Outboard probs- any obvious answers?

[phanakapan]

My little old Yamaha 2B is generally pretty good, usually starting first pull etc. But recently it starts fine, but dies about 2-3 seconds later, no matter what I do with the choke/throttle etc. The only thing that's 'different' from before, is that I ran out of fuel, and topped it up with some petrol that I'd had in a can from the UK about 6 months ago. I wouldn't bother trying to fix it myself normally, but I'm stuck at anchor on my own for a couple of weeks longer while my partner is in Australia for a family funeral and the daily row to get bottles of water (there's no tap) and food is getting a bit of a grind. Any obvious- to a complete engine novice- answers?( bearing in mind I'm likely to say'what's a carburretor' if you start using technical language!)
(oh and yes I do remember to open the vent on the top and switch the fuel on and make sure the 'stop' switch is pushed in and not have too much/any choke after the first attempt)
Someone suggested it could be old fuel, or too much oil (only put a splash but..)

 

[CreakyDecks]

If it dies when you put it in gear or try to rev up (and it's not the things you listed) then to me it sounds like blocked jets. It will idle OK but when it needs more fuel the mixture will go weak and it will stall. Not much help I'm afraid if you don't know what a carburetor is! The carb just wants a good clean out. I am assuming you've already emptied out the suspect petrol and got some new stuff in!

 

[phanakapan]

There isn't any 'idle' or 'put in it gear'- it's just pull and go, no neutral, no gears, no reverse.

And no, I know I should have done, but I haven't got rid of the old fuel yet- is there an easy way of emptying the tank other than siphoning?- ooh yes, to answer my own question, I did take the cover off yesterday and saw the fuel line, I could just unclip it and let it drain out couldn't I?.....

ps edit just done that, that was easy, I was dreading having to suck petrol to get a siphon started!!. New petrol will have to wait until I've rowed ashore, cycled to the garage.. at least I've now patched my dinghy which had 2 holes! I'll get there!

pps I did notice some fine grainy black bits in the bottom of the petrol tank, could some grib have got through the little filter thing in the tank when I ran out recently, might that be the problem?

 

[onesea]

My suggestions wait for other comments before leaping in but:

1) Emptying fuel tank, I would just turn upside down and pour out.
2) Probably is muck in the carb,

If you are that practical and have cover off....

Clamp/ Rest (not vital but makes description easier) outboard in running position tiller towards you where you can loose no small parts/ screws. (Block scuppers in self draining cockpit )

Follow fuel line to "carbertor" you will find throttle and choke cables all lead there... under the card there will be a "boul" on the bottom there is probably screw or drain mechanism...

Unscrew and let some fuel run through into glass or similar clear petrol proof container... If dirt comes out let more flow through till clean...

I would take boul off and check for large chunks but go step by step (normally 3 or 4 screws). If you open that there will be a float mechanism similar to that in a toilet (but small and compact same principle). Make sure you keep all gaskets in good condition... Underneath the float is where the worst of the dirt hides...

You could also take out spark plug and clean that off, I would just use tissue to remove any oil... If you get that far let the forums know what colour it is and you might get more of a diagnosis..

If its blocked jets then its more of a strip down... Not one I would give advise on like this LOL

For about one year I had to do this every 6-8 weeks for quite some time British fuel.... Pain in the A**e

Others please comment as you think necessary...

 

[Tribute]

My suggestions wait for other comments before leaping in but:

1) Emptying fuel tank, I would just turn upside down and pour out.
2) Probably is muck in the carb,

If you are that practical and have cover off....

Clamp/ Rest (not vital but makes description easier) outboard in running position tiller towards you where you can loose no small parts/ screws. (Block scuppers in self draining cockpit )

Follow fuel line to "carbertor" you will find throttle and choke cables all lead there... under the card there will be a "boul" on the bottom there is probably screw or drain mechanism...

Unscrew and let some fuel run through into glass or similar clear petrol proof container... If dirt comes out let more flow through till clean...

I would take boul off and check for large chunks but go step by step (normally 3 or 4 screws). If you open that there will be a float mechanism similar to that in a toilet (but small and compact same principle). Make sure you keep all gaskets in good condition... Underneath the float is where the worst of the dirt hides...

You could also take out spark plug and clean that off, I would just use tissue to remove any oil... If you get that far let the forums know what colour it is and you might get more of a diagnosis..

If its blocked jets then its more of a strip down... Not one I would give advise on like this LOL

For about one year I had to do this every 6-8 weeks for quite some time British fuel.... Pain in the A**e

Others please comment as you think necessary...

Good answer that, basically at the front of the engine (nearest tiller) you will see the Carburetor, on the carb at the bottom you should see a screw in the middle or offset slightly which is your drain screw. Undo that a couple of turns and put a clear bowl or jug under it. And follow the rest of the advice above. If that does not fix it take the carb off (dont worry nice and easy, you should see quite easily how it comes off). Then get a can of WD40 or carb cleaner etc. Use the nozzle/pipe which comes with most cans and push it into every hole in the carb and squirt it. Keep going until its pouring out of somewhere else. Put back on, fresh fuel, pull the cord and hopefully you will be away. I will see if I can find a strip down image of the outboard and I will point the parts out to you if you get stuck. Good luck

 

[MoodySabre]

I thought these had an inline replacable fuel filter. If it starts and then dies I would suspect fuel flow due to dirt in a filter or a sticking float in the carb. If the jet was blocked the engine wouldn't start at all would it?

 

[Tribute]

I thought these had an inline replacable fuel filter. If it starts and then dies I would suspect fuel flow due to dirt in a filter or a sticking float in the carb. If the jet was blocked the engine wouldn't start at all would it?

Depends which Jet is blocked. There are 3 jets usually, Pilot, Needle, Main. Pilot is for start up, Idle and low revs. Needle Jets control the Mid range, and the Main jet controls the high revs.

If he has drained the fuel tank using the fuel line obviously the blockage is not there.

 

[onesea]

Must admit I have only rarely needed to clean jets, I try not to remove carb.

I have fat fingers and am not known for my finesse... But if others are prepared to guide you....

Also one more tip, tie the dinghy up some where so that if it starts you can run engine full throttle... It is amazing how much dirt you can fit through those fine jets before it runs really clear .... Better to find it is going to stop tied up safely?

I have drifted round one to many harbours turnign the engine over by hand as my propulsion

 

[oldharry]

1. Check the in line filter near the fuel tap. 90% probability thats it. They can be reverse flushed as a temporary 'fix'. Actually come to think of it, this fix is still working on mine after 3 years... A very simple check is to pull the connector off the fuel tap (downline), then with a bowl to cach the fuel, switch it on to see if it is running freely. If not, thats your problem. If it is, proceed as follows:

2. Take the carb off. Its quite tight on the inlet manifold tube even when you have slacked off the locking ring - usually only needs a big screwdriver do undo the bolt. You also need to remove the front control panel, and carefully pull off the choke knob - these too can be very stiff and quite difficult to move, but the panel cannot be shifted with it in place.

3. Now undo the two bolts holding the carb bowl on to the body. Be prepared for some petrol spilling from it. If possible keep the carb and bowl upright so it does not spill. You can then pour it into a jam jar and see how mucky it is. Clean out the bowl.

4. Check the needle valave in the float is moving completely freely. The stainless pin holding the float in place just pushes out, if it hasnt already fallen out as you dismantled the bowl assembly. Make sure the needle valve inside is spotlessly clean, and completely free in the housing. If not, the engine stops almost straight away....

5. With a screwdriver unscrew the central jet housing - the brass bit sticking down into the middle of the bowl. Then unscrew the jet from the housing - its often quite tight.

Now blow some WD 40 or better if you have it, Carb cleaner spray, through the hole and clean it all out.

Reassembly is the reverse making sure the jet and its housing is tight, but not overtightened - the carb casting is very soft.

Reassemble the needle valve ensuring it is all moving completely freely. The pointed cone shape should be uppermost going in to the housing.

Make sure the paper gasket round the top of the carb bowl is intact. If not, a bit of Grease or vaseline will seal it until you can pick up a replacement.

DONT disturb the air jet screw on the side of the carb body - it is a bolt head with a spring under it. If you HAVE to take it off (to clean the airway, note the exact number of turns needed it screw it right in - and DONT force it - you will damage the seating.

But I think you will find the fuel is just dribbling slowly through the filter, causing weak mixture.

If none of this works, then it is a workshop job, as the problem is either electrical or mechanical failure.

 

[phanakapan]

Thanks for all replies- tommorow I shall-

row/cycle to garage buy new petrol- btw anyone know the spanish for the type of petrol I need?
-got WD40, will google for spanish for carb cleaner, likely to be in a garage or the chandlers?
have a go at cleaning the carb- we girls are supposed to be good at cleaning, how hard can it be......

thats if I'm not too busy re-anchoring 'cos the winds picking up and going round and I think I'm going to run out of swinging room.. but that's another story

 

[Ripster]

You have lots of good advice here already. Start with the fuel line and any in-line filters including any that might be in the tank (they are normaly in the pipe). From your desc it sounds likely that the line filters are blocked. Then if no joy, move on to the carb jets etc as described. If you find that some jets are also blocked be sure to clean ALL of them. Otherwise you can get other probs where it will start and even rev but misfires gets flat-spots etc under load. Best of luck.

 

[Tribute]

Any update to this thread?

 

[phanakapan]

Sorry peeps. The update to this thread is... I brushed up my spanish and managed to source a (very expensive- 20 euros!) can of carb cleaner, and was about to have a go, when I had an email from my other half saying 'oh I had to superglue a broken screw on the carb last time I looked at it, don't touch it...'
so I am going to leave it for him to do, which I'm a bit annoyed about, you were all so helpful and I was looking forward to fixing it myself. In the meantime I have got extremely good at rowing.
Will let you know if cleaning the carb fixes it. Cheers, Philippa

 

[steve66]

Sorry peeps. The update to this thread is... I brushed up my spanish and managed to source a (very expensive- 20 euros!) can of carb cleaner, and was about to have a go, when I had an email from my other half saying 'oh I had to superglue a broken screw on the carb last time I looked at it, don't touch it...'
so I am going to leave it for him to do, which I'm a bit annoyed about, you were all so helpful and I was looking forward to fixing it myself. In the meantime I have got extremely good at rowing.
Will let you know if cleaning the carb fixes it. Cheers, Philippa

This has a slide carb somyou actually can get to the jey without removing the 2 screws that hold the bottom (bowl) on.What you need to do is where the throttle cable goes into the carb at the top, unscrew it and the slide should come out attached to the throttle cable. There is a needle on the slide and that goes into a jet, this is what you need to clean out.If all else fails i have a few of these carbs.
Good luck

 

[SAMYL]

Depends which Jet is blocked. There are 3 jets usually, Pilot, Needle, Main. Pilot is for start up, Idle and low revs. Needle Jets control the Mid range, and the Main jet controls the high revs.

If he has drained the fuel tank using the fuel line obviously the blockage is not there.

Mine has only one fixed jet, the main. The screw on the stb side with the spring on it is a slow running screw, not a jet, it adjusts the height of the throttle slide which holds the needle jet.

If the engine is firing then there is not much wrong with the fuel quality. Your problem is probably fuel starvation as mentioned earlier, the main culprits being dirt or water in bowl or blocked filter. Follow the remedies described elsewhere. Draining the bowl through the drain screw and a blast of air through it usually sorts things out in the short term.

 

[phanakapan]

ooh thanks Steve 66, I'll give it a go.
My man left me here (to go to a funeral in Australia- couldn't be helped) at anchor for 5 weeks with a non-working outboard and a dinghy with leaks in both halves of the airdeck- and there's no tap near the anchorage so all water has to be bought in bottles from the supermarket and dinghied to the boat.. I've dragged my anchor, sorted it, re-anchored- but a lot further off the land and a long way from town. I've succesfully patched the dinghy and it would be really cool to get the engine going as well...cheers

 

[Lakesailor]

erm....do not do any work on the engine with it on the transom. Get it (a) into the dinghy (b) into the boat cockpit (c) onto the shore
"c" being the best. You will lose bits overboard otherwise.

Do try the draining off the float chamber first. If any water is in there it will limit the running time of the engine severely.
Water can get into the fuel tank through condensation overnight. Over a week or so it can amount to quite a lot. A good reason to shut the breather when not actually using the engine. Good idea to empty the fuel tank and start from scratch.

 

[phanakapan]

Halleluia!! Brrmm brrmm!

Well done gentlemen, we have fixed it....

Today I:
blocked the scupper holes in my cockpit

wrestled the outboard into said cockpit (shore too far away, too sandy btw lakey)

made a nest of rope for the prop end to sit in, and lashed the shaft to an upright pole I have in the cockpit

ripped off the ducktape that holds the cover on....!!

unscrewed said cover

had a good look......

the drain hole screw on the bottom of the bowl (offset) is the one my man superglued; it was slightly leaking gunk.

there are 2 screws with springs: a big one is, as someone said, to control the lever that lets the throttle pin thing go up and down; there is also a little one which is, I guess, the one I'm not supposed to touch. I didn't.

spotted 2 screws to undo the bowl. unscrewed them, bowl full of darkish gunky stuff and a brown plastic doughnut. Cleaned it with carb cleaner and kitchen towel

got baffled as to how to access jet- so just squirted carb cleaner everywhere, in the fuel inlet, up into the carb; also spotted brass rod wot goes down to jet and squirted around that and wiggled it around a lot.

btw I laid all screws down on a rough picture of the engine I'd drawn on a piece of paper and turned up its edges to make a 'tray' so they didn't get lost and I knew what went back where- neat eh?

oh question- when I undid the bowl there was no sign of any gasket- if that means a seal thing between the 2 halves. Is there supposed to be one?

Anyway, long story short, cleaned up all over the place, put it back together, made a rope sling thing to lower it into dinghy, filled it with petrol ( actually the same batch as before, my man having told me it was actually newer than I thought) mopped up spilt petrol, into dinghy-

pull. pull. pull. no start. think, give it time to get fuel from tank. don't flood it. pull pull. pull. nothing. sh#t. realise being watched by entire anchorage . Pull. pull. pull. bottom lip trembles.

handsome single frenchman waves and smiles. Come on my little engine... Pull- yes! yes! yes!

zoom off round the bay singing 'Halleluia' from Handels Messiah at the top of my voice, spend a good 1/4 hour at various revs, smooth as.

Thank you one and all, for giving a damsel in distress in foreign climes the courage needed to undo screws and poke about.....

Do you think sorting the outboard will offset the *******ing I'll get when he gets back cos I haven't done the washing up or sewn the cushion covers??

 

[rickym]

Congrats!!

 

[SAMYL]

Well done. Have a big G & T.