Printable View
Hi, so I bought a 14 ‘ Klamath with an 18 hp Tohatsu. Very happy. I have a couple of outboard questions though and am looking for advice.
1. It runs rough in first click forward. Seems sputtery. Guessing it is an air/fuel mix? Could it be not tuned for elevation-is that a thing.
2. It trolls (flies of course) at 1.8 mph at the slowest unless I point it into the wind or do tons of 's' patterns.
Can you tune a motor to troll slower?
Thanks in advance
John,
There are altitude compensation kits for your motor. That would probably help with your sputtering, if it doesn't already have one on it. If you search for the kit online, for your specific model, you may see an image that will help you determine if it already has one installed.
A drift sock, an old bucket with holes drilled in it, a trolling flap, or a prop with less pitch are some of the ways to slow your trolling speed.
Best of luck,
Dan
Thanks Dan,
Will look into the altitude kit. I have a drift sock for my canoe, will give that a shake too
1) I get a reference for a good outboard mechanic and get it serviced.
2) Use YouTube videos and service it yourself?
3) If you are fishing around Truckee then you will be at 5,000 feet or more so jetting your induction system and even a propeller change
might help it run better.
4)Old gasoline is pretty common too. If it sat around for some time the carburetor can be plugged up?
See if you can find a vendor that sells non-alcohol fuel. I had a similar problem with my 2 hp Honda 4 stroke. Had a repair shop clean everything out and they recommended non-ethanol fuel---made a hell of a difference.
Top boat shop, Bucks Outboard Repair, in south Sacramento recommends Chevron mid-grade gasoline for all 4 stroke outboards.
Florida and South Dakota both have non-ethanol gasoline. Kind of hard to find in California.
Most landscape businesses us non-ethanol fuel in all their small equipment if they can find it.
John,
I would run a decarbon procedure on my motor if it acted the way you are describing. WARNING regardless of which procedure you choose to use you can expect ALOT of smoke for several minutes from your motor, so don't do it in your driveway and especially don't do it on a spare the air day.
I find that style 1 is easier and a good maintenance step and probably is better for cleaning the entire fuel system. But Style 2 is very good for getting Carbon off the piston heads and the intakes. Both procedures works great on a variety of engines not just outboards. I have revived old chainsaws and lawnmowers using these procedures most recently fixed a hesitation problem on my my old Nissan v6.
Procedure or style 1. (From "Dunk")
"First you need a separate small fuel tank. One of those 3 gal red Tempos works great or an empty gal milk jug will also work, but might be a bit messier..
I use Seafoam over the OEM stuff like OMC Engine Tuner or Merc Power Tune because in the last few years they changed the formula and you have to let them sit up 12 hours. Who's got time for that?? Seafoam you can buy from NAPA, CarQuest or other auto stores. Seafoam works in 15 mins.
You'll need 3/4 gal of gasoline and one 16oz can of seafoam for each engine. Don't forget to add 3oz of oil if you are premixing in a carbed engine. Use about 3 ft piece of fuel hose off the little tank. You connect this tank to your engine by pulling off the main tank fuel hose off the intake side of your water separating fuel filter and plug the hose off the small tank on to that fitting. Or you can separate the fuel line on the tank side primer ball, so you can still use your primer. If you have an engine that has fuel plug then you need a fuel plug on the little tanks hose.
Start the engine, let it warm up and start pulling the mix into the engine. You may have to increase the idle to keep it running once she get loaded with the Seafoam. Run the engine 15 mins in the dock or just cruising around under 2500. Then shut it down and let it sit for 15 mins. Restart the engine, the smoke you see is the carbon burning off. Do the whole thing again and let her sit again for 15 mins. If she smokes after the second time do it again, but I've never seen one still smoke after three doses. The gallon mix should be enough to do this 3 times. You don't need any wide open throttle, you don't need to change the plugs. If it's cleaning the combustion chambers it's also cleaning the plugs, but every 50-60hrs is good time to change plugs in most engines.
I cleaned a antique evinrude one time that had a 1/4" of solid carbon on the exhaust chamber walls by running a 1/2 gal of the mix through it. Seafoam has been around since the 30's and it's what they used when they were burning straight 4 stroke 40SAE oils in outboards.
You guys with the 4 strokes think you are immune from this? Those engines work 10 times as hard as any auto engine ever will and they will carbon up. I bought a Bronco two years ago that had 95,000 miles on it. When I used seafoam on it I had the neighbors hanging out of their front doors looking for where the fire was after I started it the first time there so much smoke."
Procedure or style 2 (from "Sal")
"I use either Sea Foam or Engine Tuner by Bombardier to de-carb my engines. No, I don't just pour it in to the tank. I remove the carburetor or injector air intake cover, start the engine and spray into each carb or throttle body until the can is empty. Run the engine only at idle or fast idle, but not over 900 RPM while spraying into the cavities. Toward the end I'm trying to flood the engine out (V6 engine). As soon as the engine either floods out or dies, I shut it down.
I remove the plugs and spray a can into the cylinders and turn the engine over by hand to be sure the solution has saturated in, behind, and under the rings. Then I put the plugs back in (but don't tighten), tilt the engine horizontal so the solution sits on top of the pistons. I put the cowling back on and let it sit overnight.
The next day I remove the cowling and spark plugs. I use an air compressor to blow the solution out of each cylinder and turn the engine over again about 10 times by hand, not with the starter. Then I put all the plugs back in (and index the plugs--only mandatory on Bombardier's Evinrude FICHT engines and for racing engines or high-performance injected engines.).
Next I either launch the boat (recommended), or put it on the hose, and start it. Keep your hand on the key because the engine will want to over-rev and burn off the excess solution. If it over-rev's, shut her down and re-start her again. You may have to shut her down sometimes up to three times before you burn off all the solution. If the boat is in the water, just start her and put her in gear and the prop will give enough resistance so the engine won't over-rev as it would if she were in neutral.
It is very, very, very important to de-carb. Carbon build up is on top of the list of the things that destroy engines (and right next to it is over-propping). I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. And it's absolutely essential in maintaining a healthy engine. I know, there are guys that have never done a de-carb and scoff at it, but the oils and fuel of today aren't as they were just a few years ago. They're playing with fire by thinking they are smart or cocky saying "BS--my engine doesn't need it." Only a fool would think that way, but this world is full of fools."
I think I would get a reference for a good mechanic who works on Tohatsu first and get it tuned up and serviced.
I have always heard about changing the jets on your outboard for higher altitude running.
I also have a friend who changes the propeller on his outboard for trolling at high altitudes.
Some troll with a smaller outboard or even an electric motor,
There are attachments to put on your outboard to slow down your trolling speed.
Trol-A-Matic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IABv8orPwfw
Is it a 2 stroke or 4 stroke outboard?
Thanks guys!
Trying to get it in to get worked on here but all shops are crazy busy winterizing/shriwrapping boats... fingers crossed. Its a 4 stroke. I worked in marinas as a kid and my mom is a diesel mechanic- never heard about decarboning but it makes sense. Also thr point about non ethanol gas... it really could be that... the tank i am running is last years snow blower gas...
=Bill Kiene semi-retired;199321]I think I would get a reference for a good mechanic who works on Tohatsu first and get it tuned up and serviced.
I have always heard about changing the jets on your outboard for higher altitude running.
I also have a friend who changes the propeller on his outboard for trolling at high altitudes.
Some troll with a smaller outboard or even an electric motor,
There are attachments to put on your outboard to slow down your trolling speed.
Trol-A-Matic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IABv8orPwfw
Is it a 2 stroke or 4 stroke outboard?[/QUOTE]