Wit's end with my outboard

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by Oeanda

I’m usually one of those guys who will pull on the cord for hours, then finally do it all half-ass, till I’m finally forced to do it right, if I haven’t broken it yet. Don’t be like me. I’m trying not to be either.

We really should have a forum feature, that can indicate in the original post "I REALLY WANT TO DO IT THE HARD WAY!"

Would save us a lot of time.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by JebLostInSpace

I did not clean the low speed jet. Is that the small doohicky directly under the main jet in the photo?

The carb gods are mad at you - you're gonna have to spend some time in purgatory.

Do you have an idle-speed adjuster on that? If so, that will help you find the idle/pilot/low-sp jet.
Make sure you clean the float valve. With that much gunk I would soak it in carb cleaner. This is where you want to get non-aerosol carb cleaner. Don't soak the plastic parts, and be very gentle with the needles.

[kmacdonald]

Just get a new carb already!!!!!!!!

[benet250]

dont go to the carb, like I said in my last post these carbs are very good, first look inside the little filter tto see if you have fuel, (if not then it is your primer bulb on the fuel tank. then check all your hose terminations to ensure there is no air entering the system, then prime the system and pull the hose from the exhaust part or the fuel pump and watch the fuel spurt as the fuel pump is engaged by the camshaft, if the spurt is not even, or regular then replace the hose assembly or just the primer pump from the tank. if that does not help then your next step is to replace the fuel pump, I would also consider replacing the connector at the engine side as the needle valve has been known to cause trouble (make sure you get the correct diameter),
last but not least, I would suggest that you lift the fuel tank above the engine, and try and start it like that, if it is a delivery problem you will see it right away,
(but the back flow preventer in the primer bulbs are notorious for failing).

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by benet250

dont go to the carb, like I said in my last post these carbs are very good, first look inside the little filter tto see if you have fuel, (if not then it is your primer bulb on the fuel tank. then check all your hose terminations to ensure there is no air entering the system, then prime the system and pull the hose from the exhaust part or the fuel pump and watch the fuel spurt as the fuel pump is engaged by the camshaft, if the spurt is not even, or regular then replace the hose assembly or just the primer pump from the tank. if that does not help then your next step is to replace the fuel pump, I would also consider replacing the connector at the engine side as the needle valve has been known to cause trouble (make sure you get the correct diameter),
last but not least, I would suggest that you lift the fuel tank above the engine, and try and start it like that, if it is a delivery problem you will see it right away,
(but the back flow preventer in the primer bulbs are notorious for failing).

Read PO's post. He's using the integral fuel tank. While there is nothing wrong with your advice if he was using a remote tank, it's pretty useless here. There is no primer bulb, tank connectors with needle valves or a tank to be raised above the engine.

[JebLostInSpace]

Well I got in another hour of fruitless checking stuff today... I pulled the carb again and soaked everything in carb cleaner. I pulled both the primary and low speed jets and cleaned them. I wasn't able to remove the float and get access to that pin - the hinge wouldn't quite shimmy free for me and it was threatening rain. But I soaked the whole assembly in carb cleaner.

I pulled all the hoses going to/from the carb, and they were all pristine looking inside, which seems weird given how much gunk I found in the carb initially.

Another weird observation: When I pulled the carb today, and started disassembling it, the bowl was full of fuel. (I'm an idiot and forgot again to drain the bowl first and check for water). I figured that meant I must be getting fuel to the carb, which would narrow down where to look for problems. But when I put everything back together again, it gave me the same second or so of running on the first pull, followed by nothing. I then gave it about 20 more pulls. I could see fuel in the little filter thingy. Then I thought I would drain the bowl on the carb to check for water like I meant to in the beginning. But the bowl was empty...

So I'm trying to understand why I would have fuel in the bowl when I took it apart, but not after 20 pulls after reassembly....

Also, everything looks so stinking clean and beautiful at this point. Insides of the carb are all shiny and clean. Insides of the hoses are all shiny and clean. New shiny spark plug. New clean gas. And no progress whatsoever. My frustration levels are once again on the rise.

[team karst]

Gotta get that float off and float pin out to clear that out. Insure the needle valve opens and closes with light pressure. No carb cleaner on plastics.

[LittleWing77]

I love this thread!

You're doing great, Jeb. Almost there!

LittleWing77

[JebLostInSpace]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

I love this thread!

You're doing great, Jeb. Almost there!

LittleWing77

Thanks for the encouragement LittleWing. I need it today! Maybe one day I'll get more than an hour of dry sunlight when I'm not on a conference call and I'll be able to make some real progress.

[Oeanda]

It seems like it should be pretty easy to figure out if it’s a blockage at the carb or not right?
Pull the fuel line off the carb, turn fuel on and see if it’s running through. Then reattach and open the drain at bottom of the carb and see if it’s running through there. I know this is obvious so I don’t mean to insult your intelligence. In my case I cleaned the carb a few times. The results were confusing. In hindsight I’d just moved the gunk around enough to cause new and different blockages. The air compressor took care of that.

I’ve had good luck with the Chinese knockoff carbs, when I’m not feeling confident about what the problem is. They’re cheap enough to be worth trying, to see if it’s the fix, depending on how long the shipping times are.

[GreenWave]

Jeb,
I am not familiar wit this specifc outboard... does it have one spark plug or two? Fuel is gravity fed, right? So not the fuel pump issue I originally suggested.


Starting to smell like an electrical problem.... what does that look like for this outboard exactly?

[JebLostInSpace]

Originally Posted by GreenWave

Jeb,
I am not familiar wit this specifc outboard... does it have one spark plug or two? Fuel is gravity fed, right? So not the fuel pump issue I originally suggested.


Starting to smell like an electrical problem.... what does that look like for this outboard exactly?

One spark plug. I'm using the internal tank, and there is no bulb to press, so I guess that means it's gravity fed.

I don't think it's electrical, because when I spray starting fluid in the spark plug socket, it reliably starts for a second or so. I'm definitely getting a strong spark. I'm barely literate in these kinds of engines, but I think the spark is the only electrical component to worry about on this engine.

[donradcliffe]

From the last try, I am still thinking of a partial blockage from the tank to the carb, maybe the filter.

What happened when you pulled the hose off the carb and opened the fuel shutoff valve?

[Oeanda]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

From the last try, I am still thinking of a partial blockage from the tank to the carb, maybe the filter.

What happened when you pulled the hose off the carb and opened the fuel shutoff valve?

I’m also wondering this.

[Don C L]

So as I say I have the 9.8 but aside from your little tank mounted under the shroud I believe you have the same guts of fuel delivery. Something clogging the filter is definitely something to rule out.
There are some videos online that can help, here is one: