2J Champion Trouble Shooting

[Buccaneer]

Ben, I learned my lesson on a Mercury with the backwards
low speed jet, lol. The Champ is even marked which way
is lean and rich.

Prepare to be boarded!

[fisherman6]

Buc,
I figured you probably knew that already, but just wanted to make sure so you weren’t chasing your tail. Those idle tubes are really critical too in my experience.
-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

[Buccaneer]

Have not looked at the situation today, as
the Champion and I needed a little "Time Out",
so I’ve been cleaning the garage this morning!
I have a Tillotson ME-1B that I may take apart
and clean up, and try out. The Champion
has a ME-1A on it (correct), but I have no idea
what may be the difference.
Not a good day to test run outboards here….
snowing and raining 🙁
UPDATE: Tired of cleaning the garage, so I checked
the spark on the Champion seeing how it would not
restart the last time ran.
ZERO Spark! Pulled the flywheel.
Points were about .040 open and the coil
ground wire loose……. I’m very confused
to say the least, seeing how I was the last one
to work on it …… unless there’s Grimlins
in the garage! Set the points and tightened
the loose wire….. now has great spark.
Raining cats and woodchucks, so did not try
to run it…… hopefully tomorrow.

Prepare to be boarded!

[frankr]

Check the idle tube (the tube that runs down through the center of the carburetor from the top) That actually is what meters the idle fuel and the tiny holes get plugged up over virtually nothing. The needle merely controls how much air you add to what the tube supplies. That motor should idle dead slow, as I remember them.

[Buccaneer]

Tomorrow’s forecast looks better, so will try running
the old Champ again then. I had the little tube out
twice, both times when I cleaned the carb.
I ran a wire in it, blew thru it, used compressed air
etc. I made a new carb bowl gasket out of material
a little thicker than the original. It didn’t occur
to me until later that it could throw off the alignment
of the high speed needle seating. It’s hard to tell
if it’s seating correct, but the needle didn’t look
scored or bent when I had it out last, but something
to think about if I have to take it apart again.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll take a video of it running
like a "Champion"!

Prepare to be boarded!

[fisherman6]

Yes, these motors do idle very slowly. Mine does pretty well and I have heard some idle slower than I can get mine to idle.

https://youtu.be/scKC1cm31r0

-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

[Buccaneer]

Ben, I’d be very happy if I can get mine to run as
nice as yours! Mine has 90 psi compression, so
I would think it should idle decent…… guess time
will tell!
I noticed these units don’t have a tell-tell on the
water pump, but on mine the cylinder was running
cool, and I noticed the exhaust housing gasket
at the power head was leaking some water.
Not sure how the water exit from the power head
is plumbed top side, but noticed when I had the
lower unit apart that there is a return line
discharging below the "lake" level.

Prepare to be boarded!

[frankr]

Yep,it is a siphon system (return line). Weight of the water going down equals the weight of the water going up. If it had a tell tale, that would break the siphon.

[fisherman6]

Buc,
Mine leaks a bit of water in the same place and my cylinder runs cool also. Thank you Frank for the info on the cooling system. I wasn’t sure how that one worked either. I just knew mine was staying cool. I’d say with 90 psi yours should run well amd idle nicely. Mine has 100psi and I don’t think it has a lot of hours on it. The other thing the thicker gasket may affect is the depth of the drill point where the idle tube picks up fuel. I’m not sure how critical that is on these, but you’re right. It could also be of setting the high speed needle seat and that may have an effect also.

I have a 2hp Elgin with a Tillotson that someone once hastily removed the bowl from without backing the high speed needle out of. The needle was badly bent and mushroomed over where it had been screwed into the solid part of the carb body several times. I was able to straighten the needle and reshape the point and it turned out to be a decent runner too. Still, it may be better if everything was perfectly straight?
-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

[Buccaneer]

Frank, regarding "siphon systems"……
Are most / all of the old outboards with
metal water pump impellers designed as
a siphon system due to the inefficiencies
of the centrifugal pump?
I can’t remember what I ran last with
a metal water pump impeller, and if it
had a tell-tale!

Prepare to be boarded!

[Author]

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