So I have been working on my old bass tracker. I've got the 40hp Evinrude to fire and idle but I can't get the prop to spin. Morse controls if that matters. I can spin the prop by hand (only tried with the motor off cause I like my fingers) and it spins freely. But when I put it in fwd or bkwd gears the prop doesn't move. The idle increases when I go in either direction, but no prop movement.
Anyone have any ideas?
Broken sheer pin at the prop?
Likely that ^^. Lower units come off pretty easily if you wanted to look around.
Is the motor pumping water when it runs? If so, your drive shaft is at lease complete until it hits the waterpump down there.
Can you still spin the prop with it in gear and motor off?
If you're lucky, your shifter shaft is slipping/broken. You can watch the top of this shaft up under the cowling.
If you're unlucky, the lower unit has broken internally.
You can really only diagnose this by pulling the lower unit. A whole lot of fun, that job. Especially if it hasn't been off for several years.
Since you're getting nothing in either direction, just happily hung in neutral, I suspect it's most likely your linkage up in the power head area.
Yes steady stream of water out of the upper hose when running.
Yes still spins with controls in full fwd gear
I also have water coming out of the lower holes as well.
Linkages? Are they behind the controls?
Foxtraper- what cowl are you talking about?
Shift linkage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2peQvMPK_g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYK3lUAiaOA
Cowl on top over the engine. The shifter rod comes up through the bottom and joins the control cable up there. Easiest to back track it from where the cable enters.
I'm a little dubious of the sheer pin only because you say it doesn't spin at all. Usually if the sheer pin is sheered there is still drag on the shaft that causes the prop to still spin, just feebly. You'll also here the drive dogs engage in the lower unit.
Bunch of things it could be.
Broken shift cable, broken shift fork, broken or slipping shift linkage, broken control box.
If it won't go into either gear, I'm going to guess cable or control. Linkage problems or adjustments usually only affect one gear.
Get a book.
Toyman said: Get a book.
I'm trying. I'm not sure if the motor is a 1988 1989 or a 1990. And it looks like Evinrude changed manuals in that timeframe. I'm looking now to get the motor numbers to see if I can determine what year it is.
I'm also learning that online boat manuals are a pain to find.
Toyman01 wrote: Bunch of things it could be. Broken shift cable, broken shift fork, broken or slipping shift linkage, broken control box. If it won't go into either gear, I'm going to guess cable or control. Linkage problems or adjustments usually only affect one gear. Get a book.
I would normally agree but he said the idle dips when he puts it in gear. Sounds like the cables are making their way down to the lower unit when that happens...but there is a disconnect from there to the prop.
Guys maybe I wasn't clear. The prop spins freely by hand in neutral or if I push it all the way forward. It just spins. But with the motor running and moving the controls forward the prop does not spin. Idle increases but no prop movement.
So you have the ability to rev it to 4k if you wanted to? Ie the throttle works fine?
Then yeah maybe just your shift cable is broken. Where the shift cable enters the cowling, is it moving the shift linkages? It should be pretty obvious to see directly in front of the block at the front of the engine, likely below the carbs.
octavious wrote:Toyman said: Get a book.I'm trying. I'm not sure if the motor is a 1988 1989 or a 1990. And it looks like Evinrude changed manuals in that timeframe. I'm looking now to get the motor numbers to see if I can determine what year it is. I'm also learning that online boat manuals are a pain to find.
Everything for an outboard is listed by serial number and model number. The number plate should be on the side of the transom bracket.
It's been a lot of years since I worked on one of those and this is from memory and might be wrong.
On that era of 40 horse, the shift shaft should be almost directly under the carburetor. There is a clamp arrangement that attaches it to a bell crank. A easy check is, have someone shift from forward to reverse and see if the shaft moves. If yes, the problem is probably in the foot. That era engine shouldn't have a coupler in shift rod in the upper housing the way older engines did. That said, I have never seen a foot failure in those engine unless you hit something so hard it broke the housing.
Throttle and shifting should be two separate cables. The throttle will work even if the shifting doesn't. I'm betting the shift cable is frozen or broken, or something in the control box has broken or fallen appart. BTDT.
octavious wrote: Guys maybe I wasn't clear. The prop spins freely by hand in neutral or if I push it all the way forward. It just spins. But with the motor running and moving the controls forward the prop does not spin. Idle increases but no prop movement.
Chuckle, I think every one of us keeps reading your posts differently.
Separate throttle and transmission controls, or a single unit for both? Sorta sounds like you're describing a combined unit, but I'm not sure.
Similar, does it only go to idle, or can you actually rev the engine up?
And what about reverse? Same story as forward, or does it do something different.
The more you've described the problem, the more it sounds like a problem in actuation. Be it linkage, bell crank, shaft, cable, cable end, etc.
Ok, coming at it from a non boat guy. The controls are Morse side controls model mns-s or mns-d. Here is the exact book I have for the controls:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Morse-Marine-owner-s-Manual-for-Model-MNS-S-MNS-D-MNS-SB-/221281645165
Yes, the controls are a single unit.
Yes, I can rev the engine up. I can push the control forward and the engine revs but the prop still does not spin.
Yes, reverse is the same as forward.
Also, the only numbers I can find on the transom plate are 188656 and 190L1.
And just to add one more thing to the mix, the motor will not tilt. It will not tilt using the button on the controls, and it will not manually tilt. I can lift it up slightly but I cannot get the hydralic jack to let the motor tilt down.
If the weather holds, I will make a video of it running this evening and post it as well. if a picture is worth a 1000 words a video has to be worth like 2000...
You should have a decal or plate that looks something like this.
For the tilt, is the hydraulic pump running?
If no, then it's wiring, relays or switches. There is a up relay and a down relay, they almost never fail at the same time. Look for corroded connections.
If yes, and it will go up but not down, it's usually a locked up pivot at the top of the ram. These systems do not power down, the depend on the weight of the engine.
If yes, but won't go up or down, it's low or out of hydraulic oil.
These are the only numbers I can find near the motor or transom. I did a quick check this morning before work, but will look again this afternoon.
That isn't the motor numbers, I found this which list the Evinrude model numbers, mine should have a 40 in it somewhere.
http://shop.evinrude.com/media/document/ModelNumberReference.pdf
Toy- it is hydraulic with the trim control button on the same Morse controls I described earlier.
If there is a pump that you can hear running then something is not working because I do not hear a pump running or even trying when I mess with the tilt controls.
OK.
Lift the engine cover/cowl and look at where the cable goes. You'll see it controls the ignition advance, the carburetor(s), and turns a rod that goes down to the lower unit.
In a perfect world, as soon as you move the lever from neutral to forward, it turns that rod, engaging the forward gear in the lower unit. Move it a little further and the engine starts to rev up. Same thing happens in reverse.
Yours is not a perfect world. Start with that linkage and the cable and the shaft. Make sure the control cable is connected (they do pop off). Make sure the lever arm or bell crank it's rotating is turning (they do break). Make sure the lever arm or bell crank is actually turning the shaft (they do slip).
Then, and only then, when you are 100% perfectly certain that the shaft going down to the lower unit is indeed rotating, do we need to consider the lower unit.
And, as another has mentioned, just check that sheer pin on the prop. Yes friction should cause it to spin, but just maybe something else is happening that is preventing it.
OK, this is probably not your engine, but it's a 40 hp evenrude, so we can start with it well enough.
Shaft #52 is what shifts your gearbox into forward and reverse. Judging by that picture, this outboard shifts by pulling that rod up and down, not rotating it. No big deal, just change my above words about rotation to up and down.
The next two pictures are of the linkage where the control cable goes into the power head. Again, probably not exactly yours, but yours will be similar. Out of that mess there will be one, maybe two rods going up to control the ignition advance and the carburetors. They may be joined as one.
There is another going down! That is the one controlling the shifting rod for your lower unit. You want to make sure it's actually connected and moving up and down.
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