# evinrude 225 is driving me crazy



## saltwater redneck (Aug 8, 2011)

ok heres the long and short of my problem ; i have a 1995 erude 225 it will start and run for about 30 sec then will back fire then stumble until it dies hit the key it will repeat over and over . i have rebuilt the carbs synced the throttle plates and linkage , pulled flywheel checked magnets , compression is good within 20% ,set timing , here is what i found over the weekend i pulled all plugs and marked each cyl. at the timing tab @ tdc put plugs back in and ran the engine with a timing light on each cyl one at the time i have 2 cyls that the timing(tdcmark) does not falter or move as the engine backfires and stumbles and dies i have 4 cyls that do not move until it back fires then they move from about 18 degrees btdc to 18 degrees atdc back and forth until it dies my ??? is whats bad i think it is going to be the power pack ? any help will be greatly appreciated .


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## Sea-r-cy (Oct 3, 2007)

There is a switch on the shift linkage that "kills" 3 cylinders to make shifting smoother. Bypass this switch (can't remember if you unplug it or jump across with a piece of wire) and try running it. This may be the problem, those switches go bad from time to time.

I had a '96 Johnson, finally fixed all the problems it had by buying a Honda. SeaTow was very glad I did! :whistling: 



Sea-r-cy


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## saltwater redneck (Aug 8, 2011)

Sea-r-cy said:


> There is a switch on the shift linkage that "kills" 3 cylinders to make shifting smoother. Bypass this switch (can't remember if you unplug it or jump across with a piece of wire) and try running it. This may be the problem, those switches go bad from time to time.
> 
> I had a '96 Johnson, finally fixed all the problems it had by buying a Honda. SeaTow was very glad I did! :whistling:
> 
> ...


i will look into the shift interuptor switch......... my wife will shoot me dead if i even think about buying another motor right now.:2guns::


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## TheCaptKen (Mar 14, 2011)

Sounds like its good while in the cold start mode but when it drops back into slow idle, it sneezes and dies. It goes into cold start every time you start it so it would start back up easy. Try advancing your timing some to see what happens. The cold start advances your timing until its warm then it drops it back to normal which should be around 6 ATDC


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## saltwater redneck (Aug 8, 2011)

Bump


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## saltwater redneck (Aug 8, 2011)

bump


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

Saltwater, get a 6 gallon tank of fuel. Make sure it's all good/clean gas, hose, primer bulb. Hook that up to the motor. See if it will run properly. If it does, your problem lies in the fuel system. 
If it still doesn't run properly, the problem lies within the motor. This is the fastest/easiest way for eliminating the source. 
At least you'll know what part to focus on. But it seems to me, it's a fuel problem. Fuel line collapsing, stopped up filter, sucking air. 
Good luck


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## SHO-NUFF (May 30, 2011)

saltwater ******* said:


> ok heres the long and short of my problem ; i have a 1995 erude 225 it will start and run for about 30 sec then will back fire then stumble until it dies hit the key it will repeat over and over . i have rebuilt the carbs synced the throttle plates and linkage , pulled flywheel checked magnets , compression is good within 20% ,set timing , here is what i found over the weekend i pulled all plugs and marked each cyl. at the timing tab @ tdc put plugs back in and ran the engine with a timing light on each cyl one at the time i have 2 cyls that the timing(tdcmark) does not falter or move as the engine backfires and stumbles and dies i have 4 cyls that do not move until it back fires then they move from about 18 degrees btdc to 18 degrees atdc back and forth until it dies my ??? is whats bad i think it is going to be the power pack ? any help will be greatly appreciated .


 I had the same problem on a 1994 225. It would sneeze and die at low or idle speeds. I had to keep bumping the key[choke] to keep it running. It would run like a raped ape above idle. 
I changed everything! fuel and ignition related. I never got the problem fixed. What info I gathered was the engine was running too lean at idle or low speed, hence the backfire or sneeze. But, as you are aware, there are no "idle screws" to fatten up the mixture on the stock carbs. I have heard, you can change the air bleeds[jets] on the carbs{all six} to fatten up the mixture at idle. Advancing the timing will help, as well as making sure all the throttle plates are closed. 
Dig a round and see if you can find some carbs off an earlier model that have mixture screw adjustments on them.


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## addict620 (Oct 18, 2009)

Not sure about switch that kills three cyl for shifting. If it exists it is likely in the powerpack. However, the last time I had a problem like tis on my OceanRunner I mixed up the orange/blue and orange/green wires from the powerpack. I may have a spare if you would like to borrow for troubleshooting....good luck


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## saltwater redneck (Aug 8, 2011)

SHO-NUFF said:


> I had the same problem on a 1994 225. It would sneeze and die at low or idle speeds. I had to keep bumping the key[choke] to keep it running. It would run like a raped ape above idle.
> I changed everything! fuel and ignition related. I never got the problem fixed. What info I gathered was the engine was running too lean at idle or low speed, hence the backfire or sneeze. But, as you are aware, there are no "idle screws" to fatten up the mixture on the stock carbs. I have heard, you can change the air bleeds[jets] on the carbs{all six} to fatten up the mixture at idle. Advancing the timing will help, as well as making sure all the throttle plates are closed.
> Dig a round and see if you can find some carbs off an earlier model that have mixture screw adjustments on them.


my carbs have idle screws i have adjusted them from 2.5 turns out to 8 turns no change in the problem . as stated above i have link & synced the throttle plates timing , etc . the problem is erratic spark on 4 cyls .i have triple checked the entire fuel system replaced all hoses ,primer , filter, removed the check valve at the pickup in the tank. i am 99.9 % sure this is not fuel related. advancing timing does not change anything related to the problem.


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## gameaholic (Oct 1, 2007)

try pumping primer ball while it is running as it starts to act up.


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## SHO-NUFF (May 30, 2011)

You can just unplug the shift interrupt switch to bypass it. 

I would take the flywheel off again and look at the charge coils on the stator. When they start to go bad, they will drip black 'Goo" onto the timer base. Also check the wires coming off the stator and timer base for any place they might of rubbed the insulation off. 
There is a way to check the high voltage output from the charge coils but you have to have a special meter to do it. 
If all looks good I would suspect the power pack being faulty. Hopefully, you can get a "loaner" to try. Changing parts gets expensive!


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## fish4life (Mar 3, 2008)

*Livingston Outboard Rebuilds And Repair*

Give me a call I might can help 

Thanks Shane
850-375-0435


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## pappastratos (Oct 9, 2007)

what solved it ?


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## saltwater redneck (Aug 8, 2011)

pappastratos said:


> what solved it ?


 it is with Shane Livingston right now so far multiple problems and not done yet , it had bad trigger , bad (new) power pack , 2 bad (intermittant) coils , loose timing magnets under flywheel. so making progress but no cigar yet lol .......... A HUGE THANK YOU TO SHANE :thumbup: HE IS DA MAN !!!!


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## what next? (Apr 8, 2010)

Hey Saltwater ******* I had a 96 200 Johnson and had problems with it also. Shane got it running and spent time with me explaining what he was doing and why. I live in Atlanta now, and have since sold the boat. I hated that motor and wished I had bit the bullit and got a new on. The money you save on fuel will pay for the new motor. But the next best thing is to keep shane around! Good luck and please tell shane i said hello.


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## TheCaptKen (Mar 14, 2011)

saltwater ******* said:


> it is with Shane Livingston right now so far multiple problems and not done yet , it had bad trigger , bad (new) power pack , 2 bad (intermittant) coils , loose timing magnets under flywheel. so making progress but no cigar yet lol .......... A HUGE THANK YOU TO SHANE :thumbup: HE IS DA MAN !!!!


Apparently those items was not the problem being its not working correctly 
yet. Being all the electronic's have been replaced except for the stator and its not running, must not be the electronics.


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