1996 90hp Evinrude Ocean runner acting up.

[wingtime]

The other day i decided to replace the garboard drain on my 170.  So I tilted the motor up all the way to give me room to work.  A few days later i noticed I forgot to tilt the motor back down.  I go hit the tilt switch...  notta..  huh?  I try up nothing...  the battery appeared to be dead (it's never died before) so I flip the batt switch to number 2 and tilt the motor down.  I put the battery on charge the other day but I noticed it didn't seem to be taking much juice.  Hmmm oh well.  fast forward to today.  Hey it's not raining today lets go out on the boat!  So off to the sand bar we went.  Everything was great.  When we get back to the ramp I jump back in the boat to start it so I can drive it up on the trailer...  nothing...  huh...  must be in gear or something...  wiggle the shifter... notta...  WTF?  I flip the batt switch to #2 and it fires right up.  "HMMMM gonna have to see whats goin on with that" I think.  I head home we wash the boat and I start her up on the  muffs to flush the motor...    after about five minutes I get back in the boat to shut her down. Just then I hear the system check start to beep....  but then I notice it is a LONG beep.  huh oh!I look and I have a HOT light! crap!  I shut it down.  I check the muffs... they are a tad low but otherwise on right and the water is flowing...  so I start her back up.  Long beep and a HOT light still... and not tell tale stream!  WTF???  I shut her down and I hook up the hose to the flush port and back flush the motor... thinking maybe there is some crap in there and this might flush it out while it cools the motor...    After that I pulled the T-stats...  perfect..  clean no corrosion or blockage.  I put the muffs back on and start her up.... no tell tale.  I time it... at 60 seconds still no tell tale.  So I shut her down.  I noticed the water shooting out from behind the muffs seemed to be much higher pressure than usual.  As if the water has no place to go.  The tell tale was peeing good when we were out n the boat and it looked good when we made it back to the dock.  Strange.

I guess I have to drop the lower unit and search for a bad battery connection or a bad battery.  Oh well time to bust out another thousand!

[Georgie]

Hope I'm not being dumb again,   but it sounds like you're having two separate unrelated issues at the same time, correct?  Re: battery issues, have you tested battery 1 by just putting a voltmeter across the poles to see if it's carrying a decent charge?  If so, it sure sounds like a loose battery cable b/c it seems to be intermittent and even a pretty low charge can still operate the tilt/trim motor so you'd at least hear a weak hum.  Mine behaved the same way when one of the wingnuts worked its way loose a couple years back.  Re: overheating, I wouldn't be running her again without dropping the lower.  Not a good sign if she's not sucking water at all.   Good luck! Fingers crossed.

[dburr]

What Ryan said Bruce, x2 with the added step of checking the #1 bat with a hydrometer, might as well do both while you're at it, just in case.  

BUT with #1 going just flat nothin, it  really does hint at a bad/broken connection.. How old is the switch? Next time it quits a quick check with the voltmeter would be in order on the #1 side form battery to hot side across the switch.  If you have my luck it gonna end up being completely unrelated and the dadblag starter solenoid is just getting fussy.. So just for giggles the next time flip on lights and tunes to make sure that it is no juice.. That will be faster then digging out the meter.

   

[wingtime]

To be honest I didn't even look and see what the voltage meter said when I tried to start it at the ramp.  There was a boat that had just been towed in and I needed to make room so I just wanted to get it started.  I feel the battery problem is most likely a loose connection or a bad switch.  

As for the cooling problem.  I plan on dropping the lower unit.  I don't have a service manual for this motor yet so I'm not sure how to disconnect the shift linkage.  This is the 60 degree V4 block.  I think you have to drop the pans and then pull a pin to be able to disconnect the linkage.  I  guess I will find out.  Does anyone know where the water pressure connection port is on these motors?  I think I'd like to add a water pressure gauge.

[wingtime]

I pulled the lower unit today expecting to find something... melted water pump...  debris blocking it etc.  Found nothin.  in fact...  everything looked perfect.  as in new perfect!  I was happy to see the good condition of the motor.... but annoyed to not find a smoking gun.  Picked up a OMC impeller and tossed one in there since I had it apart.  started her up to see if the problem was solved and she started peeing in less than 10 seconds.   Started pouring rain so the electrical gremlin will have to wait.

[floridamisser52]

I'm sure since your motor started peein quick you found your smokin gun. Was your battery still good and you find that issue?

[fitz73222]

Hey Bruce,

Speaking for the cooling issue; I've had a couple of these engines that I've serviced, have cooling issues on the flush. They have a relatively small intake grid and norrow gearcase profile that needs to have the flush right on center to provide enough cooling water to flush correctly. I've also noted that too much water pressure from the hose wants to make the muffs "hydrolift" off of the gearcase and walk off center. I found that using the Merc flush attachment works very well with a minor modification to your intake screen. The two piece Merc flush uses a stainless wire that passes through the intake opening and has a tension spring on the other side that the wire passes through and the locks the muff halves together. You basically sinch it together and it forms a very tight seal that will not come off or slide while the engine is running. The only mod you need to do is drill a 1/8 hole through your intake screen for the wire to pass through. We tried this on an engine that was doing exactly what yours was doing with a brand X flush, made the modification with the Merc flush and she immediately pee'd like a truck driver after an 8 hour pull... As for the battery, you know what to do there but whatever it is; throw the wingnuts into your stainless screw bin and replace with stainless E stop nuts and forget about loose connections forever.

[seabob4]

Farley, I remember way back when the first time I saw those Merc muffs with the "pin" that went through the intakes...I thought "How the F do these work??!!"  

That was a few years ago...  

[wingtime]

I've seen those Merc muffs. I've also seen the muffs lifted off the lower unit by pressure...  I usually squeeze my muffs for a tighter fit.  Everyone likes a tight fitting  muff!

I guess i never posted the electric issue solution.... found a loose nut on the feed side of the battery switch.