Re-built Evinrude 18 HP 1960 won’t start

[labrador-guy]

Sal, you have had quite an adventure!  The answer to your question is just put the pointer on the twist grip to start.  Pull out the choke and make sure it is closed tight.  Fuel pumped up and in a couple pulls you should see some gas around the choke butterfly.  The throttle opens about a quart way when the choke is pulled.

hope you get some smoke soon

dale

[Buccaneer]

Congratulations! Motor sounds great.
I’m guessing that hole is just a housing drain
to prevent water freezing and busting the housing,
but someone will know for sure.

Prepare to be boarded!

[mark weaver]

Are you sure you haven’t got the plug wires crossed? The top plug wire has a tin tag that says top or up.

[crosbyman]

the tin tag may have been lost..   motor work now   great job Sal happy motoring now find another one to fix and collect 😉

hole is a drain  for oily residues and… water   alway storethe engine vertically !!!   run a pipe cleaner   once or  twice per season to keep open especially before storage if  stored in freezing temps

oil in the  test tank comes from unburnt fuel/oil which all 2 strokes  spit out  with the exhaust

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

[Mumbles]

With the shift lever in neutral, twisting the throttle grip until it stops will automatically set the ignition timing for starting.  Pulling the choke  all the way out will automatically set the throttle opening for starting. All that’s left to do is pull hard on the rope and away you go!

NOTE: This procedure will not work if the shift lever is in forward or reverse gear. It’s gotta be in neutral.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by Mumbles.

1 user thanked author for this post.

salnaes

[billw]

I’m glad it’s running now. They sound great, don’t they? I LOVE those engines! The holes you show are water drain holes, to prevent freeze damage, a particularly handy feature in NORWAY! This is a 1960 two-stroke engine, so not a whole lot of concern was given to the fact that some of the fuel mix doesn’t burn and goes out through the exhaust, resulting in some oil in the water. If it makes you feel any better, the worst of this usually happens at start up, because of the choke use, and also, prior to getting the mixture adjustments dialed in correctly….which you will do even more accurately, once it’s on a boat. Don’t worry: On an actual boat, you may see a very small amount of oil in the water, but nothing even close to like your test tank.

Long live American manufacturing!

[lindy46]

Yup,  drain holes, supposed to be there. Water and exhaust residue should be seeping out.

[fleetwin]

I’m sure the newer style pistons/rings will work just fine, just pointing out that you have to be careful.  I haven’t researched this, so maybe OMC really did supercede the older style pistons to the newer style.  But, the superceded part number would probably have been for a “kit”, that would have included the newer style rings.  If not, the OMC price book would have spelled out that you needed the newer style rings as well.

OK, there is spark on both cylinders, so I am sure that the coil primary leads are connected to the correct set of points.  But, just because there is strong spark does not guarantee the timing is correct.  Generally speaking, the coil that faces forward is connected to the #1/top cylinder.  It is very easy to get things mixed up while rewiring plug leads and coils, I have done it many times.  I never trust myself, so leave the plug leads “long/untrimmed”, until I have gotten the engine running and am sure I have gotten it right.  I’m not saying you have it mixed up, just saying it is an easy mistake to make.

So, I would start by priming the cylinders with fuel/oil mix to see if that gets the engine running.  If not, then I would simply swap plug leads and try again.  There is a “stop” on the mag plate that limits the max throttle setting in neutral, I would just advance the throttle to that position while trying to start it.  And yes, that cheesy plastic choke detent is a poor design and the choke knob on that model is not very easy to use properly either.

[salnaes]

Thank you all for clearing out the purpose of the two holes. I’m relieved. Well, since the 18 horse is running nice and steady, I recon there’s no problems with ignition, carb, reeds or anything. Soon I will try it on my boat. Thanks to everybody using time and effort to help me. After all it turned out that all I had to do to get it started was spraying fuel mixture in the intake on the carb. Now it runs nice and steady. Thanks again. Sal.

[Mumbles]

Only the hole on the starboard side near the prop is a drain hole.  The other one on the other side is a blind hole and goes nowhere. It was probably used in the manufacturing process to set the housing up in a fixture for machining.

[Author]

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