Red WD-40 straw for carb
cleaning = good.
WD-40 for carb cleaning = not really all that good.
If you want the straw, you can get them by the hundred on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DHZRRW7
I use them for all sorts of stuff. Handy to have around.
And now back to our regularly scheduled
malfunction. Outboard fuel hose and connector is an important spare to keep on hand, anyway. Get one and swap it in, and give it a go. Not quite as cheap but not a dealbreaker either is an entire new or rebuilt carburetor. A spare, all ready to go, with
gasket and everything, can reduce your OOC time to under a half hour in the event of the carb getting all stuffed up or gummed up or a holey in the bowley.
I agree that WD-40 is not something that has any business sprayed in a perfectly okay running outboard, but OTOH I suspect your problem actually has little or nothing to do with the WD applied to it. Forget about the WD for a bit. Start from scratch. Give it fuel and air mixed properly and be very sure that you are doing it, and see if it runs. Good fuel hose. Good connector. Good squeezy bulb. Open tank vent. Hang your tank higher than the outboard just for good measure. Check the choke for proper operation.
Spark is spark. Enough spark to run under no load is enough spark to run under full load so I doubt if it is an issue with your spark, but it never hurts to check and maybe change the
plug and condenser and points if it is so equipped and hasn't been done in more than a year or so. Check for spark is easy enough though, by unscrewing the spark plug and reconnecting the wire, and resting the plug body against the block with the carb bowl empty and fuel disconnected, and pull the starter a few times and verify that you have a nice blue spark. In bright sunlight it can be hard to see. Don't hold the plug with your fingers. It will zap the tar out of you.
So you got fuel, air, mixture, and spark eliminated. All that is left is timing and
compression. You almost have to deliberately monkey with things to put the timing off. If the spark somehow got advanced too far or if there is a vacuum hose that controls the spark, there's two possible sources of trouble. But hmmmm... two stroke outboard?... has reed valves, maybe? Doubtful but something to check. Check and see if they got gummed up by gunk semidissolved by the WD and displaced into the valve. Reduced
compression could make the engine run nice at WOT and no load, but see it bogging down hard and dying under full load. Just an idea. That is usually not a troublesome component which is why nobody pointed it out, I think, as well as the passing of the two stroke engine from common usage. Then again it sounds like your OB is too new to be a
2 stroke.
So when you shift into Ahead, it stalls. Is your prop fouled? The foot out of lube or full of water? You could have something as non obvious as a hundred turns of mono
fishing line or something wrapped and wedged around the prop shaft. See how easily the prop turns with the trans in Neutral.
Did he spray WD into the cylinders? Or just the carb?
5BTM's suggestion sounds sensible. Check your
oil level if it is a
4 stroke, and make sure you have two stroke lube mixed with your gasoline at the proper ratio if it is a two stroke as directed by the manual.
Is there an air filter? Check it. Clean it or replace it.
Probably not related but you never know and this should be replaced annually anyhow, but replace your impeller even if your engine is peeing a good stream.
Do you smell a strong smell of unburnt fuel? I keep thinking about that choke. Make sure your OB warms up good and you open the choke wide open as soon as the engine will tolerate it. Verify that the actual choke opens and closes properly when you manipulate the lever for it.
Another reason to check the
oil... see if you are making oil, i.e. your sump is filling up with water or fuel. That would be indicative of a slightly more serious but still probably fixable issue. Blown out rings,
head gasket, etc and hopefully not a cracked
head or block. If he sprayed WD in the cylinder there is a remove possibility that it was started with WD on the piston crown resulting in excessive compression. Should be checked at least once every day that it is in use, anyway.
That was the issue with my Gen set. Aluminum carb bowl and build up from ethanol. I dont think I've used a bucket of carb cleaner for 30-40 years. And as you say, it's more often a jet clogged which needs a wire pushed through it.
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