heads etc and go to the trouble of then going deep inside without any other visable checks first??? As i said yes i am a mechanic by trade but have limited knowledge of boat motors. I understand how things work,what they do etc but would like to hear others point of views and more so prior experiance of similar or same issues and there outcomes-expenses-headaches etc before i start. I am really hoping it will be ok with minimal or no damage but hot motors and tolerances dont always go hand in hand......if ever. I am rather attached to this older motor and apart from this, it really did go well and being that i only wanted one to put around in and fish from time to time, this one for the price really was good i thought compared to a brand spanker of which i may only use once or twice a year.
Anyhow that is my story........not cut real short like i had planned but tells you what happened anyhow. I am sorry if it draggs on a little,just wanting to get everything in there of the disater.
I thankyou for any time and responses on this matter and of course your help.
Seeing as the motor is not seized I would mix up some fuel 50:1 and run it in a bucket of water for about 15 minutes and see how it sounds. If it runs good in the bucket then you may not be home free there still may be an issue or problem when you put a load on it i.e. take the boat out but maybe not. Those motors are easily rebuilt so I would not just throw it away.
Thanks for your reply mate, much apprieciated. I was on that line of thought as well but just wasnt to sure if i would be complicating any possible damage that may have occured already not knowing to much about this type of motor. I will be giving that a go as soon as i am back with boat as being stored elsewhere. Thanks heaps again.
The first thing I would do is a compression check. Smaller engines usually need above 100psi to run properly. If it lacks compression you maay find that the piston rings have been glazed over with aluminum from the piston and are no longer sealing against the cylinder walls. I came across a chain saw that was run without oil. I cleaned the the sides of the piston, removed and replaced the rings and she hasn't missed a beat in 10 years.
Good luck,
Norm
1999 280 Conquest w/twin 225 Mercs
"When the people fear their government there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
Thomas Jefferson
Hi Norm, thankyou so much for your reply. I have acompression tester and will check both cylinders, that is a good start as well. I wasnt exactly sure what the specs are for this test on this motor but you have given me a great starting point and i guess with some research i will find what compression they should be around. I am pretty confident,if like other motors i have worked on, that as long there is no more then 10% difference between cylinders and that they are within specs, all is ok..........i am hoping!
Thanking you again Norm and for the "goodluck". I am really hoping i havent ruined it.
