Why is there fuel spraying from my outboard exhaust, and why does it shut off when put in gear?

Question

i bought a used pontoon and it has a 1992 evinrude vro 115. the vro pump has been removed and fuel lines rerun by previous owner. just mixing in the tank now. i used it for the first time today and we burned alot of gas very quickly. there is some liquid spraying from the exhaust and it smelled like fuel. i wondered if this was normal. i don't believe it is but i really don't know alot about small engines. also when i put it in gear it seems to stall out over and over again. sometimes it would bog down and then pick-up and go. so many other times it would just stall. it doesn't seem to have the power it should. as an example another pontoon (same size and weight approx.) with a 70 johnson was blowing by me. i would think that the 45 h.p. difference should really push me better. any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

You definitely have a problem.First thing you should do is a compression check.It should not be dumping fuel out the exhaust.I suspect that there is something seriously wrong with

your motor.You need to take it to someone who can check it over and tell you what is wrong with it.Hopefully it can be repaired without too much cost to you.Good luck.

Answer 2

I think that what you describe is not normal, but I detect little clues.  If you over choke the engine when you start it, You would get some of the symptoms you describe, but if only one cylinder isn't firing, same thing.  Perhaps you could ask a neighbor, who has a similar boat to go out with you, for a test run.   The stalling might be old fuel that you need to burn off.   But, there just a lot going on.  It's not unusual in pontoon boats, that more power doesn't translate to much more speed, but clearly your engine isn't running as well as it should.  The question is why!

Answer 3

If the fuel is more than 6 months old, drain and replace with fresh 87 octane gasoline, mixed 50:1 with TCW3 certified oil.

Make sure no water in the tank.

Compression test.  you want to see all four within 7% or so of each other.

I'm betting you have a cylinder not firing.

That engine will idle all day on three cylinders and you won't be able to detect it by listening, so do a cylinder drop test.  Engine idling, pull then replace the spark plug wires one at a time.  If RPM's don't drop dramatically, then that cylinder's not making power.

Use an insulated or plastic tool (autozone sells a "plug boot" tool for a couple bucks made for this purpose).

Find a loafing cylinder, remove the plug, reattach it to the boot, hold it against the engine block and look for spark while somebody turns the engine over.

If you get no spark, swap that coil with another cylinder.  Problem follows the coil, replace the coil.  Stays with the cylinder,  you'll have to troubleshoot the powerpack, stator and timer base.  Just ask.