outboard engine, what's broken

[simonfraser]

outboard engine, what\'s broken

out this morning, on the engine, just past the mooring into the tide, BIG bang, and it stopped.

by the time i had the anchor out i was just about back to where i started from.
at least it was sunny and not much wind, a perfect day for it.

engine won't start, doesn't engage reverse, and the prop is stuck solid.

sounds expensive to me, engine is 6hp 4 stroke, 6 years old, any ideas ??

 

[VicS]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

Make?

Will the engine turn when the cord is pulled or is that siezed?

The stuck prop sounds like a gear box problem but that won't explain the engine not starting.

 

[simonfraser]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

engine turns with great dificulties, evinrude

 

[Superflid]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

Broken G/box? Not able to get neutral any more as it's "gone"!

 

[simonfraser]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

hmmm, gearbox broken, sounds ok to me, it's now a good paperweight ?

i.e. get a new one ?

 

[VicS]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

Sounds like something happened to do severe damage to the gear box and the engine at the same time. You hit a whale or something but you would expect the shear pin or rubber bonded prop to go and prevent further damage. Maybe something failed inside the gearbox jammed that up and thus caused major damage to the engine.

Sounds expensive.

 

[Csail]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

I reckon you seized it ...lack of oil??

 

[simonfraser]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

csail,

no oil, i did have it serviced two weeks ago, it ran fine for 30 mins going back to the mooring, would it seize after a 2 min run ??

 

[duncanmack]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

Succinctly?
YES.

 

[Csail]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

yes.. could.. why?

 

[Csail]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

30 mins maybe but at about 32 mins it may have been totally out of lubrication??

 

[VicS]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

Are you saying there was no oil in the engine? Or was there no oil in the gearbox?

If there was no oil in the engine it would have siezed but why would there be no oil 2 weeks after being serviced. Has it been laid down wrongly so that all the oil drained out or was it returned with no oil. The gearbox would have seized with no oil as well.

If the trouble has been caused by lack of oil then it begins to sound as though you should go and have some harsh words with the people who serviced it.

 

[Csail]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

Hold your horses mate. No the engines do seem to have a problem.. I am sure you looked after yours as we did but they still seem pretty tricky if you don't check oil etc. Tohatsu next fron what i have learned! Mariner,Merc etc seem to be the same inside.

 

[duncanmack]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

Quote
"would it seize after a 2 min run ?? "

Yes it could. Because engines do seize, but usually not immediately.
If it had run for 30 minutes already, then cooled down it would not surprise me if it then seized after a couple of minutes of further running.
Have you checked to see if you can say " Hello con-rod?"
Has a tooth come off the pinion in the lower leg and seized the gearbox?
To check it you may well have to drop the leg off and see which bit is seized.

Expensive whichever bit has gone,

Good luck!!

 

[William_H]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

Surely you have checked the oil in the motor and gearbox already. if OK....
If it were me I would dismantle the leg. My experience is from old evinrude 2stroke 6 but I presumme they are similar.
With the bottom of the leg removed (includes gear box and water pump.) you can confirm firstly the power head is OK. It should start and run happily however without water cooling don't push it too long.
By turning the shaft you can confirm the water pump and gear box are Ok (or not).
If you choose to take it back to the man who serviced it you may get an admission of guilt if that is appropriate (with a repair guarantee) or you may get a cover up and you will never know. Or of course he is probably a good mechanic who is struggling to maintain your o/b at a sensible cost and it has had damage or internal failure beyond his control or doing.

For myself I would rather stuff it up (or fix it) myself for free than pay someone else huge rates to fix it or stuff it up for me. They are not rocket science and once you figure out how to dismantle it you can keep it going for ever. good luck olewill

 

[simonfraser]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

thanks for all the replies,

Duncan, please explain to me why it can run for 30 min and then seize shortly afterwards

regards, Simon

 

[VicS]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

Thinking a little more about this:-
The fact that you cannot turn the prop, assuming it is in neutral, and the fact that you cannot engage reverse indicates a gearbox failure.

It is unlikely that the engine would sieze through lack of lubrication at the same instant.

Since the drive shaft is connected down to the gear box it could be that it is the gear box fault that is making the engine difficult to turn.

The fact that the engine will turn means that it is not totally siezed but, of course , if it has been run with no oil it may be badly damaged. The drive shaft might be bent if the gearbox suddenly jammed and /or damage could have been done to the engine

I would remove the gearbox or at least get inside and remove its 'inards' then reassess the damage that the engine may have suffered.

It would be nice to try and run the engine without the gear box if possible. It would have to be brief unless some improvised cooling could be rigged up with the garden hose. (but don't foget the engine oil!)

 

[simonfraser]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

thanks vics, that seems to be the most likely one, we'll find out next week.

i'll let you know.

 

[VicS]

Re: outboard engine, what\'s broken

Yes it is always nice to know the final results. Its near on impossible to diagnose problems witout being hands on but the more feed back we get the more accurate we can be in the future.