Jump to content

Outboard not starting. Any ideas?


Featured Posts

Just putting this out there to see if I can save me some pennies and gain some knowledge.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Wd1JuvDCnxL1CzHb6 (video)

Suzuki DF15

Battery is at 12.6V. Have petrol. Tank is vented. Bulb is pretty hard. Last serviced about a year ago, but not used in a year (due to lockdowns).

 

Sometimes starts first time, but cuts out after a few minutes

Sometimes won't start at all (see video link above)

Might just be coincidence, but when I turn the wheel to make the engine go to starboard it sometimes cuts out. No kinks in pipes or anything.

When the engine does start, if I quickly put it into, and out of, forward gear I don't hear the engine rev up. Maybe I'm too quick with the in/out? (I'm tied up to the mooring and don't want to damage anything by moving forward while tied up.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some thoughts, nothing more.

Does your control not have a method of disconnecting the gear mechanism so you can rev up the engine out of gear?

 

The click followed by nothing suggests dirty/burned solenoid contacts. I would see how often it spun over by shorting the two large terminals on the solenoid (expect sparks). If it spins over every time, I would suspect solenoid contacts. If it were a wiring fault, I would not expect the click.

 

Why it cuts out when turning right, I have no idea. If it did it a short while after putting the wheel over, I would suspect the clip on fuel connection on the engine, but that is far from conclusive.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Might be a stupid question but have you checked the state of the float chamber?  Do you allow the engine to run itself dry when you stop for the day?  It looks like a fuel issue to me and o/b's are notoriously intolerant of dirty/contaminated fuel.  FWIW one o/b specialist told me never to use supermarket fuel as they has observed this was a common denominator in faulty engines.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any of the above reasons and also could be a wire pulling out of contact when turning the outboard.

Ignition coils usually give up intermittently,usually starts ok, but cuts out as the coil warms up.Usually will start after a minute or so when the coil has cooled,but stop again shortly after.

Don't understand the engine not revving up when you engage gear.They are not supposed to,they should go into gear and remain at tickover speed until you open the throttle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Bod said:

How old is the petrol in the tank?

 

 

A good question

 

Also could be worth trying premium petrol.

May lawnmower was running rough but likes premium as does my small 3hp outboard which starts more easily.

.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Bod said:

How old is the petrol in the tank?

Drain it all out, and replace with fresh.  Year old petrol will by now be stale, and probably unusable.

 

Bod

 

^^^This^^^

 

You can't expect it to run on one-year-old petrol. All the higher distillation fractions necessary for easy starting and put into the petrol formula by the fuel chemists at the petrol company will have evaporated away by now. This is quite likely to be all that is wrong with it.  

 

Drain the tank AND the carb, refill with freshly purchased petrol and it will prolly start immediately. 

 

 

Edited by MtB
To elaborate
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Common symptoms of old fuel. It is also quite likely some of the carburettor fuel passages are gummed up with fuel residue (these are tiny on small outboard engines). If it does not run immediately on fresh fuel accept that a carburettor strip and clean is required.

 

Good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmmm having watched the video, I'd say the poor running is nothing to do with fuel age.

 

With old fuel an engine simply refuses to fire at all. l'm more inclined to say that lumpy running is poor mixture/carb setting, possibly caused by 'varnish' deposits in the jet(s) left behind as old fuel evaporates. 

 

Presumably this is a four stroke engine? 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as I can see on the video it sometimes clicks and spins the engine over and at other times it clicks and nothing else. That says electrical on the start circuit, not fuel. I think that when it does start, the tickover is a bit low, so that could be an idle mixture problem. If it was not for the intermittent click - start or click - nothing, I feel a faulty ignition module could explain the rough tickover and refusal to rev, but that would not explain the stopping when turning right.

 

Fresh petrol is a simple test, but the symptoms do not all fit that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

As far as I can see on the video it sometimes clicks and spins the engine over and at other times it clicks and nothing else.

 

Ah, I had not equated the click followed by nothing as a failing attempt to turn the engine over. Looks like two separate faults to me then. 

 

1) Failure of the starter motor to turn the engine over

2) Failure to run nicely once started

 

The cutting out when turning to starboard is probably best addressed once the engine runs properly at tickover, and revs up correctly when forward is engaged. These are probably both carburettor faults. I'd be taking it to bits and cleaning it to start with as this costs nothing. If no difference, then I'd probably buy a new ignition module as Tony suggests. Or figure out a way of testing its performance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the question of testing an ignition module, that is likely to be far more than just a coil. I had a question about an OB with similar symptoms (not the  click-nothing or the turning right thing) and it seems the questioners usual service people had changed the carburettor twice I think with no cure. I advised taking it to the manufacturer's local main agents so they could test the ignition module on the test rig I assumed the manufacturer would insist they had. Luckily, they agreed with my diagnosis and cured it. However, they said they did not have any test equipment, so I am not sure how a boater could test one apart from substitution, and that gets expensive. I think if a vehicle diagnostic scope was connected to the HT you might see a reducing and erratic pulse as it warms up but who has such equipment that is portable (Nick might have a scope and the understanding to use it, but most won't).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Neil2 said:

Might be a stupid question but have you checked the state of the float chamber?  Do you allow the engine to run itself dry when you stop for the day?  It looks like a fuel issue to me and o/b's are notoriously intolerant of dirty/contaminated fuel.  FWIW one o/b specialist told me never to use supermarket fuel as they has observed this was a common denominator in faulty engines.

 

 

 

Petrol is made to a EN Standard at the refineries.

 

https://www.en-standard.eu/bs-en-228-2012-a1-2017-automotive-fuels-unleaded-petrol-requirements-and-test-methods-1/

 

Near me, adjacent to the M42 between junctions 9 & 10  is a petrol storage amd distributuon depot. Tankers from all of the popular brands and supermarkets can be seen queing up to fill, so it is all the same. However the super fuel tankers add an additive to the "pots" to change the fuel into the high octane 'super fuels' such as Shell V Power.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had a similar problem to this, No end of carb cleaning seemed to get it to start better, but I was never convinced it was doing anything, V strangely the problem seems to have disappeared but reappeared on another engine. Both mariner/mercury engines 8 and 15 hp.

 

I had suspected crap in the fuel tank clogging the fuel tank filter, but have nothing to back this up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, cuthound said:

Tankers from all of the popular brands and supermarkets can be seen queing up to fill, so it is all the same. However the super fuel tankers add an additive to the "pots" to change the fuel into the high octane 'super fuels' such as Shell V Power.

 

This rhymes with what my (now deceased) F-i-L (who was a fuel engineer/chemist at Shell) told me, which is all the fuel retailers have their own 'additive pack' formulated to suit their marketing. And while all additive packs were different, their tankers all filled up from the same bucket at the refinery. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

This rhymes with what my (now deceased) F-i-L (who was a fuel engineer/chemist at Shell) told me, which is all the fuel retailers have their own 'additive pack' formulated to suit their marketing. And while all additive packs were different, their tankers all filled up from the same bucket at the refinery. 

That is correct. Additive added after bunkering 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

Dammit. This seems to have returned. Moved the boat last week. Eight hours of constant movement and it was fine. Started after a couple of tries.

 

Now... back to this again. *sigh🙄

 

NOTE: Ignore the bit in OP about moving the wheel. Can't seem to edit the OP to remove that bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A friend of mine had problems with his yammy haha ob. First problem was it cutting out. This was due to bodged in line fuse holder fitting at the engine end tucked away down the side of the engine. Easily sorted. He also had a problem with startiing which I traced to the neutral safety switch which needed a bit of adjusting and some grease on the operating cam. 

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, ronnietucker said:

Dammit. This seems to have returned. Moved the boat last week. Eight hours of constant movement and it was fine. Started after a couple of tries.

 

Now... back to this again. *sigh🙄

 

NOTE: Ignore the bit in OP about moving the wheel. Can't seem to edit the OP to remove that bit.

 

"returned" ????

 

I didn't see any reply from you to the many suggestions posted last year.  Please do us the courtesy of filling in the blanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got it running today.

  • Replaced both spark plugs. Initially it was trying to start, but still not reliable.
  • Yesterday I added some Sea Foam to the petrol tank. It ran enough times (I believe) to get some Sea Foam petrol in there. Left it overnight.
  • Went back to it today and it took a couple of tries, but it did start then cut out. Got it started again and quickly put it into gear to rev it up a bit. It kept running until I switched it off.

I'll try it again tomorrow and see how it goes.

 

spacer.png

 

Did the Sea Foam make a difference, or was it sheer coincidence? Can't say for absolute certainty, but I think the Sea Foam did do something as since using it I'm getting somewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you shut it down, do you just use the kill switch, or run the carburettor dry? The latter is preferable if it’s not going to be restarted until the next day or later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Iain_S said:

When you shut it down, do you just use the kill switch, or run the carburettor dry? The latter is preferable if it’s not going to be restarted until the next day or later.

I usually just turn the key to shut it down.

Should I pull out the fuel line to run it dry?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ronnietucker said:

I usually just turn the key to shut it down.

Should I pull out the fuel line to run it dry?

I use my outboard rarely

I always stop the engine prior to putting it into storage  by turning off the fuel tap.

I also have found its starts easier and runs better on premium fuel. 

But it is quite old - made in 1966

 

You can get fuel additives or if your fuel use is very low,  special synthetic Aspen fuel . Can't say I have used Aspen but I may give it a go . 

https://aspenfuel.co.uk/

 

Petrol does go off a lot quicker than in the past . I find last years petrol in the outboard or lawnmower or left over winter in a jerry can  has lost some of its potency . 

 

 

Edited by MartynG
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.