So yesterday was a perfect day for a sail, 75F mostly sunny, decent wind from the SSW. Went up and spent the thirty minutes prepping the boat to go out, motor ticking along perfectly the whole time. Cast away left the slip and idled the few thousand feet to the relatively open water of the finger leading to the main lake. Set the motor up to quarter throttle, turned it over to the tiller pilot to hold it into the wind while I put the main up. After about ten seconds or so, motor sputters and stalls. Starts again on first pull, runs for ten seconds, then sputters and stalls again. Because of the wind strength and direction, decided to come about and limp back into the marina, with ten second runs then sputter and stall. No way I could sail to my slip, single handed, couldn't even raise the main in those conditions.
I've run out of thoughts on this. Marina owner say's it might not be fuel a supply problem based on the immediate start on the first pull each time it quits, thinks it might be an electrical issue. Pretty hard to diagnose that when it only stalls under load and runs fine when barrel tested or at the dock nicely tied up. He thinks could be an intermittently failing kill switch that takes a little jostling to cause it to close momentarily. Possible but a long shot I think but will test anyway by taking it out of the circuit and killing by running dry or flooding with the choke on a test run. I still think it may be fuel supply related but have checked everything that can be checked in that regard.
Keep in mind this thing will run perfectly smoothly for long periods of time at the dock in neutral at various rpm settings without so much as a cough. What I haven't tried yet is a secure tie off and putting it under load for to see if it has something to do with that.
Have I ever mentioned that I hate outboard motors. This one is a relatively new based on hours of use, Nissan 6 hp 4 stroke Sail Pro.
I'd wonder if the tank vent is open . It sounds like it's not getting enough gas to stay running .
It would explain why it runs from possibly a differant source.
Don't ask me how I know ..
The fuel fitting or the primer bulb may be bad as well
Quote from: Timm R Oday25 on Feb 27, 2025, 07:36 AMI'd wonder if the tank vent is open . It sounds like it's not getting enough gas to stay running .
It would explain why it runs from possibly a differant source.
Don't ask me how I know ..
The fuel fitting or the primer bulb may be bad as well
Tank vent checked open, and all tests whether on board or off were from the same source. I am going to replace the fuel line under the "frustration covenant" whereby you start changing parts without really having a clue. When I did online searches this same situation has been described by others with much advice coming about what to do but they never posted a final outcome and what solved the problem.
Welcome to the world of ICE! There is no more aggravating thing than what you have described. Somewhere, there is something wrong. Finding it is another matter. I'll give you an example of a lawn mower I had. It would run fine and then quit and all the indications were that it SHOULD run, but it wouldn't. I took the carb apart a hundred times and did everything I could think of, but it was still prone to balk at a critical time. I was helping my dad mow the old rent house once and it started it's stuff. I had grown up there and knew the neighbors from long association, and finally the lawn mower got me mad and I started talking crap to it. The old neighbor to the south was outside and heard me and cautioned, "You'd better be careful there! Those lawnmowers have sent a lot of good men to Hell".
No truer words have ever been spoken.
The trouble turned out to be a tiny fleck of fuzz in the carb jet. I found it by poking a very small wire into the jet and was amazed when the tiny bit of fuzz came out. It was TINY, not too much bigger than one of the periods in this woolgathering. The thing ran fine after that. I had looked at that carb a hundred times but I had never poked something in the receptacle for the jet. How it got there is another thing. I HAD to be from original installation because like I said, I'd never gone as far as poking something in it. What it was I have no idea.
I'd say that might be your problem, although the lawnmower would never crank right back up until it decided to lure me in one more time on its mission to send me to Perdition. A less stubborn person would have scrapped the infernal machine and got a REAL mower. So on the basis of that story, it is probably something tiny and something easily overlooked. We SAY we look at things but do we really LOOK? Mmmm...well, maybe. And professional help is often a wash because these things take time to sort out. A recent story about a Toyota with a rattle near the dash made that point. The trouble was in the STEERING COLUMN and a known issue but it took TIME to find and more time to fix. With quality outboard mechanic pay running in the stratosphere, it just isn't feasible to have someone spend hours looking for such a problem. What to do? Believe me, I feel your pain. I have a small tiller that has taken the lawnmower's place in the drive to relegate me to Hades. And just like the marina owner, I've theorized that the kill switch MIGHT be the problem, given the vibration associated with a tiller.
Some easy things to do. If you have a gas filter change it. I don't care if it looks fine, change it anyway. On another note, my old Nissan had a gas filter readily available from the auto parts store but I'm SURE it was a much higher price from the dealer.
Moisture in your gas can give you FITS. I was ridiculed recently about paying a outrageous price for some of that canned fuel from Lowes. It's about $7 for a good quart. However, it comes with an additive ( that I had ran out of) that is fairly expensive on its own, and a metal can. It's good for long term use, where pump gas is ALWAYS susceptible for these little motors, and the metal can is useful and holds almost exactly a full inu ternal tank for the Honda. Moisture in the gas in the 'Sip is a great cause of many problems, given our humidity. One tactic to minimize that is to have a FULL TANK, and leave as little vapor space as possible. I really don't think that is it though. The motor usually runs rough with moisture and can be a problem to start. So start from the starting line and replace the gas if you haven't already. And if you are running ethanol containing gasoline, quit. It can lead to deterioration of the gas hoses themselves and you'll wind up with the same problem as that $&@()@ lawn mower.
After a few years, the Nissan developed a problem with the float valve in the carb. It would just quit and no amount of coaxing would help. The solution was always to take the carb apart and free the stuck float valve in the carb bowl. The first time I did it there was a very small amount of rust there. And later on, the dang carb got worse and worse. I tried a carb rebuilt kit....TWICE. And then a brand new rebuilt carb. The rebuilt carb was no better but I did discover something. There was a 2 hp and a 3.5 hp and from the looks of that float valve, the aftermarket dealer had sent me a 2 hp carb. I still have it and plan on getting a REAL 3.5 carb one of these days.
The kill switch also could be the problem. It come with a PLASTIC retainer and that can wear. Maybe not much but enough. $45 on a quick web search. Not exactly cheap but NOTHING is cheap anymore. Heck, a SPARK PLUG is almost TEN DOLLARS and they are the FIRST things to change. Here's hoping you get it ...and good luck. Remember, that *&**#* motor isn't worth going to Hell over! I am NOT going to brag on the Honda and jinx myself.
Superstitious? You betcha!
Riley, 4:55 a.m.? And I thought 1:18 a.m. was crazy!
But good post. Great info. Now if we can find it when we need it.
Sigh.....believe me Dale I wish that I had been asleep. My sleep cycle is broken. I don't sleep but about 4 hrs in a row. I don't know why. I rest during those 4 hrs but 2-6am finds me up and awake all the time. Does being retired do that to any of you?
Quote from: Riley Smith on Feb 28, 2025, 10:19 AMSigh.....believe me Dale I wish that I had been asleep. My sleep cycle is broken. I don't sleep but about 4 hrs in a row. I don't know why. I rest during those 4 hrs but 2-6am finds me up and awake all the time. Does being retired do that to any of you?
absolutely, I used to sleep easily without incident, now most nights it is 3-5 hours then a two hour session of tossing and turning, and maybe I get another hour or so if I'm lucky.
Very strange. When working, particularly on a salvage or offshore, it would be a 12-to-24-hour day. Even some "normal" days could be 0500 to 1900 involving a 3 to 6 hour drive out and back.
I now usually sleep 9-10 hours. But can also easily do 7-8 hours without affecting the day. It is very strange but maybe because I haven't had balanced hours in my life for 70 years. Not that the earlier teenage was all that balanced for anyone.
Easy thing to try, I'm going through it now. When you're motoring, at 3/4 tank of fuel, get where you can go straight for awhile, and crank it up to full throttle. If it starts stalling, be very quick to unscrew the gas cap. If it catches and begins to run, the vent in the fuel cap is clogged. My Honda 2 horse 4 stroke gas cap is a bit of engineering, I disassembled it and reassembled it, but it still does it even after cleaning everything really well. I'll be replacing it next, but they are actually expensive (I think $87 was the last price I found.)