Evinrude 5.5 won’t start

[kmead]

Hello all,

   I’m a brand new outboard user. I bought a 1955 Herters Hudson Bay a couple of weeks ago and it came with a 1960 Evinrude Fisherman 5.5 hp engine. Previous owner said the engine had been recently refurbished, and indeed it looks clean and new inside and out, but I can’t get it to start. It shows no signs of ignition at all, whether I choke it fully, halfway, or not at all.

   I have filled the gas tank with new gas mixed to 16 to 1 ratio, and replaced the fuel line assembly. Fuel is getting to the fuel filter, and also to the carburetor, which I think has a leak since fuel is collecting in the housing underneath it.

   I tried removing a spark plug, connecting it to the spark plug cable, and holding it against the engine block while the engine was being cranked, and there was no spark.

   The starting instructions on the engine cover say to open fuel cap oil vent, and open fuel valve, but I don’t know what that means or where those things are.

   Other than disassembling the engine to find the source of the fuel leak, I’m not sure what to do at this point. Any help is much appreciated.

[JACQUES]

first.. fix the carb fuel leak   you have a great kicker with fuel pump, thermostat .  when you get it going replace the gear case oil.

if it does not spit water out the back you will need to replace the impeller !! DO NOT RUN THE ENGINE without a working  impeller.  A new one will be required when you do get it running. A tricky task but normal…. see video and a place to get parts.

Call them to order  the proper kit for a 1960 model year ! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY2HrEdp5vg

Johnson Evinrude outboard impellers, seals, lower unit kits, water pump kits, gaskets – VintageOutboard.com

 

refurbishing oldies is a great hobby and getting them running again is very satisfying.

one critical test to do before sepnding$100 + to properly refurbish you Fisherman…. is to do a compression test. The motor is 70 years old and can be a good runner for another 25 years ++ but if  compression is to low to run properly  a full rebuild will make the investmnet questionnable as there  are lots of good oldies around.

The 5.5 hp  1960 is  a great engine and one book  for beginners is  this one in kindle version

By Max Wawrzyniak – Cheap Outboards: The Beginner’s Guide to Making an Old Motor Run Forever: Books – Amazon.ca

visit also  this site  ” Leroy’s”  for lots of  info on oldies and the OMC  family engines ( Johnson – EVinrude )

https://www.leeroysramblings.com/

so…..that said

no  spark is the reason..it won’t fire       if the carb section has been taken care of ((lots of utubes on cleaning carbs)

have you measured ohms on the HV  side  from plug boots to engine frame … post your results…. expect 4-8 Kohms

what has been done to service the electricals (points cleaned ?? , condenser tested /replacemed , coil replacement (most are cracked)

plug wires…

download this  free book if you plan  fixing oldies

https://www.socalaomci.com/library/johnson_service_manual_10th_edition.pdf

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

 

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

1 user thanked author for this post.

kmead

[kmead]

JACQUES wrote:

first.. fix the carb fuel leak   you have a great kicker with fuel pump, thermostat .  when you get it going replace the gear case oil.

if it does not spit water out the back you will need to replace the impeller !! DO NOT RUN THE ENGINE without a working  impeller.  A new one will be required when you do get it running. A tricky task but normal…. see video and a place to get parts.

Call them to order  the proper kit for a 1960 model year ! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY2HrEdp5vg

Johnson Evinrude outboard impellers, seals, lower unit kits, water pump kits, gaskets – VintageOutboard.com

 

refurbishing oldies is a great hobby and getting them running again is very satisfying.

one critical test to do before sepnding$100 + to properly refurbish you Fisherman…. is to do a compression test. The motor is 70 years old and can be a good runner for another 25 years ++ but if  compression is to low to run properly  a full rebuild will make the investmnet questionnable as there  are lots of good oldies around.

The 5.5 hp  1960 is  a great engine and one book  for beginners is  this one in kindle version

By Max Wawrzyniak – Cheap Outboards: The Beginner’s Guide to Making an Old Motor Run Forever: Books – Amazon.ca

visit also  this site  ” Leroy’s”  for lots of  info on oldies and the OMC  family engines ( Johnson – EVinrude )

https://www.leeroysramblings.com/

so…..that said

no  spark is the reason..it won’t fire       if the carb section has been taken care of ((lots of utubes on cleaning carbs)

have you measured ohms on the HV  side  from plug boots to engine frame … post your results…. expect 4-8 Kohms

what has been done to service the electricals (points cleaned ?? , condenser tested /replacemed , coil replacement (most are cracked)

plug wires…

download this  free book if you plan  fixing oldies

https://www.socalaomci.com/library/johnson_service_manual_10th_edition.pdf

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

 

Thank you very much. That is a huge amount of helpful information! I intend on trying to fix it myself so we’ll see how that goes. Can you explain a little more about checking the ohms? What does the HV side mean? I will also check out the service manual that you provide provided a link for.

[Don]

Well, you mention it has no spark.  Did you try both plugs to check for spark on either cylinder?  It won’t run with no spark.  Remove the rewind starter and you will notice an inspection cover on top of the flywheel that can be removed with a few screws.  Remove the cover and have a look at the ignition coils/components inside.  Pay close attention to to potting on the ignition coils.  Is the potting chipped, cracked, flaked off?  If so, you will need to overhaul the igntion system.  If not, you can simply check the point gap and clean them without removing the flywheel.   You will need to clean up/dry any fuel spilled in the lower motor cover before attempting to check for spark again.

I’m not sure what instruction book you are using for this engine.  But, your engine does not have a fuel valve, or a fuel cap oil vent.  Needless to say, you must repair any fuel leak issues before attempting to run the engine.   Post some pictures with specific questions.

[JACQUES]

the ignition coil is like a common transformer    one side is HIGH voltage  one side  has low voltages  built up by magnetic induction.

the high side feeds  HV to  sprak the plugs.  it results when points open and the collapse the store energy in the low side coil forces the coil to maintain its stored energy  generated from rotating magnets.    The collapsing  field  in the ” low side” induces    the high side to build up a high voltage with nowhere to go but the spark plug to reach ground.

that HV  inner coil side (secondary)…..  has about 4-8 KOms  of electrical wire  resistance    using air thin wires    than can breakdown for various reasons.   measuring OHMS from the boot plug to the engine frame will tell you if something impeeds  voltage  flow to the spark plug .

IF you read OPEN/Infinity the path is OPEN  and needs to be fixed  by replacing the coil, wires, boot pin etc..  see manual and utubes.   see T mike videos…. one of many such videos on utube to help you out.

suggest  you do some reading before tackling all these steps.  visit the AOMCI westen site for great articles on  the stuff (see  misc articles)

testing outbaord coils T mike – Yahoo Search Results

Testing an Outboard Coil with a Multimeter using an ignition coil from the Johnson H or T

Magazine Articles | Western Reserve Chapter

 

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

[Mumbles]

It needs good and strong spark to run. If the spark is weak or non existent, the usual culprits are, in no particular order, dirty or burned points, weak or leaking condensers (capacitors),  deteriorated ignition coils.

[JACQUES]

and cracked wires from years of bending

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

[kmead]

Many thanks to everyone for all of their contributions. I am very grateful. It will be a few days before I can get around to taking another look at the engine, but I will report back as soon as I can.

[Author]

Posts