1989 Evinrude 9.9 question

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mmarz4evr

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I just started the outboard for the first time since fall. It starts, but i have to kick it in gear and give it gas to keep it going, in idle or low throttle in gear it stalls out. At half throttle I start hearing a putting sound coming out of the prop/exhaust area. Kind of like an engine knock. I'm wondering why it wont idle?

Could the wrong spark plugs cause this? or could it be a carb issue? Or could it be my gas? I don't know how old the gas is, i put added stabil to it before winter and had the tank outside for most of the winter. Where would you start if your were troubleshooting, sounds like the plugs and the gas would be the easiest to troubleshoot.
 
Sta-Bil is not going to protect fuel forever. Would suspect the gas has pretty much had it by now. Smell it! Your symptoms sound like the idle circuit in the carb are gummed up and in need of a cleaning. You can try the idle mixture adjustment and see if it helps at all. Dump the gas regardless ....its very cheap compared to the cost of a damaged powerhead!
 
When you added the Sta-bil did you run the motor to get the sta-bilized gas into the carb??
Also, dump the gas!! Leaving it outside over the winter it most certainly has water in it from condensation due to temperature fluctuations.. I usually dump my left over boat has into my vehicle at the end of season.
Get new gas, mix it properly with good oil ( I use a small measuring cup to get EXACTLY a 50:1 ratio) and add "sea foam" to the gas to clean up the fuel system.. Also buy new plugs.. And gap them properly..
This should get you going.
 
I have run a mixture of seafoam and gasoline to help decarb if there is an issue. changed and gapped plugs correctly. New gas; perfectly mixed with oil. Still cannot get this outboard to start in idle. It starts first pull when in gear with a very low throttle speed; but in idle i can't even get it to start. I've even tried to increase the idle adjustment speed; and no luck. The outboard runs fine in gear all day.

What else could this be? I'm thinking i'll have to rebuild the carb and/or change the thermostat.

Any thoughts? Do you think I should be OK for the season like this? I maybe take it out once a month maxium and is garage kept when not in use.
 
mmarz,
I think it's like Pappy said above that your carburator is dirty and needs to be cleaned.

On that subject of starting in gear it's very dangerous. I know of 2 serious accidents that happened doing that. One person was cut up very seriously from the prop. The other accident happened at night and the boat operator was killed. It's a very dangerous practice!!

Regards, Keith
 
the outboard has a cutoff switch that wont allow it to start past a certain throttle level. So basically you can only start in low throttle or it wont turn over. That is straight out of the manual. I make sure of that before I pull. 2nd. The only way I can see being cut up by the prop in this situation is if I'm A. Pulling the cord in the water behind the outboard, which is impossible. B. If you're going to tell me the person fell overboard as a result of starting in gear and landed on the prop; that can happen at any time- not just upon starting in gear. Also, I'd say he wasn't connect to the landyard and that caused the boat to continue to run- run him over.
 
In the first accident the operator went out the back and the boat came back. The man overboard caught the bow between his hands and that pushed his upper part down. As the boat passed over him his lower part came up. The first prop blade hit both legs maybe 3-5 inches below the crotch and the second blade hit him in the scrotum cutting it severly. He said that his balls were out of the scrotum but were not severed. I saw the wounds a couple of months later and they sure looked bad to me.

The second accident happened night diving. The operator, an airforce colonel went out the back the boat came back and hit him in the head killing him. I was supposed to be on that trip but had to work but my friends sure told me about it.

Regards, Keith
 
Scrotum sliced open is never a good thing :( I dated a gal in highschool that was a victim of the "circle of death", was ran over twice and she had scars on both legs over 2 feet long and almost died from her injuries...... couple hundred stitches to get her back together....ugh.

Any way I completely agree with the above.... new fuel, carb clean and then see where your at.
 
To prevent the circle of death you could install a key stop onto the handle of the tiller in place of a push button stop. I actually have one from a Kawasaki 750 SS jet ski, I will fool around with it and see if I can get the connections to work and that way if you fall off the lanyard would get pulled and the motor would shut right off.

I don't see why they don't already come with one, you would figure they would have made them by now considering jet skis are much less dangerous and they've had lanyards since the 80's
 
The 89' 9.9 has one of these kill switch lanyards......but you must have it attached to you for it to do its job. I see a lot of people put the key in and leave it just hanging off the handle [-X . Not saying that mmarz is doing this, just that I see it often. I believe 86-87 is the year OMC started putting this on there motors.
 
yup as stated in my response. i have the landyard attached at all times, the throttle wont start past a low throttle either. As long as I am seated when I start I don't see the spiral of death coming after me since the engine will cut-off the minute I hit the water according to how it's designed.
 
Pappy said:
Sta-Bil is not going to protect fuel forever. Would suspect the gas has pretty much had it by now. Smell it! Your symptoms sound like the idle circuit in the carb are gummed up and in need of a cleaning. You can try the idle mixture adjustment and see if it helps at all. Dump the gas regardless ....its very cheap compared to the cost of a damaged powerhead!


Ok- so i ventured to clean out the carb since the season is over for me. Overall the outboard ran like a champ besides the fact that I could not get it to stay running in idle. I removed my 1st carb successfully and have the kit on the way. I'm wondering if you have recommendation in terms of a carb cleaner? I've heard that some are not friendly to your rubber parts and gaskets so I'm looking for some guidance. Also, this is an 89 so the top and bottom of the carb are constructed of that heavy plastic housing. Can I us carb cleane on those parts or shoud I go with something else?
 
If you use aerosol carb cleaner, just assume it's bad for rubber parts and gaskets, no mater what brand it is. As far as plastic goes, I've never tried prolonged exposure like soaking plastic in it, but I've never had a problem if I just sprayed it on and then wiping/blowing it off.
 
JMichael said:
If you use aerosol car cleaner, just assume it's bad for rubber parts and gaskets, no mater what brand it is. As far as plastic goes, I've never tried prolonged exposure like soaking plastic in it, but I've never had a problem if I just sprayed it on and then wiping/blowing it off.


Any brand of carb cleaner you recommend? Should I just make sure it's dry before I put it back together with the rubber parts and gaskets?
 
There's no one brand I prefer over any other. Just go to any Napa/O'Reillys auto parts and get whatever brand they're selling and you'll be fine. Blow all the passages out with compressed air after you've sprayed them down with cleaner. Then blow all the parts off with the air and it will evaporate almost instantly. Then reassemble with new gaskets/orings etc.

P.S. When you spray cleaner down those passageways in the carb body, look to make sure it's coming out the other end of the hole. That way you know it's not stopped up.
 
I have to say the condition of this outboard continues to amaze me. I keep it in the garage and used it 3x this year. The previous owner appeared to be a perfectionist and I don't think he used it very often on account of how clean the whole outboard is.

I took the carb apart and it was in near perfect condition. It makes me wonder if the idle problems I'm having is in relation to the carb or something else. The only thing I haven't tried doing yet is cleaning the fuel filter. That will be the next step if the carb clean does not fix this issue.

The 89 carb has a lot of plastic and rubber parts connected to it, and since I'm not that experienced with cleaning carbs, I did not want to chance a product damaging those parts. I went with Seafoam cleaner and lube. It did the trick and says it's safe on all parts. The product I originally purchased (Gumout) instructed me not to spray this product directly into the throat of the carb. I looked at the carb and thought- impossible. The tubes you have to clean out lead directly to the throat of the carb! Overall, I feel Seafoam was the right choice in this instance. There was little to no build up, every passage way was clear as can be. I sprayed directly into the passage ways with the Seafoam, and followed up with the compressed air. It cannot get any cleaner than what it is, and I feel I'm not going to have to worry about the rubber plastic parts once its all put back together.

Hope It idles better!
 
Carb clean and new kit was the ticket. Idle is perfect. If anyone is attempting this for the first time I can offer some hints to make the job a little easier. There are a couple of tricky parts, but overall definitely something you can do yourself.
 
Dump the gas, get fresh.

As for carb cleaner, get a can from NAPA or some such parts store and soak the carb but not more than 8 hours, marine carbs have a coating on them it will remove if left long term. Remove all gaskets, jets and plugs possible before soaking it, and if you have a kit coming then no big worries if you tear one up. Flush it out with hot water when you are done, use an air hose to blow out all passages and reassemble. Make sure your float heights are set right.

Idle is usually the first circuit to get gummed up on a carb, so you are on the right path.

Bufford
 

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