Home › Forum › Ask A Member › 1960 Evinrude Fastwin 18hp Troubles
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willyboy.
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June 24, 2015 at 4:58 pm #1849
My current project is a 1960 evinrude fastwin 18hp that someone else worked on and gave away after they couldn’t figure it out. When I got the engine I was told it would only fire on ether and ran very rough once going. I have checked compression and each cylinder comes in at 95-100. Originally pulled the flywheel and the points were dirty so gave them a good clean and polish and reset them at .020. Installed a fuel filter in the bowl as it didn’t have one and gave it a try and it fired after a couple pulls. I had reset the hi and low speed idle needles and it ran with some slight skipping at lower throttle but smoothed out at higher speed. I ended up trying it on my old 16 foot alumacraft and took it down the lake and it seemed like it wasn’t running on full power,stopped for a few casts and then tried a restart and it wouldn’t start at all,came in on my electric motor. Since then I’ve replaced the coils,points,and condensers and it fired right up first pull,few little skips but overall ran better then the first try-until I hit the water again-it ran at what felt like full power for 100 yards and went right back to bog and skipping. Havent replaced the plugs only because they looked new-j8c’s but i’m picking up a set this afternoon just in case they are bad. I haven’t cleaned and rebuilt the carb,and everything electrical has been replaced except for plugs and wires. I’m really just getting into this hobby and am not a very good troubleshooter as of yet,any suggestions on what I might try next would be appreciated greatly.
June 24, 2015 at 5:07 pm #18830I’m sure someone wiser than I will respond, but if you see this before you go out for new plugs:
j4c is the "standard" plug, j6c is a hotter plug (often used if you spend a lot of time idling).
j8c is hotter still, never heard of anyone using them…. too hot a plug can cause predetonation and damage to the pistons…June 24, 2015 at 5:07 pm #18831OK, well kinda hard to say about the high speed skipping, but am guessing it is ignition related. Go ahead and try the new plugs, but you should use the J6C, not the J8C champions. When the engine "skips" at high speed, does it seem like it is bogging down, or is it a sudden/quick blast from full to partial power? Sudden/violent bursts of full power "usually" indicate an ignition fault. I know you have replaced most of the parts under the flywheel, but that doesn’t mean everything is OK under there.
I want to warn you about not properly torqueing the flywheel, do it right. If the flywheel nut is too loose, the key will shear and the tapers will be damaged. Over torqueing the flywheel nut will damage the flywheel.
In any event, I want you to try the simplest things first without ripping the engine apart again. Most parts stores/Harbor Freight/Sears sell those inline neon ignition testers. Put two of those inline testers between your plugs and the plug leads, then go for a ride (when the sun goes down) with an assistant. Ignition faults will be indicated by either light going on and off intermittently instead of a steady flicker.
While on the test ride, listen for arcing, you may be able to see arcing under the mag plate also, maybe one/both of your plug leads is bad.June 24, 2015 at 5:43 pm #18834Look for carbon fouling on those plugs. Small bits of carbon that have flaked off somewhere and fused onto the plug’s end. That will cause a high speed miss. Replacing the plugs will only be a temporary fix till they do the same. If this is a lucky guess, then the cure is pull the cylinder head and clean the carbon out. We tend to forget this was a common problem back in "the day". It even was a part of the tune-up procedure spelled out in the old factory service manuals. Today’s oils and unleaded gas have largely eliminated the problem from reoccurring.
June 24, 2015 at 5:50 pm #18835Thank you,i’ll pick up the j6c’s and get rid of the j8c’s that came with it. The skipping was at low speed when it was idling,once I got going at high speed it quit skipping and ran great for 100 yards or so and then seemed to go back to half power and bog down followed by more skipping. I torqued the flywheel down to 50 ft lbs. with a torque wrench. I have one of those spark testers in the garage,have to grab an extra to give that test. I am having doubts about one of the plug leads now that I think about it,before installing the coil onto the lead the wires inside the line looked a little thin and tarnished and the rubber boot had very tiny what looked like cracks in it.If I had to replace the plug leads I would have to remove the mag plate correct? I should have ordered plug leads when I bought the rest of the parts. Frank R- I checked the plugs and they look almost new,gave them a light swipe with some 600 grit and blew them off with the air hose. I’m going to re[place them with j6c.
June 24, 2015 at 8:57 pm #18843Yes the mag plate has to come off to change the spark plug wire.
I assume you did this when you changed the coils?
June 24, 2015 at 11:06 pm #18852Nope chris,i ordered everything but plug wires,dont know what I was thinking.
June 25, 2015 at 12:26 am #18856Im not sure you could change the coils properly without removing the mag plate. Perhaps you are not getting good contact between the coil pin and the plug wire? there would not have been enough of the plug wire sticking up to work with.
The spark plug wire needs be drawn up through the mag plate too far by about 6" or so, so that you can work on installing it into the coil with ease. Twist the coil onto the wire, 6 to 8 times or so, so that the metal strands of the plug wire wrap around the pin, giving you good contact which will not break. Then push the excess wire back down through the mag plate, secure the coil to the plate, and secure the plug wire to the bottom of the mag plate with the securing tabs.
If you don’t pull up some additional wire to install the coil, you will get minimal contact, if any, likely on corroded wire if it is original. This connection will surely fail, and could be what is causing your issues. Hope this helps.
July 2, 2015 at 4:32 pm #19347Thanks to all who offered suggestions,it turned out to be one plug wire was bad,replaced them both and she ran without a skip after that. Should have done that when I changed the coils,points,etc.,live and learn. On the plus side I learned how to make plug wires from scratch after I bought the crimping tool so got 2 birds with one stone on this one!
July 2, 2015 at 5:19 pm #19351Glad it is resolved, hope you enjoy a great old engine!
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