# Oh boy.....please help



## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

My motor stalled out in the bay yesterday.........i was going about 5mph and it stalled and would not start again....replaced spark plugs at the beginning of the year and replaced lower unit oil. It has ran great the last 5 times out. Now when I crank it oil and fuel is coming out of the water intakes : (,and the exhaust (which I hear is slightly normal if its flooded) . It is a 1998 40hp tracker.....any help would be greatly appreciated

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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

Carburetor float valve stuck open.


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

and thats constantly flooding it?

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## fredg53 (Sep 17, 2010)

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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

i,ve had the float valve stick on me before. i had an old 18 hp evenrude and it would sometimes stick from carring it down the dock and putting it on a rental boat. what seemed to work for us untill we got around to fixing it. we would take a wooden handled screwdriver and peck the side of the carb a few times. sometimes we would have to repeat a couple of times. but it didnt take long and we got tired of doing this, so we put a new float and valve in it.

you need to check and make sure your getting fire to the plugs. i just went through this with somebody. i have just always used a screwdriver and put the end in the plug wire. then hold the handle and put the sd about 1/4 in from bare metal on the motor and see if it sparked when i cranked it over. if it didnt i would hold the metal part of the sd and bump the engine over, and see if i felt anything. anyway someone posted this picture of a tool you can get for around 5.00. it has a clamp to clamp to bare metal, then a place for your wire to go. then it had this adjustable part like a set of points. you just set it and crank the motor over and you can see if it sparks.

it does sound like your problem is you just getting to much gas, with the amount of gas you describe. but if your plugs arent firing it can cause the same symptoms. and as always just opinions and not meant to say somebody elce is wrong. the best of luck to you. please keep us posted.
sherman


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## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

your main fuse moght have blown,and check your plugs . if they are wet then that could make it not start. either way check for spark at the plugs after you check the fuse.


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

Aaaaaaahhh I hooked a timing light up to it and no spark.....what now?

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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Make and model of the motor? Serial number works as well.


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

this thing is driving me nuts

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## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

prolly coils ,but did you check the main fuse on the motor?


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

Of course.......so all 4 coils went bad?

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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

FISHIN216 said:


> Of course.......so all 4 coils went bad?
> 
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Highly unlikely. How about your kill switch? The ignition switchbox on the motor has a Black wire with a thin Yellow line connecting the box to the wiring harness. This is the 'ground-to-kill' wire, the ignition switch or lanyard will ground this to kill the motor. Disconnect this wire and retest for spark.

If still no spark then you will need a DVA meter to test the ignition components. 

I'd recommend a spark gap tester. Lisle Spark Tester:
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d....oap?ck=Search_N0665_-1_-1&pt=N0665&ppt=C0103










http://issuu.com/cdielectronics/doc...t.xml&backgroundColor=000000&showFlipBtn=true

There is the process for testing your entire ignition system.


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## onemorecastt (Feb 13, 2011)

Had a similar problem this year...it was the shear pin under the fly wheel that broke ...so no spark, might not hurt to check

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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

Checked that kill switch..also has power to distributor...just not getting to the coils

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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

sounds like it could be a fuse. look under the cowling for any wires that has an inline fuse. check any that you find. if this doesnt help the only other thing i can suggest is to get a cosigner and take it to the shop. i know the cosigner thing isnt really funny at this point. but i had my boat in the shop last year. and when i got the bill i was in shock. i had bought a boat that needed checked out. so i put it in the shop. they changed both alternators both belts one starter and one raw water pump and one pulley. and checked my outdrives and changed grease and said they had to do some rewiring. at 70.00 per hour plus parts was just over 2900.00. ouch!!!!
sherman


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## DontForgetTheDrainPlug (Mar 3, 2010)

Not familiar with Mercs....but I know later model Johnson/Evinrudes have one or more "powerpacks" and you will lose spark to any or all cylinders connected to each powerpack if they go bad.


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## DontForgetTheDrainPlug (Mar 3, 2010)

It is electric start and is cranking over right?

And you have no spark at all plugs?

How many cylinders?

Could be wrong but I believe normal fusing wouldn't allow it to crank with a blown fuse. Don't think a blown fuse would cause just loss of spark.

But as I said I'm not familiar with Mercs.....just going on over 40 years of experience with John/Rudes


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## DontForgetTheDrainPlug (Mar 3, 2010)

Also, going back to your first post.... 

QUOTE...."Now when I crank it oil and fuel is coming out of the water intakes"....QUOTE

Is that still happening?

That doesn't sound good........


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

onemorecastt said:


> Had a similar problem this year...it was the shear pin under the fly wheel that broke ...so no spark, might not hurt to check
> 
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Pulling the flywheel should be one of the last things your try. 


How far do you get in that CDI troubleshooting process I linked?


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

DontForgetTheDrainPlug said:


> Also, going back to your first post....
> 
> QUOTE...."Now when I crank it oil and fuel is coming out of the water intakes"....QUOTE
> 
> ...


If the motor isn't sparking and burning the gas, it has to go somewhere...


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## DontForgetTheDrainPlug (Mar 3, 2010)

Sure..out the exhaust......but out the water intakes?


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

I want to strap some C4 to this thing, detonate it and see if that fixes the problem : )....i did not do any diagnostics today...however I do appreciate the help...

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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Ohhh that would definitely end your troubles with this one... Lol!


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

Now the son of a #$&@%; won't crank......this is awful

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## avantifishski (Apr 8, 2012)

Get on c-list and find a marine mech. That will get her going without chargin ya a arm and leg..before ya deploy the explosives.. 

cant fish, gotta go catching...


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

Id check the fly wheel key just take the nut off firt and look to see if the keyways are still lined up if not pull the fly wheel and put a new one in had this happen on my johnson and if the nut is not tight then thats probaly whats wrong


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

slimdaddy45 said:


> Id check the fly wheel key just take the nut off firt and look to see if the keyways are still lined up if not pull the fly wheel and put a new one in had this happen on my johnson and if the nut is not tight then thats probaly whats wrong


That would stop if from cranking?


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## onemorecastt (Feb 13, 2011)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> That would stop if from cranking?[/QUOTE
> 
> Of course....with out that just the fly wheel would turn.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Well yeah, I figured when he said "not cranking" he meant it wasn't even trying to start. 

Any updates bud?


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## the angler (Oct 13, 2007)

First thing I would do is bolt some plywood to it! !!! Haha but I have a 60 hp johnson same thing was happening it was the power pack

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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

the angler said:


> First thing I would do is bolt some plywood to it! !!! Haha but I have a 60 hp johnson same thing was happening it was the power pack
> 
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Lol! Love it  you gotta at least wrap that plywood in some duct tape. Strengthens and seals.


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

Update: well after 10 days and me, my buddy, and my dads friend doing diagnostics and checking everything and getting nowhere. Well after 10 days I go out and guess what cranks and fires right up. So I kept letting it run jiggled wires turned it off checked things that could be going on and.....nothing. But after day 2 of doing this it won't crank. I hear the starter solenoid clicking and I decide to replace it....kept running it randomly and firing it up and no problems. Ran great last night and ran great from 7 am to 3 pm when s hit the fan.....died no spark had to troll from cuyahoga river to the launch and it was getting nasty...any ideas?

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## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

you should start looking where your power starts.THE BATTERY . clean and tighten all post nuts. might check the water in the battery while your there.


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

It was pretty much 12.62 all across the board.....this blows. Every ground and power was dead on....just not sure what to test when its cranking

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