so I got a free 1966 14ft alumacraft today, came with 2 motors, one an old johnson 10hp, one an newer 6 hp evinrude. I was told to use the 6hp, so I threw that on, and took it for a spin, this boat is awesome, hasnt been touched in 5 years (same with the motors), and it gets around nicely. the problem is when I go to idle to switch to reverse, or forward, the motor dies. I have tried the lean/rich mixture switch, but nothing seems to work. what should I look at?

 

selling the boat while your still ahead... it aint gonna do anything but cost money from here....

seriously, you might try cleaning the carb and the contacts in the the motor controler,
Does the motor idle fine when its restarted?

 

well, the motor is the kind that has the gear shift on the side of the motor, and on the handle, labels that read "fast" "start" "shift" and "idle"

when the boat dies, and is restarted in "start" it idles fine, but when rotated to "idle" it dies.

I was reading that there is some fine tuning you have to do with the mixture, and cleaning the carb would help. I just dont know how to go about cleaning the carb on one of these motors.

 

Seriously. B.O.AT.= Break out another thousand!

 

yeah, but the boat was free, and the motor was free, and the trailer was free. so if I have to spend a couple hundred to make it run perfectly. so be it I guess

 

Whenever in doubt change the spark plugs. Two cycle motors tend to fowl the plugs some and then run kind of funny. I had one engine where my right arm is now 2" longer than the left from starting it after it dies . Changed the plugs and it almost started before I pull the chord .

 

Probably it!

 

sometimes the after the motor sits awhile, the aluminum cable for the throttle gets corroded, make sure the cable is clean and lubricated....


Heidi

 

May want to pick up one of these, hook it up to the motor so you can tune it up in the driveway. It keep water flowing thru the motor while running out of the water. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...9&classNum=202 Sporting goods place or a marina in your area should have one too.

 

I guess that makes less of a mess and looks better than cutting down a 55 gallon barrel to stick the motor in.

back to the topic at hand. could be the cable, could be the idle speed, or how the carb idles.
Start probably chokes the engine some or sets a high idle position.

 

55 gal drum is better for setting idle etc... in gear... the water in the 55gal drum will put the motor under load where the muffs will not..

 

thanks for all the responses. we have been using an old trash can filled with water right now (and a lake), but it still dies when set to idle. tried some carb cleaner, really helped a lot, but still wont idle as slow as it can. I am hearing a carb re-build kit might be the way to go as well. so I will try that, spark plugs and just an overall service job, and hope it all goes well.

my father in law gave me a pretty sweet trolling motor, so if all else fails, the main motor will get me where I need to be, and the trolling motor will handle the rest

 

and remember the main purpose: have fun, be safe and catch the little eatin fish...

 

drink beer, dont drown, dont catch your buddy.