Outboard woes

[eddystone]

Have just acquired a used Tohatsu 3.5 2 stroke. Don't know how old but seemed to be in pretty good condition. Sold as seen but exchangeable for other used engines in stock. Took ages to get it to start; worked fine with good water flow for 15 minutes or so, just cruising round top of Itchen, then died; not stopped dead but pretty quickly, so guessing fuel problem rather than electrical; nothing will get it to restart .Now I have 2 non-working 2 strokes but wallet £350 lighter. Haven't got time to faff around with this - other things to fix on boat anyway. Would you?

1. Spend some money having it looked at?
2. Swap it for Mariner 3.3 2 stroke - looks like same engine in different guise but possibly not in as good condition.
3. Swap it for Suzuki 2.5 4 stroke, which suspect is newer, and the only 4 stroke I could countenance, apart form Honda, on weight grounds.

I'm aware of 2 stroke v 4 stroke pros and cons and prefer 2 stroke for being easier to store and manhandle, but reliability and weight trump all other considerations.

 

[TQA]

It is almost certainly some gloppy oil residue from being stored, very common issue, I have had it with mine.

Take the sides off, remove carb bowl and fuel line.. Blow through everything including the main jet and reassemble. 30 mins the first time you do it, 12 mins the next time.

Fit new plug too, just in case.

 

[cliff]

Is the plug wet after you try to start it? if so check for a spark and/or change the plug and check for spark again. If dry then the carb is at fault give it a good clean - a soaking in carb cleaner helps followed by a blow through with compressed air

 

[LadyInBed]

It is almost certainly some gloppy oil residue from being stored, very common issue, I have had it with mine.

Take the sides off, remove carb bowl and fuel line.. Blow through everything including the main jet and reassemble. 30 mins the first time you do it, 12 mins the next time.

Fit new plug too, just in case.

I've just acquired a Mariner 3.3, it has given me an almost identical problem.
It ran ok at low revs but cut out when I tried to open it up. Ok again at low revs.
Stripped carb, fuel line, filter and cleaned. Replaced fuel but still the same. Now it won't start at all!
Luckily I bought it from a friend, who has said money back or he will pay for repair. As my little Suzi is nocking on 30 years old I could do with a replacement, so I have gone for the repair option.
I'm waiting to find out what's wrong.

 

[seumask]

I would try a new spark plug. This is an easy one to put in and check, a lot easier than stripping the Carb and has saved me much trouble on several occasions.
Always one of the first things I do with this type of engine.

 

[eddystone]

I would try a new spark plug. This is an easy one to put in and check, a lot easier than stripping the Carb and has saved me much trouble on several occasions.
Always one of the first things I do with this type of engine.

But it was advertised as having been serviced so should have put a new plug in - i'll have a look at it of course but difficult to see how that would stop it when its running; it did have a few hesitations just before stopping, which sort of suggests fuel running through carb/float chamber has loosened some crud and maybe blocked the jet - sound plausible?

BTW didn't come with a kill cord so had to whittle a clothes peg to fit but I don't think they're sensitive to that - i've heard of people using cable ties to hold the stop button open.

 

[Gin]

Very likely fuel residue in the carb or as I found in mine, the base metal slider valve (my description)which blocks fuel entry when carb is full and operated by the float chamber fork, suffers surface corrosion and being very light weight cheapo stuff sticks instead of slides smoothly (old fashioned solid brass ones worked much better, I recall)

 

[Durcott]

Hi - my experience with this class of beasties has been a failure in the magneto winding.

It fails after starting reasonably well, and it 'feels like' fuel starvation.

By the time you get to check it out - it's all back to normal.

Jeff