Topic: 1957 Evinrude 18 HP Fastwin – Antique Outboard Motor Club,Inc

This topic has 28 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 1 month, 1 week ago by Don.

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April 3, 2026 at 3:07 pm #313789
Jay
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US Member
Hey AOMCI,

First time poster, but have loved digging through the forum for fantastic nuggets on how to get this motor going.

I feel like I’m very close to the finish line, but can’t quite cross it. My 1957 Evinrude 18HP had been running for 3 seasons strong with only a water pump maintenance in between. Come last year I noticed losing power at higher speeds and narrowed it down to the old pressurized fuel tank leaking. Given the safety concerns of that I upgraded to a fuel pump (see attached pictures and a link to more). I did a carb rebuild, as I was already digging into the fuel system. After doing that, I couldn’t get a strong spark on one cylinder so I did a rebuild coil/condensers/points on that and now am getting strong spark (.25 in gap using gap tester). Come to today, I am able to get the motor to pop with a few hard pulls with choke out, some hisses with it half put in, then it did run for about 2-3 seconds and died, but after another hour of messing with it, I’m still at a lost. Even let it air out for awhile, but still can’t get it to run. Below are a ton of pictures. I’m wondering if I have an issue with the new fuel pump. When I prime, I’m able to get it to fill bowl and the bulb stays hard. High speed knob is out a full turn, low speed is out 1.5 turns. I’ve lock the throttle on the line on the throttle cam with the idle screw adjustment, because I noticed my throttle would reset back to stop in between pulls.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KvL57eVPRy4Bb3Ko6

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
April 3, 2026 at 5:12 pm #313806
Don
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US Member
Are you sure you torqued the flywheel back in place properly? Once the flywheel key is sheared, you will lose spark. You mention the engine ran a little bit, so am asssssuming you have the plug leads and coil primary leads correctly oriented.
April 3, 2026 at 6:05 pm #313829
JACQUES
Participant
front coil to top plug !!! it is easy to reverse them by mistake . make certain the coil wires don’t rub on the crankshaft tuck them under !

fyi

Maintaining Johnson E & FD Serie

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂
April 3, 2026 at 6:56 pm #313835
seakaye12
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When you were working on the ignition…..did you remove the points cam from the crankshaft? Perhaps it is installed upside down?

When the choke is pulled closed…..does it actually close all the way and stay closed all the way?

If your fuel pump is an imported copy…they are notorious for being assembled wrong. But when you pump the bulb you are SURE that fuel is flowing thru the pump and into the carb? SURE as in disconnecting the hose at the carb and visually seeing the fuel flowing?

Any chance that the carburetor float is installed upside down?

Will it fire and run for a couple of seconds if you spray 2-stroke mix into the carburetor throat? You can remove the silencer ass’y to make that easier…..
April 3, 2026 at 7:32 pm #313838
Jay
Participant
US Member
Thanks Don, JACQUES, and seakaye12 for all the recommendations! Luckily all of those things are in order. After getting some pulls from my neighbors we got it going!

I had to hold the throttle more open to get it to actually fire while my neighbor pulled (getting lots of pops before I did that), I seems to remember I used to be able to turn it to full and pull and the position would not reset, but now whenever I pull the starter rope it resets back to the min throttle position, is this normal? Photo for reference, blue line is where I had to hold it, red is where it resets with each pole if I don’t hold it

Could I have something wrong with the throttle cam? Or the roller, maybe I should add more tape so the throttle stays “more open” at the lower position?

Some running videos for reference:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HS8CpJ5mxTSzHkuy6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/d38kivfnhBx3NYKC9
April 3, 2026 at 8:30 pm #313845
seakaye12
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It sounds like the flywheel is rubbing against one of the coils…….and thereby moving the mag plate as the engine is pulled over.

Check to see that the coils are positioned correctly …..they should line up with the boss on the plate.

There’s a tool that helps with this…..a coil positioning ring…….but it’s easy enough to do without it.

Richard White sells the tool. https://richardsoutboardtools.com/product/coil-locating-ring/

1 user thanked author for this post.

Jay
April 3, 2026 at 9:33 pm #313850
labrador-guy
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Jay is the friction bushing in the twist grip? Sometimes it needs one to help it stay in the start position. People take them out when hooking up remote controls.

dale
April 3, 2026 at 9:45 pm #313854
RICHARD A. WHITE
Participant
Lifetime Member
I want to go back to the beginning..

You mention “safety concerns” with the pressure tank….
You may not know this but the tank only pressurizes to what 6 PSI??? the pressure relief valve, IF it fails, fails OPEN, so the tank can in NO WAY over pressurize.

Pressure tanks are more common than you think and every part needed to rebuild the tank back to new specs, …is still available..

Just wanted to clear that misinformation up.. There are NO safety concerns with the pressure tanks…LOL… I will get off my soapbox now…

Most respectfully

Richard White

http://www.richardsoutboardtools.com
classicomctools@gmail.com

2 users thanked author for this post.

David Bartlett, labrador-guy
April 3, 2026 at 10:51 pm #313864
JACQUES
Participant
motor should start with the throttle at START and the cam follower at the mark on the cam if not readjust the cam so the spot with the mark just touches the cam follower. Important is the fuel supply at start that flows up the side of the carb to the top LS chamber and down behing the throtte plate set timing per video SIde channel to the top of the carb is very narrow…!!! blow it out with carb cleaner .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga1Cjymj6ms&feature=youtu.be

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

1 user thanked author for this post.

Jay
April 4, 2026 at 7:59 pm #314016
Jay
Participant
US Member
seakaye12, you were correct, coils were rubbing. I do have a 3d printed version of the tool and have attempted to realign multiple times. If I get it to a point where it doesn’t rub the flywheel I sadly don’t get spark for the top cylinder. Wondering if I have too much play with the armature plate? Video link of how much I can wobble it below, is it too much?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fbe6mBc7WhqJKc188

Looks like a did a bit of damage to the flywheel (pics attached), did I do too much? Or could I just sand down the rough spots?

JACQUES, since I first got this motor I’ve never been able to start it without turning the throttle to fast. Once I get it going I can bring it down close to slow, but I’ve never been able to just leave the throttle there and idle nicely. Even after a full carb refurb kit, still acted the same, maybe I have a worn out slow needle? Something to check next after I figure out this flywheel :).

Richard, thanks for the background, I was on the fence moving to a fuel pump, but now that I know it can run with it, probably just going to stick with it.
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