Evinrude Speedifour electric start

[Paul Munson]

I just picked up my first project of the year and need a little help on understanding this thing. It is a Evinrude Speedifour, 1939 or so model 7033. When I popped the top off the starter it looks like it has either some sprayfoam or crazy fungus growing on it. I cannot find much on this starter so any help understanding how it works and comes off would be great.. Is this something that should or shouldn’t be there. The motor for the most part looks to be in good shape but I cannot tell if the pistons are locked up until I am sure about removing the starter. The only other issue at this point is the driveshaft was lost when the previous owner took the lower unit off which leads me to believe that was the issue when it was shelved. I have a parts manual that I will be going through but I am sure I am going to have a few questions there as well once I start digging into it.

Thanks,
Paul

[pm-t2]

The fungus or whatever it is should not be there. It should be clean under that cover. That stuff may have been intended to act as insulation, but I’d suggest getting it out of there because it may be hiding problems, and could conceivably cause a short-circuit or even a fire. it looks like they may have jury-rigged some kind of voltage regulator in there. You don’t want that, its best to render the charging circuit inoperable for these motors in order to avoid the risk of overheating the windings on the rotor.

Your motor has what some refer to as the “veranda” style starter due to the large additional section bolted onto the front side of the round starter housing. I prefer to call it the “dashboard” type.

You basically have the same starter-generator as I’m showing on an Elto Super C, but they added that section on the front to house the key switch, power on-off switch, and ammeter.

The Owen-Dyneto starter-generator works thusly;
a) at low speeds, and the engine not running, it will act like a motor, and use battery power to rotate the crankshaft until such time as the engine starts
b) at higher speeds, it acts as a generator, and supplies current to recharge the battery and run on-board accessories that use 12V DC current to operate (such as lights, pump, etc)

To operate, the power switch is turned to the ON position, and the lever that is underneath the dashboard is pushed all the way to the right (port side of the boat) to activate the starter. Once the engine is running, the lever is returned to its normal position. All functions of the motor now are controlled by the switch.

HOW IT COMES OFF – well, take the points cam off first. You then would have to remove the point plate. With that out of the way, next remove the cover that holds all the brushes and contacts. With that remove, the rotor is now exposed. Remove the crankshaft nut and use a puller to lift the rotor off of the crank. With the rotor out of the way, you can unbolt the circular outer housing from the top of the crankcase. Reverse procedure for assembly. Hope it helps.

Best,
PM T2

[Paul Munson]

Thanks PM T2. That info helped a bunch. I was able to clear away some of that spray foam. The more I looked at it to understand what the previous owner did along with the information you gave me it does look like they put a regulator in and tried to secure it in place with spray foam. I was also able to get it removed as well as found out the motor is not seized which was a relief. It is a bit grimey inside around the field coils. Do you have any suggestion for cleaning these or is that not a good idea. All in all it looks pretty good other than the brushes are getting short on life left.

Thanks,
Paul

[pm-t2]

You can wash things out to get rid of any accumulated grime. I would recommend it, if for no other reason than it will be easier to verify if you have deteriorated wiring or not.

On parts where paint removal isn’t a concern (i.e. electrical components), I use a toothbrush and lacquer thinner. It cleans crud off well, and doesn’t harm the fit or function. On painted parts, don’t use anything stronger than WD-40 (and toothbrush scrub) as your solvent. Considering the mess that’s in there now, it would be well worth your while to completely take things apart. I recommend getting the regulator and attached wiring out of there and doing away with using the charging circuit altogether.

I would bet that the reason that external regulator was added was because the original regulator failed. The voltage regulator on the Owen-Dyneto used a set of contact points that had a habit of sticking together. This could cause two problems – one, the battery could get over-charged and boil off the electrolyte, and two, the charging system would overheat the rotating element. In many instances, this caused the soldered wires to overheat and come loose – usually at about 2500 RPM or higher. The ensuing rats-nest of copper wiring was no fun to deal with, as you can imagine. It is common to find motors bearing model numbers that indicate they should be an electric start, but are equipped with a conventional flywheel magneto. Those are cases where the Owen-Dyneto appliance failed and was replaced with the less complex (and costly) flywheel magneto ignition.

I have several outboards with the Owen-Dyneto starter-generator on them. So far, so good, I have not had any electrical issues arise. I think the key with helping those units survive is to not ask them to do too much. DIsabling the charging circuit is what I can do to help ensure that happens.

Hope this helps.

Best,
PM T2

[Paul Munson]

You were exactly right about the failure of the points. As I get more into the electrical schematic I looked at the area where the points are and it is completely missing the arm of the points that makes contact. Either it fell apart or the previous owner took it off. I am thinking it would be best to remove that 3rd brush and points completely from the unit at this point as I clean it up and get it functioning again.

Thanks,
Paul

[pm-t2]

I agree with removing those parts from the equation. Be sure to properly isolate the lead(s) that get disconnected.

PM T2

[Paul Munson]

Thanks to your help along with a buddy at work who understands vintage generators and electrical a little better than I, the starter is running. I did have to completely isolate the charging system. I was picking up a short somewhere that would giving me grief until I did. I did get the coil connected back in and have really good spark on the top two plugs and weaker on the bottom. A question I have on that is, are the two bottom spark plugs coming off the same internal coil as well as the top or are the coils one on the left and one on the right. I am assuming that there are two coils in the cannister. also is there any other reason I might have weaker spark on the bottom such as condenser or not having set the timing correctly yet.

Thanks,
Paul

[Paul Munson]

I made a little more progress tonight but I am now having a different issue. The starter spins strong with the compression plugs removed at the end of the cylinders. This is how I had it when I checked it yesterday. Today I was making an attempt at starting it and found that the starter chugs about as it turns. In other words it is not turning smoothly with full compression. It is pausing at each compression stroke and quickly moving on to the next. This was with a brand new battery just bought today. The cables got extremely hot as well when it was turning. It does not do that when there is no compression. Does anybody out there have a clue what could be causing this? I am going to check the compression on each cylinder tomorrow if I get a chance.

On a brighter note I did get it to run for short spurts by squirting a little gas in the cylinders.

Thanks,
Paul

[pm-t2]

There should be a compression release that vent some of the compression pressure when the engine is cranking. I know that there is a compression release on the Speeditwins, Super C’s, and at least some of the Quads.

The compression release linkage is tied in with the starter lever so that the venting occurs automatically when the engine is being cranked. Once the motor starts and the starting lever is released, the vents are closed off automatically.

If the cable is hot, it may be a sign of poor connection(s) causing high resistance, but bear in mind that the load of compression is going to cause the electric motor to have to work harder, so some heat buildup is going to naturally occur during the cranking under load process. WHat is more important is if there is heat being built up in the windings or rotor itself. That would be worrisome. You may find that the cables are getting hot but the windings are not. If thats the case, then you should be fine. Also, make sure you are connecting the battery polarity correctly. Those units are almost always positive ground.

Hope this helps.

Best,
PM T2

[pm-t2]

Regarding the coil question;

Most battery ignition quads will have a single coil tube with two coils and two condensers inside. There is also supposed to be a resistor on one end of the coil tube. The resistor knocks the battery voltage down to 6 volts for the coils. If you get better spark on one set of plugs compared to the other, you may have a condenser going sour on you. The coils are usually either working well or not at all. Regardless, you may want to look at emptying the tube out (which can be a thankless, messy, yucky job) and replacing the innards with modern components. Timing will not affect the strength of the spark, but it obviously will affect engine performance if not delivered at the correct time.

Hope this helps.

Best,
PM T2

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