TOPIC: Need Help with my Starflite

Update 2/3: Shop called today, said the motor was fixed. Summer's already looking better.

1966 Evinrude Starflite 100. Very clean, appears to be low hours and only fresh water. Overall very nice condition.

There is a shop in town that came highly recommended so I called him today, he said it's too old and he won't work on it. At least he told me up front instead of wasting my time.

What I"ve done:

Replaced main wire harness
Rebuilt carb
Replaced all reed valves
Replaced coil
Replaced rotor
Replaced condenser
Replaced coil wire
Replaced Spark plugs
Replaced timing belt

I'm sure there's other things I've forgotten, basically we replaced everything that seemed like it might need it.

Symptoms vary, but the main one is that it will run out of the water but will not make any power when in the water.

I did actually get it to run smooth and smoke-free in the driveway but as soon as it's in the water it will die when put in gear. I do have a shop manual but it seems at times that key pieces of information may be left out.

Float levels could be off, would accept detailed instructions on setting them

Throttle/Distributer timing most likely off, but I've spent many hours on it with only marginal improvement. Detailed instructions for this would be very helpful.

So either A: I'm fixing it myself, B: selling it as a non running motor and taking it in the shorts, or C: trading it towards a running motor.

Option A is fine, but will require a lot of input.

Im a Merc guy now but I had a 66 starflite 80 that I rebuilt. It sounds like carb to me. If it is running smoke free in the driveway you definitely have it too lean on the low speed circuit. The extra load in the water is too much for the lean circuit. The engine needs to be tuned in the water, that includes setting the idle in neutral. Idle should be 600 to 800 rpm in neutral. Richen up the low speed idle screw. When you get it so that it will run in gear you can re adjust the screw accordingly, favour the rich side.

Daveswaves wrote:

...you definitely have it too lean on the low speed circuit. The extra load in the water is too much for the lean circuit...

Hm, that would make sense.

Is it possible that I have something fouled up to the point where the high speed circuit is not kicking in? Don't even know if that's possible short of leaving out the jets but I remember someone else making that suggestion.

At what point in the throttle travel should the high speed jets kick in?

I don,t think you are getting close to using the high speed jets if you can,t even put it in gear in the water. Getit running at low speed first, The high speed will come. There is an advance plate on the mag plate that contacts the roller on the carb linkage as you increase the throttle. Make sure that it is contacting the plate and that the roller has not disappeared. There is a specific alignment point on that plate, I will see if I can find any info on it. Been a few years.

Daveswaves wrote:

...There is an advance plate on the mag plate that contacts the roller on the carb linkage as you increase the throttle...

Near as I can tell that is adjusted correctly, it is supposed to open the butterflies at a specific point in the throttle travel (don't remember what right now) and it's been checked and rechecked many times. But it can't hurt to check it once more.

So the butterflies are opening, I guess I'm wondering if it's possible that the fuel isn't there. Needles and seats are new and the jets were thoroughly cleaned.

As for the low speed idle adjust (high speed is not adjustable), I set it according to the manual and the result is the low power. I've adjusted it maybe a turn in either direction, do I just need to enrich it about three turns and let the smoke roll? Should the spark plugs run a little oily? Seems to me they looked pretty clean last time I checked.

Other problem is I won't have any open water till March, so I'm dry until then.

Other problem is I won't have any open water till March, so I'm dry until then.

Any way you can set her up in a barrel or trash can full of water? (Maybe not an option with the weather being so cold over most of the country about now!) The back pressure caused by having the lower unit immersed in water will make a BIG difference in the carb settings, I'll sure second that statement from experience. NOTE:Others have cautioned to make sure the water level is well above the level of the water pump, you sure don't want to run her dry.

I guess I'm wondering if it's possible that the fuel isn't there.

Have you checked to output of your fuel pump? Seems like there was some discussion on that on one of your earlier posts about this motor.

Very good rugged motor !!

---

You need to post compression #'s and if you have the timing checked and belt on correctly.

---

Verify that you have spark at each plug wire ( they run quite well on 2 cylinders in the driveway ).

Any way you can set her up in a barrel or trash can full of water?

Short answer is yes. Can you do that with the prop off? I've heard that if you have the prop on it will empty the barrel in one spectacular geyser as soon as you put it in gear.

Have you checked to output of your fuel pump? Seems like there was some discussion on that on one of your earlier posts about this motor.

Even I had forgotten about the fuel pump. When I first got it I rebuilt the fuel pump and replaced all the lines and while I don't know the numbers the output was strong.

It then sat for about a year. When I cracked open the fuel pump the diaphragm was stretched and would not return to "flat." This was after many hours on and off the water trying to get the old beast running. At that point I put in an electric pump from my truck which didn't really seem to make any difference one way or the other. I can still put in the original pump, just need to get a kit for it.

You need to post compression #'s and if you have the timing checked and belt on correctly.-

I need to find the adapters for my compression gage, but I know you sure can't hand crank it.

Timing has been my main focus, and I'm almost positive that it's wrong. I've read through that section of the manual many times and it just doesn't seem to add up. One big deal is where the throttle lever needs to be set before the timing procedure is even started. Second is how far advanced/retarded the distributer must be in relation to TDC. If I could nail down those two things I might be able to get it.

Verify that you have spark at each plug wire .

Good strong spark on all four.

Original fuel pumps rarely are a problem----THEY ARE VERY WELL BUILT.

---

You can pump the bulb in the hose as a manual pump for testing purposes.

---

Timing marks ( for the belt ) on the block / flywheel and the distributor must all line up.

---

The actual position of distributor does NOT matter when doing these steps.

Well I finally caved. I found the prefect mechanic: A gray haired, mildly ill-tempered gent who has been working on Evinrudes for just shy of twice my lifetime. His shop is slow right now and he said to bring it in. So in I brung it.

I know it's close, I don't expect it to be too expensive, and it will all be worth it next summer when we're camping on Bighorn Lake.