Hey guys. I have a 8hp Yamaha 2stroke outboard which always starts on my first pull. When arriving to our anchor point, the engine died on me and didnt start. I know very little of engines, but I think I had added to much oil to my gas tank. I changed the spark plugs, no good. Added some gas the the end of the new plugs, no good. What else should Ive tried??? Would be nice to know what else to try. The greatest part was that I had to anchor/deanchor and bring the boat to my slip by sail with a full marina returning from easter weekend. Ive had the boat, my first sailboat, for 8 months, I think yesterday was my graduation. Carlitos S/V Martina H26
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Ike Cook
Technical Support
The same thing happened to me, and I had my mother-in-law with me and my wife... great! Also there was a ocean liner bearing down on us, heading up river in the St. Lawrence against a 6 knot current. And above it all, a 1000 Islands tour boat was passing at the same time with hundreds on tourist with cameras pointed our way to see me loose power and start to fall back toward this floating steel city! So regardless of all that, I remembered that I didn't open my gas tank vent so therefore no air was entering the tank, which also meant that no more gas was leaving the tank. After a few 'F - Bombs', I opened the vent and puttered away safely. Did you have your vent open? That's what usually causes an 'ole reliable' to poop out. Could have been a chunk of dirt in the gas line too. Check the lines. I would doubt that it's something serious. Congrats to sailing back to the marina. The funny thing is that everybody else just thought you were showing off! Ike 'Freebie'
The same thing happened to me, and I had my mother-in-law with me and my wife... great! Also there was a ocean liner bearing down on us, heading up river in the St. Lawrence against a 6 knot current. And above it all, a 1000 Islands tour boat was passing at the same time with hundreds on tourist with cameras pointed our way to see me loose power and start to fall back toward this floating steel city! So regardless of all that, I remembered that I didn't open my gas tank vent so therefore no air was entering the tank, which also meant that no more gas was leaving the tank. After a few 'F - Bombs', I opened the vent and puttered away safely. Did you have your vent open? That's what usually causes an 'ole reliable' to poop out. Could have been a chunk of dirt in the gas line too. Check the lines. I would doubt that it's something serious. Congrats to sailing back to the marina. The funny thing is that everybody else just thought you were showing off! Ike 'Freebie'
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Ray Bowles
Air, gas and fire. Got these and it'll run.
Carlitos, Ike had a very important point about the vent. If that was OK then you need to look deeper. If your gas/oil mixture was even somewhat close the engine would run but would probably smoke worse that before. If the spark plug(s) were not fouled out then the fuel mixture was probably not the problem. The plug should be clean or possibly somewhat wet but should NOT HAVE ANYTHING BETWEEN THE CENTER TIP AND THE ARM THAT IS BENT OVER THAT CENTER TIP POINT!! If it did then the plug would have been fouled and would not fire and run. Clean and dry the plug and it should run. NOW...if the gas/oil mixture is close to OK and the plug is clean then you check for fire. To do this you need your mother-in-law (or someone else if all else fails) to hold the spark plug with the spark plug wire on it, to the metal next to where the plug came out of (touch the threaded part of the plug to the metal using insulated plyers) while you pull the starter cord and see if spark jumps from the center tip to the bent arm over this tip. If you have spark here then it should run. We know you have air to the motor, now you must be sure you have good fuel and spark. I'm sorry if this discription sound too childish but I don't know how mechanical you are and I really want this to help you. Write back if I can help more. WE're on the Hunter list. Good luck Ray
Carlitos, Ike had a very important point about the vent. If that was OK then you need to look deeper. If your gas/oil mixture was even somewhat close the engine would run but would probably smoke worse that before. If the spark plug(s) were not fouled out then the fuel mixture was probably not the problem. The plug should be clean or possibly somewhat wet but should NOT HAVE ANYTHING BETWEEN THE CENTER TIP AND THE ARM THAT IS BENT OVER THAT CENTER TIP POINT!! If it did then the plug would have been fouled and would not fire and run. Clean and dry the plug and it should run. NOW...if the gas/oil mixture is close to OK and the plug is clean then you check for fire. To do this you need your mother-in-law (or someone else if all else fails) to hold the spark plug with the spark plug wire on it, to the metal next to where the plug came out of (touch the threaded part of the plug to the metal using insulated plyers) while you pull the starter cord and see if spark jumps from the center tip to the bent arm over this tip. If you have spark here then it should run. We know you have air to the motor, now you must be sure you have good fuel and spark. I'm sorry if this discription sound too childish but I don't know how mechanical you are and I really want this to help you. Write back if I can help more. WE're on the Hunter list. Good luck Ray
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Alan
Spark plugs
After turning over the engine for a while check the plugs. If they are bone dry it's probably a fuel supply problem. As mentioned in the other posts check for plug firing and fouled plugs. If they are wet dry them before reinstalling. My Johnson sailmaster is once again sitting in my garage. I got splashed two weeks ago when I check the plugs they were bone dry which may indicate the need for a carbarator rebuild. Funny thing was that the boat and motor sat for two years without service before I bought it. It started in three pulls. This year I spent $180 to have it "profesionally" serviced. Now it does not work! Good luck alan
After turning over the engine for a while check the plugs. If they are bone dry it's probably a fuel supply problem. As mentioned in the other posts check for plug firing and fouled plugs. If they are wet dry them before reinstalling. My Johnson sailmaster is once again sitting in my garage. I got splashed two weeks ago when I check the plugs they were bone dry which may indicate the need for a carbarator rebuild. Funny thing was that the boat and motor sat for two years without service before I bought it. It started in three pulls. This year I spent $180 to have it "profesionally" serviced. Now it does not work! Good luck alan
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Carlitos
Black Butt Spark Plugs
When I took out my spark plugs, the back part had a lot of black residue, oil??, thats why I changed them. Feel free to try to explaing as if Im a three year old, this is my first outboard. Now that you mention it, maybe its a no electricity to the spark plugs problem. Ill check on it and post back. Thanks for the replies. cArlitos
When I took out my spark plugs, the back part had a lot of black residue, oil??, thats why I changed them. Feel free to try to explaing as if Im a three year old, this is my first outboard. Now that you mention it, maybe its a no electricity to the spark plugs problem. Ill check on it and post back. Thanks for the replies. cArlitos
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Alan Long
Fuse?
Hi Frustrating isn't it? I'm not sure about your motor but my previous Johnson and current Honda have a fused electrical system. If you've determined that you are getting fuel, but no spark I would check this first. It will totally disable the ignition system if the fuse blows. On my motors it was located in a rubber/plastic holder on the side of the engine block. A spare fuse is usually stored in a little holder above the active fuse. If you've lived a clean and virtuous life this may be the problem. If not it could be a failure of the electronic ignition system. The ignition on my Johnson 4 stroke failed totally twice at a cost of $700.00 per incident. Thats when I bought the Honda. Good Luck Alan
Hi Frustrating isn't it? I'm not sure about your motor but my previous Johnson and current Honda have a fused electrical system. If you've determined that you are getting fuel, but no spark I would check this first. It will totally disable the ignition system if the fuse blows. On my motors it was located in a rubber/plastic holder on the side of the engine block. A spare fuse is usually stored in a little holder above the active fuse. If you've lived a clean and virtuous life this may be the problem. If not it could be a failure of the electronic ignition system. The ignition on my Johnson 4 stroke failed totally twice at a cost of $700.00 per incident. Thats when I bought the Honda. Good Luck Alan
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Jeff
Try some rubbing alcohol
I had a similar problem with my Nissan 5HP that I had recently rebuilt. She ran for several weekends and then one day she wouldn't turn over. I went through all of the motions, cleaned the plug, checked the fuel line, added some fresh fuel to the external tank and nothing. A mechanic friend of mine added 2 capfuls of rubbing alcohol to the tank, swished it around, let it sit for a few minutes with the cap off to allow it to eveaporate and it cranked on the first pull. It doesn't take much moisture to foul your gas.
I had a similar problem with my Nissan 5HP that I had recently rebuilt. She ran for several weekends and then one day she wouldn't turn over. I went through all of the motions, cleaned the plug, checked the fuel line, added some fresh fuel to the external tank and nothing. A mechanic friend of mine added 2 capfuls of rubbing alcohol to the tank, swished it around, let it sit for a few minutes with the cap off to allow it to eveaporate and it cranked on the first pull. It doesn't take much moisture to foul your gas.
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Carlitos
Newbies will allways be Newbies
Im a computer wiz and a network administrator and I really get pissed when users can get the instructions right, or they cant even turn on their computers. Today I feel like what in the computer world we call newbies, Im a boating newbie. After long hours of trying to figure out what was wrong with my Yamaha, it turned out that the small keylike thing that goes in between the shutdown button became loose. Obviously whenenver I tried to turn on the engine, no electricity will pass. I guess I deserve the mistake, this is my first outboard. But damn Im pissed. Oh, no speaking of the fun I was made of by all my friends who where watching me fix the engine. Anyways, thanks to all for the responses. Thank god we have sails and not engines. Fair Winds Carlitos S/V MARTINA H26
Im a computer wiz and a network administrator and I really get pissed when users can get the instructions right, or they cant even turn on their computers. Today I feel like what in the computer world we call newbies, Im a boating newbie. After long hours of trying to figure out what was wrong with my Yamaha, it turned out that the small keylike thing that goes in between the shutdown button became loose. Obviously whenenver I tried to turn on the engine, no electricity will pass. I guess I deserve the mistake, this is my first outboard. But damn Im pissed. Oh, no speaking of the fun I was made of by all my friends who where watching me fix the engine. Anyways, thanks to all for the responses. Thank god we have sails and not engines. Fair Winds Carlitos S/V MARTINA H26
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Ray Bowles
Carlitos, I don't know if you will ever.....
read this as it is quite a few days since your post, but, regardless of what others think: 1. You will never have that problem again, 2. You learned alot about outboards and trouble shooting, and 3. You own and have the boat! They don't. 4. So the hell with everything else, go sail. Ray
read this as it is quite a few days since your post, but, regardless of what others think: 1. You will never have that problem again, 2. You learned alot about outboards and trouble shooting, and 3. You own and have the boat! They don't. 4. So the hell with everything else, go sail. Ray
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