OMG ! We Already Trashed the Dinghy Motor !

[Tori]

Ok so as you may or may not know we are new lives parse and just moved onto the boat
Last night we finally inflated the cute little west marine dinghy so we could take her around to the big boat and have her available to play on....
Having already tested the motor in a large bucket of water all appeared to be well... It is a 2.5 horse Evinrude unknown age. Started great has correct fuel etc. Had to inflate her over by the ramps and them was going to pilot the little craft out into the lake around the corner to the piers on the other side where the boat is. This is a 300 or 400 hundred yard trip. One third of the way motor sputters and dies... Ok she has been stored over a year so no biggie restarts sounds like crap dies again ten minute later and was hotter than hell..... Froze up so we had to paddle the dinghy another 200 yards to the boat lol
Bad impeller? I don't know haven't had time to check had to finish moving out of the house today. Maybe someone has another bright idea?
Good thing we took the oars or one of us would have been swimming ashore

[sailstoo]

I was taught pretty early on to look to see if the "Big" boat was pushing water out the exhaust when I started the engine. Just changed the impeller and it wasn't...so immediately turned engine off and pulled engine cover to discover the water pump belt had come off. My bad. And years before I learned (don't bother to ask how) to check my little OB to assure water was coming out the exhaust ports. Recommend when you run a marine engine, look behind you to assure the water pump/impeller are doing what they're supposed to.

[Talbot]

two possibilities:

Water impellor has destructed.

Water passageways in the engine are chocked with salt crystals.


Provided the engine is not seized, it is worth pulling the water impellor housing and checking the impellor, - if that is ok, then take the head off the engine and check the passageways, and also take the engine block off the the engine base and check the water passages from the impellor to the engine, and from the engine to the exhaust - also checking the tell-tale is not blocked.

This is something you will have to do with monotonous frequency if the engine is not run in fresh water after each outing. If you do run in fresh water, you will only have to do it evry 4-5 years!

[impi]

We run a 30hp on our dingy and always in salt water.
I am concerned about the comment if crystallisation in the passageways.
Is there any product I can use to clear that out as maintenance ?

[MarkJ]

Spark plugs.

The engine hasn't been used for ages and then you go zippin round for a bit then it clags out.

The plugs have gunkified from gunk in the cylinder from being laid up so long

[John A]

Carefully inspect the float chamber of the carberator for A) water or B) dirt. If problem is fixed but reocurres, clean again and clean the fuel tank. You may have had waterr condensence in the tank during storage, or bouncing through the water could have stired the dirt up..

[Cheechako]

I have bought a few engines up to 25 hp that were sold "as is". Three of them were fixed (no water spitting out) by disconnecting the little rubber hose at the back under the cover and pushing a rigid wire though the water out let in the casing. They were great motors after that...evidently it's more common than impellors in outboards!

[captain58sailin]

First pull the plugs and see if you can pull the engine through, if not then you problems just got more expensive. Check the impeller and the thermostat, if the thermostat sticks it will cause your OB to overheat and stop working. And check your spark plugs. Do the simple stuff before removing the head etc... Also if the engine has been stored a long time the diaphragm in the carburetor could have a tiny crack in it and needs replaced. All of these are simple, inexpensive fixes.

[Woodsy]

Originally Posted by Tori

Ok so as you may or may not know we are new lives parse and just moved onto the boat
Last night we finally inflated the cute little west marine dinghy so we could take her around to the big boat and have her available to play on....
Having already tested the motor in a large bucket of water all appeared to be well... It is a 2.5 horse Evinrude unknown age. Started great has correct fuel etc. Had to inflate her over by the ramps and them was going to pilot the little craft out into the lake around the corner to the piers on the other side where the boat is. This is a 300 or 400 hundred yard trip. One third of the way motor sputters and dies... Ok she has been stored over a year so no biggie restarts sounds like crap dies again ten minute later and was hotter than hell..... Froze up so we had to paddle the dinghy another 200 yards to the boat lol
Bad impeller? I don't know haven't had time to check had to finish moving out of the house today. Maybe someone has another bright idea?
Good thing we took the oars or one of us would have been swimming ashore

Tank vent?

[motion30]

Pull the cover does the paint on the powerhead look cooked? Will the motor pull over Will it restart? Probably water pump If you can start it look for water spitting out the exhaust If none and it runs.. new water pump, new head gasket and thermostat dont dump to much money in that little motor as you can replacment with a used one for 2-4 bucks check ebay

[SkiprJohn]

These little engines are fun to trouble shoot. Everyone gets an opinion.

Did you notice after it started running if there was water coming out the back of the engine? It would look like a stream of pee (only clear). If it was just a dribble with steam then you might have overheated the engine. If there was a good stream then that wasn't the problem and you don't need an impellor and don't need to clear the water passages. If it was just a dribble then sometimes you can flush it out with a hose and high pressure through the little hole in the bottom back of the head unit on the shift lever side of the engine head (not the 3 or 4 little holes that are together near the center). Sometimes a nice flexible piece of wire through that hole will clear any debris but don't force it too much.

The other thing that happens is, as suggested, you may not have opened the air vent on the top of the tank. The tank needs to have a vent to prevent a vacuum. It will cause it to do what you said happened except it won't make the engine freeze up.

If you have fuel that contains ethanol you must run the carb dry if you are going to store the engine for a week or more otherwise it will turn the fuel into yellow gell inside your carb. You might have to take apart the carb and clean it out.

Plugs do foul from time to time but if it was running fine and then just stopped then that might not be the problem. Usually if it is a fouled plug it'll run more rough for awhile and then just quit but it is a gradual thing.

Hope you can sort out the trouble and not have to spend much time and money. Once you know your engine it'll be more fun to figure out what symptom points to what problem.

Kind regards,

[motion30]

If does not looked burnt and wont start probably fuel related not to question your smarts but did you open the fuel valve on the bottom of the cowling? and the vent on top of the fuel cap?

[motion30]

if there is no water comming out the tell tale that will not cause overheating in itself but clean it out as instructed so you can see if the pump is working

[Talbot]

Originally Posted by impi

We run a 30hp on our dingy and always in salt water.
I am concerned about the comment if crystallisation in the passageways.
Is there any product I can use to clear that out as maintenance ?

This larger engine also has larger passageways for the water so it is not such a problem. However, you should flush through at least once a year with fresh water.

If the tell-tale stops showing water flow, first rule is always to run a pipe cleaner up the tell-tale pipe. If that doesnt initiate water flow, you need to check the impellor.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by impi

We run a 30hp on our dingy and always in salt water.
I am concerned about the comment if crystallisation in the passageways.
Is there any product I can use to clear that out as maintenance ?

Fresh water is a great solvent.