Troubleshooting Evinrude 1971 6HP - Fisherman

Took a gamble and snagged an old 1971- 6HP Evinrude at a moving sale at a real bargain.
Guy claimed it sat in his garage for about a decade and hadn't been run, but was maintained pretty good by his father in law when it was in use. A visual inspection checked out, overall it didn't look too bad. I wasn't able to run it at the moving sale, but I figured worse case I could part it out and recover my money.

Took it home, changed the plugs and it started on the 3rd pull. I let it run idle hooked up to a hose and flush kit. It ran perfect for 5 minutes and then it began stalling out. And saw a little smoke coming from the lower end. I'm thinking it may need a new water pump from sitting around all those years.

Anyone else encounter this before? Any hints on what I should check next?
I am kinda new to working on these motors. ? Could use a few pointers on what to look for and or replace.


thx

what I do on these unknown engines
1 - pull plugs and put a little 2 cyc oil in and turn the engine over a few times and check the xmsn to see if it works in forward - reverse and neutral
2 - new plugs
3 - try to start
4 - if it starts check to see if water is running through
5 - if it doesn't start check for spark with a spark tester - cheap at any auto parts store
6 - next order a carb rebuild kit, new impeller and all the seals required
7 - change the bottom end oil
8 - check the fuel pump and replace if required
9 - use good gas

good luck

I'm working on a 6 hp 1987 now with an enricher - I ordered a new enricher because this one is cracked - plus all the stuff I mentioned above

^^^+1 on the carb kit and impeller. If it has been sitting any length of time you always want to change the impeller even if it is pumping water. Those rubber fins will get brittle and break apart and possibly cause way bigger problems. Its 10 to 15 bucks and fairly easy on those motors (other than that little pr%ck shift shaft linkage). As far as your starting/running problem I'd be willing to bet its your carb. I usually pull them apart check everything out before I do a full rebuild. Usually you can get away with disassembling and soaking in carb cleaner over night then blow it out with some air. If its been sitting for ten years I'd go ahead and change the fuel lines under the hood too or you'll probably be pulling your carb back apart in a day or two to clean those little rubber flakes out of it ( learned this lesson first hand).

https://www.leeroysramblings.com/OMC_6hp.htm

You say you used a hose and flush kit?

These outboards have a different water pickup than most and require a special flushette that is no longer available.

Most have to run them in a bucket/tub.

It's possible you fragged the water pump depending on how you were getting water to it and that might have been the "smoke" you saw.....or it was just some 2 stroke smoke escaping after shutdown.

A condenser breaking down (age) can cause the run for a couple minutes and die symptom. Works fine stone cold, but after running a few minutes it warms up and begins to fail. Cool it down and it runs again.

My 2 Hp runs fine, but I'm switching it over to electronic ignition. My 8 HP (essentially the same outboard as your 6) is staying points until I figure out how to swap in the 2 cylinder electronics. The 8 and the 2 run fine on their points style ignitions, I just prefer the simplicity and accuracy of electronic ignition. The 2 HP is more of a hobby thing, the 8 HP is my main motor so no "experimenting" on that one until i get the swap procedure sorted....