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Here is the unit in question:





Data plate says it is a 1983 model, which is consistent with my memory of when my dad originally bought it. We ran this on a 12' Achilles inflatable that we used as a river skiff and fishing boat up through the season before my dad passed in early 2000. I've run it a few times (my role on the boat was anchor guy), but was never involved in the maintenance. In 2002 I had the local outboard repair shop in my hometown give it a winterization servicing, then I packed it up in a crate until such time as I needed it again (the inflatable boat was basically all used up by then, and is long gone).

I hadn't planned on it sitting for quite so long, but having just purchased a property that can only be accessed by boat or aircraft, and needing a boat with longer legs than my canoe or D5, I finally pulled it out of the crate yesterday. I changed the spark plugs, mixed some fuel, and using a 55 gallon drum as a test tank, it fired up on the second pull. My dad definitely took good care of his gear.

I didn't run it long because there was no water coming out of the hole on the back, so I am assuming I will need to replace an impeller somewhere (I had been planning to ask about that anyway). I know I probably need to change the gear oil, and I see a bunch of grease fittings on the motor that almost certainly need to be hit (is there a particular grease I should use, or will the wheel bearing grease I use on my Jeep work?. I have a service manual ordered for it, but in the meantime, is there anything else I should plan on doing to it? I have probably at least a couple of months before the ice on the lakes are gone enough to try crossing, and i have yet to find a boat to put it on.

This is just going to be for an interim boat to use until I have gone out there a few times, and have a better idea of what I actually need, so I am probably just going to look for a basic 14-16 foot Jon Boat. Went to a couple of places today to ask about prices on new ones, and they didn't really have what I was looking for and the prices (as is the case for everything now) ranged from merely high, to ridiculously high (Alaska tax). So, Craigslist will probably be my friend and as much as I don't want to have anything to do with the Devil's Database, I am probably going to make a fake account so I can get access to Facebook Marketplace since it seems like that's where a lot of used stuff is being sold these days. Building my own unfortunately out of the question... Maybe if I already had all of the materials on hand, and was willing to cut ALL of the corners and not care what it looks like at all, but the lead time on getting the materials here makes it a no-go in the time that I have left before the ice goes out. Possibly for the permanent boat I will build.

https://www.boats.net/product/evinrude/ ... b299a3ad34

I think I need this kit?

You might not need to replace the housing, but you won't know until you open it up.

Definitely need a new impeller(though that may not be why it wasn’t “peeing”). If they did good work, probably doesn’t need anything else. Won’t hurt to change the lube in the foot, but probably not even that is necessary.

Jbo

Those outboards and the 30hp triple Yamaha are two of the best two strokes ever made. Just a ton of power for their weight. As for changing out the water pump it is no big deal. Hardest part may be getting the leg apart.

Drive it down to Fuzz. Bet he'll help if you ask nice...

Thanks for the tips. I found a boat to use with it... Yesterday I went into Dewey's Cook Inlet, which I had driven by a bunch of times but never gone in, expecting it to be a waste of time. I ended up leaving with a deposit on a 14' Marlon jon boat, which I will hopefully pick up next week. It should be just the right size for the motor and the price seemed pretty reasonable, especially compared to what I saw elsewhere.

I also managed to stumble across the contact information for the people who have the barge service on the lake, so I just need to get ahold of them and find out their rates for moving materials and equipment across. My impeller kit should be here Monday or so, and the shop manual I ordered for the motor came in the other day too.

Somebody just shoot me... Got the impeller kit, got the manual, trying to follow it. This manual is horrible. As an A&P mechanic, I spend a large portion of my workday following manuals, but this one is just bad... Jumps around between every motor they made over a 26 year period. Anyway, I read the dire warnings not to let the driveshaft get pulled out, because the lower unit will then need to be disassembled to realign the pinion gear. Got the lower unit out, disassembled the water pump, and as I am cleaning the drive shaft, before I realized it was happening there was enough drag from the rag I was using, for it to pull out several inches. Immediately pushed it back in amid much cursing neither of which did any good. Operating the shift rod, I can get it to go into reverse but not forward. I assume I am going to need a lower unit rebuild kit, and also that I will wish I had removed the prop when I started.

In other news, the impeller wasn't missing any pieces so at least I don't have to worry about them being where they aren't supposed to be. The grommet for the water tube interface was kind of ugly so maybe that was a blockage, but I would be interested in hearing what some of the other possible causes of no water output might be.

Picked up the boat last week so that's at least good. It's kind of an ice boat right now since we got hit by another blast of winter. It's supposed to be better this week. Going to try like crazy to just make it work with my existing 16' flatbed trailer (going to get a sheet of teflon for the back of the trailer or maybe some rollers to slide it over) because I really don't want another trailer in my life right now.

Edit to add; I had been holding off draining the oil until I had the water pump replaced and ops checked, figured I would do that last. Since it looks like it all has to come apart no matter what, drained the oil. It was pretty ugly, looked like it had been there a while, but at least there was no water in it.

Around here, a very common issue for “no pee” is a dirt dobber nest in one end or the other. Easily fixed with a piece of wire and some diligent flushing.

Corrosion in the internal pathways is a possibility, particularly if it was used in salt water, but I have to admit, I’ve been spoiled and not run into that problem.

Could have been mid-alignment of the tube.

Jbo

Dirt daubers aren't a thing here, but I will for sure flush and check for blockage.

So, my buddy who used to work at the outboard shop (mind you, it's been probably 20+ years since he's had a lower unit apart), suggested trying to shift into forward while slowly turning the shaft. I did that, and it seems to have started working again. I also saw a video on Youtube where the guy is inspecting the pump, and he pulls the driveshaft out, and puts it back in like it is no big deal.

So, I am sitting here wondering what the actual deal is, and tempted to just put it back together and send it. I have a lower unit seal kit ordered, but no telling how long it will take to get here. I haven't been able to find one locally, and I don't particularly want to tear into that if I don't have to anyway.

It's been 15 years since I had one of these so I might not be entirely correct. I did change it from a 15" to 20". The drive shaft was different so I pulled out the short one and put in the longer one. I didn't have a manual but did visit a website dedicated to these motors. I don't recall any warnings or problems. I did check my old link for that site and it is no longer there. Here it is on wayback machine https://web.archive.org/web/20130414182 ... icles.html

Except for the carburetors, these motors are really simple. The carbs have a lot of little parts and scare me.

Thanks. Unless I hear differently I am going to put it back together and if it seems OK, run it. I still have the seal kit on the way, so maybe I will get some bearings too, and plan on rebuilding the lower unit over the next winter.

Do you have everything back like it was? If the grommet is missing or messed up you will not get full water pressure and it will not pee. Did you install a full new pump kit?

Fuzz wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 11:35 pm Do you have everything back like it was? If the grommet is missing or messed up you will not get full water pressure and it will not pee. Did you install a full new pump kit?

Yes, installed a full pump kit and new gear oil. I just test ran it and it seems to be working OK now. Good water out, shifts forward and reverse. Revs well to the extent I was willing to give it throttle in a 55 gallon drum; will have to see how it does on the boat. But it seems like a happy motor now. Thanks to you all for the advice.

Going on this:



Though I'm probably risking a ban for posting this on a boat building forum. It's just something to get me out there for now.

I bet that 15 will push it good.

I hope so. Apparently this impatient dumb ass bought a China made boat without realizing it at the time. Originally I wanted to buy a 14' Lund and went to the Lund dealer, but they didn't have the more basic model I wanted, and I wasn't interested in paying the premium for the model they did have in stock. Went to Bass Pro only to find they only sell a complete package (boat, trailer, motor, etc) starting at $18K. Stopped at the third place not expecting to find what I was after, and was offered the Marlon at a discount in the ballpark of what I was looking to spend. The boats looked good, and given that I just wanted to get my equipment sorted out and be done with it, I didn't look beyond the fact of the company being based in Canada. Only just now saw a random comment to a video mentioning China, actually looked into it a little, and sure enough. Oops.

I have another stupid question. Does anybody even make a portable metal fuel tank for outboards anymore? All I have found are plastic ones, which is what I bought to use with this. The one my dad had was steel, but it's long gone. The only ones like it that I am seeing look like collectors' items on Ebay. Even if I bought one, I wouldn't be able to have it shipped here because Alaska and air shipment.

The Moeller unit I bought started leaking at the black plastic outlet fitting where it goes into the red plastic of the tank. I tried to tighten it up, and I think I must have cracked it because the leak only got worse. It looks like my options are to buy another plastic unit and try to be more careful with it, or make my own out of aluminum, since the only ones I am seeing are meant to be permanently mounted. I have built fuel tanks before but if there's something manufactured out there I'd just as soon go that way.

I belive the death of the metal tank is a federal thing. Grounding requirements. Odd that plastic carries more charge potential but... who's letting science make the actual decisions here?

Jaysen wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 9:05 am I belive the death of the metal tank is a federal thing. Grounding requirements. Odd that plastic carries more charge potential but... who's letting science make the actual decisions here?

I am shocked, repeat, shocked that the same people responsible for jerry can spouts that leak and don't pour well, are also to blame for outboard motor tanks that suck.

Any chance you will be down my way any time soon? I have an extra I would part with.

Fuzz wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2024 1:17 am Any chance you will be down my way any time soon? I have an extra I would part with.

That would be easier than buying a sheet of aluminum and hacking together my own for sure, thanks much. I should probably run out to my brother's hangar in Wasilla and make extra sure that ours isn't hiding in there somewhere. I think it is gone but I didn't really spend any time hunting for it when I grabbed the motor. I need to run out there anyway and grab the generator we had at the old cabin and see if I can get it going again. I'll let you know. There's going to be ice on the lakes for a while anyway.

So yeah, our old metal tank appears to be long gone. Didn't see it at the hangar, and my brother doesn't remember seeing it either. However, the plastic tank I bought may actually be salvageable. Tonight I emptied the fuel out of it into a jerry can (was going to have to either way), and removed the leaking fuel fitting. What I thought was a cracked fitting, is just the way it was made:



It's a two piece nut so it can be assembled, and threaded into the female threads which are molded into the tank. Anyway, I think I have figured this out. The newer "EPA compliant" tanks have a fuel cap that doesn't vent. Older ones, and the tanks that are sold internationally still have vented fuel caps. So when the tank gets warmer and the contents expand, despite the EPA's mandate that it not do so, the tank IS going to vent its contents, through whichever fitting has the worst seal, and is therefore the path of least resistance. As happened when I brought it into my garage.

The band-aid for this appears to be a vented cap, which is available on Amazon. Per what I saw in the reviews, there's a good chance the caps are interchangeable. Looking at spare parts on Moeller's website, the cap isn't the only difference... The fuel gauges are different, and the outlet assembly is different. The non-EPA version of the latter appears to have an external thread molded into the tank, which eliminates the need for the split not. Not sure why the difference, but that means I can't just buy the non-EPA parts and put them on my tank, other than (hopefully) the cap.

I am not sure what the feds think they are accomplishing since I have thus far spilled a lot more fuel than would ever have been lost as vapor if the tank was allowed to vent normally, but I guess not much they do ever makes sense.

As every teenage Jaysen in the multiverse knows… pressurized vapor is what goes boom. The feds are literally making explosive devices in ever shed and garage in America.

Also… cars must be vented. So… logic be damned!

The non-EPA approved cap arrived, and it's a perfect fit. Put the tank outlet fitting back together and put the fuel back in, and all seems OK so far. The vent in the new cap is just a winged knob that is turned to open or close it. Upon closer examination of the original cap, looks like there was a vent feature but it's some kind of button thingy. So it may have been OK but I like the new one better anyway. Be interesting to see how quickly I go through fuel... IIRC, a full tank (the old metal one was either 5 or 6 gallons, so about the same size) used to last my dad basically a whole season of fishing, so he would generally mix fresh gas each spring. But that was mostly a lot of trips up and down a fairly short stretch of river to the lake where we fished in Cordova. I have more water to cross, so I'll have to keep a closer eye on fuel use. Would suck to have to row 15 miles against the prevailing wind to get to the boat launch. The worst that would have happened if my dad had run out of fuel, was drifting back down the river to the launch.

Speaking of, I got the oar locks installed finally. I told my wife that as the only trained rower in the family, she's the official auxiliary power unit. Might as well get some payoff out of all the years of practice while she was still competing with the local rowing club. OTOH, she's also the only trained coxswain in the family, but I am not about to point that out to her. Hopefully the motor won't give any trouble.



These are the oarlock kit that the boat manufacturer sells; the dealer threw them in at no additional cost when I asked about them. I think they are made to be used with multiple models of boat, since they only came with 2 bolts per mount, and there were 4 mounting holes. The vertical ones were at the wrong angle and would not have worked with through bolts at all. I put them in the mill vise and milled the flats down to match the gunwale angle, and I installed some aluminum rivnuts in the top of the gunwales so I could use 4 bolts. I wouldn't want to depend on the rivnuts by themselves, but the extra fasteners did add a little stiffness. Had to make a slight counterbore on the bottom side so the mounts would sit down all the way against the gunwale. Not sure how well the cast aluminum oar locks are going to hold up, but they appear to be the same socket size as the ones I used on my D5 so there should be lots to choose from if needed.



I managed to find these padeyes at West Marine yesterday with the right hole spacing to match the oarlock mount through bolts, so I have cargo tie-downs too now. I also added a set midway between the middle and bow seats, with 1/8" 5052 backing plates on both sides like I made for the cleats I installed at the aft corners.

Fuzz wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2024 2:49 am I bet that 15 will push it good.

It does. Hits about 21mph empty and one up. Sleeping in my truck tonight in the campground at the boat launch. Going to load up in the morning and head across.