Way2slow

There are several possibilities, that's why you go through a basic trouble shooting routine and the process of elimination. For an IC engine to run it takes air, fuel, compression, and ignition at the right time. All you have to do is go through the process of determining which of those are missing. Of course, if it's a diesel, you don't have an external ignition but then compression becomes ever more critical. I have had numbers of engines that would start fine cold and not start when warm. 95% of the time it's either the compression or the ignition. A cold engine will generally have a lot more compression than a warm engine. Warm air is thinner and harder to compress than cold air, plus the internal gaps open up on a warm engine. I don't know how many engines I've rebuilt for this same problem. The other is the ignition, bunches of times I've had coils and power packs the broke down after they warm. and I've had them to be just the opposite. If it's an older motor with points, you will want to check those for pitting and proper gap. Also note, this is why you always to a compression test on a warmed engine and not a cold engine. Cold engines compression will lie to you big time.

My first thought is bad compression. Also, gas can go bad in a couple of months. Eight month old gas is only good for starting fires or pouring on fire ant mounds.

First determine if it's fuel. After pulling it a couple of times, pull the spark plugs out and see if they are wet or dry. If wet, then it's either getting too much gas and wet fouling the plugs or a lack of ignition or compression. If they are dry, it's not getting gas so put a little of premixed in a spray bottle and give a couple of squirts in the carburetor and see if it starts up easily then. If so, you have a fuel delivery problem. You can use ether, but I prefer premixed. When you post the results of those checks, come back with the results and we can guide you a little further into it. One thing you can do while you have the plugs out, stick the plug wire on them and while holding the base against bare metal on the motor, try starting it and make sure you are getting a good blue spark on each one. Make sure you have it firmly against the bare metal of you are going to come back and accuse me of tricking you, because it can light your eyeballs up.

What you are seeing is probably just common oxidation and corrosion. Especially if the motor has ever been used in brackish water. As for the ground, you do not need to make a common ground between the TM and cranking battery. Each one is their own independent system. If it's an aluminum boat, DO NOT connect any ground wires to any part of the aluminum hull.

That's not an uncommon thing to happen. For the first few years of the Opti-max's they were better known as the Opti-Pops. In the early 2000's all the manufactures rushed to get their brand DFI motor's on the market because of the drastic difference in fuel economy, and they let the consumers do the testing. There was a very high return ratio on most all brands, that was what put the final nail in OMC's coffin. It took several years for them to get the bugs out. Another thing about all DFI motors, they don't tolerate old gas very well at all and I'm talking about as little as a few months old under some conditions.

The leak comes during operation. The lower unit is at ambient temp when it goes in the water. If the water is cold, it's going to create a vacuum on it. Then when you run it, it's going to heat up and create pressure on it. When you stop, it's going back to a vacuum when it cools, and continues this cycle during use. That's when it's going to either let water in or lube out, or both. That's why to properly pressure test one, you take it to a given pressure and then to a given vacuum and make sure it holds both. So, check your fluid level and color after every use for a while, and then at regular intervals for a while after that.

If it has been pulled under the seal, it will be oily when you get it out. The seal is a double lip seal so if it was caught early enough, the outer lip will keep it from getting under the inner lip. If it burns through the outer lip, it can still may not leak oil out but can suck water in. Keep a check on your fluid levels making sure it's staying full and the color of the lube. It's either going to be black or the natural color of the lube, depending on when it was last serviced. If it starts getting water in it, it's going to turn it a brown to light creamy milky looking goo and that ain't good, time for a repair then.

Wrapped around the prop is not a problem. It's when it gets pulled in around the prop shaft is when the problems come. It can get pulled in the seal and destroy it. Take the prop off and make sure it didn't get around the shaft and around the seal area. If not, you are good to go.

I've used a 4WD Toyota Short bed for over 30 years and 99% of the time it's not a problem, and even hauled a 17" aluminum canoe in it many times. Just slide it in and put whatever gear you are taking in the boat as close to the cab as you can get it to hold that end down. I said 99% of the time because one time I was hauling a light gauge aluminum 12' jon across some fairly rough land to a farm pond and it creased the bottom right at the end of the tail gate, so that time, it would have paid to have had some support father back.

Born and raised in GA and messing with boats since I was 16 (that was a loongggg time ago) you can just about bet money any boat sitting out and exposed to the elements is going to be junk so far as money value goes. Just the cost of materials alone to make it a safe, useable boat would far exceed any value the boat might have, even after being fully restored. Then you have the motor to consider. First, the old 175 was not that great of a motor, and there are parts that are common to be bad when torn down to be rebuilt that are no longer available and good used are extremely hard to find. Having sat for that many years, there is always the chance the internals may be rusted junk from condensation over the years. So, unless you have the ability and know how to do all the work yourself, and 3 - 5 grand to throw away for parts and materials, you would be better off just finding a good used boat. I have a 1988 Stratos that's been sitting in my yard for about a year I keep looking at and thinking I'm going to restore for my granddaughter (it was my dads) and there is not one thing about that boat that's still good (it had an oak tree growing out of the floor). I've just got to get enough ambition to start working on it, but there is a huge amount of sentimental value to that one.

My first thought is you are probably trying to turn it the wrong direction. My second thought would have been why not use an impact driver to loosen it instead of just brute force on the head. An impact driver applied will loosen over tightened screws a whole lot better than just brute force. They also work much better than just a screwdriver but if trying a screwdriver and the blade is so sharp, it's cutting the screw, why not just grind in flatter so it doesn't cut into it. Since there has never been a mention of what motor you are dealing with, makes it kind of hard to give any constructive assistance. Sound like one of those deals if I fix it, it cost $20. If I fix it after you tried, it cost $200.

These guys used to be one of the best in the business, I would give them a shot. Team C&O Marine - New & Pre-Owned Boats, Autos and Trucks, Financing, Parts and Service in White Bluff, TN, near Charlotte and White Oak Flat (candomarine.com)

If you are knowledgeable on the use of a good DVM, you can use it connected across the battery and crank the motor and see how much voltage drop it has. My process is to check it at the at the lead terminals on the battery, and then move out to the conductors in the cable. If the cables are good and have clean connection's, you will get the same reading you got on the lead battery post. IF not, you need to clean, repair or replace some cables.

Something you need to understand. The ignition voltage is generated by magnets in the flywheel and coils in there next to them. Most all, older and a lot of newer two stroke motors require at least about 250+ rpm to generate enough spark to fire the motor. While a bad battery might be spinning the motor over, and struggling to do that, it's not spinning it fast enough to generate a good hot spark. Then you get hit with the double whammy. Not only is it not spinning it fast enough, if it has a power pack or ECM that depends on battery voltage to work, the battery voltage is dropping too low for them to operate. Ever wonder why your depth finder turns off when you crank the motor? Then you get hit with the triple whammy. Running a motor with a weak/bad battery makes the stator and Rec/Reg overheat from the constant load the battery is pulling with it trying to charge it, and can burn either or both out. Every wonder why your tach quit working and then later find the motor won't start. The rectifier is where the tach signal comes from so when it quits, so does the tach. Or jut the Reg can go and tach still work but won't charge. OH, what trouble being to cheap to replace a $100 bad battery can cause. Of course, there is always the bad/dirty cables that can cause problems also.

"Battery"

I do hope he is not still trying to use the motor with a bent prop shaft. The vibration will destroy the lower unit, and quite possibly cause the shaft to break, depositing the prop on the bottom of the lake and just think of the RPM's that motor is going to hit if it breaks and the motor goes to a no load condition while under power. Might make one big grenade even if the rev limiter does hold it back some. I personally would not want one .001" out, that's still a lot of wobble when you figure the weight of that prop and it's turning close to 3,000rpm at WOT.

I haven't done this motor but I'm guessing it's similar to most other models. Since he's not replacing any gears, bearings or other parts, he should be able to replace the prop shaft without any of the special jigs and alignment fixtures. He will probably have to remover the water pump and the vertical drive shaft. To remove the prop shaft, there are two retainers inside the exhaust port holding the bearing housing in. Then you use a tool that hooks behind the bearing housing to pull it out. It can be done with a slide hammer, but it has to be done carefully, a little at the time from different positions around it. If he has never been into one, I would recommend seeing if a dealer can't get a factory manual. Screw anything up and it can get super expensive very fast. Crowley marine has parts breakdowns for most outboard motors and most common parts.

One of the U.S.'s top aluminum manufacturing plants has made massive cutbacks to its workforce, putting a halt to all operations for at least nine months, the company said on Wednesday.

Battery longevity is rated in cycle counts (a discharge and recharge is one cycle). AGM's typically have a higher cycle count than flooded cell batteries, usually about 15% to 20%. How deeply the battery is discharged also have a huge affect on cycle count. A battery that is only discharge to 70% will last much longer (almost twice as long) than a battery that is discharged to 30% How a battery is maintained also has a huge affect on the life of a battery, and the type battery charger used. A good logic controlled charger can almost pay for itself with just the first set of batteries. Then you have the battery construction itself, and the type alloy used to make the plates and how much lead they actually have in them. There is a whole host of variables that have to do with the life span of a battery. That's why you buy a good, well known brand name, a good, name brand logic controlled charger that's made in the USA and learn how to properly maintain them. Now, as far as run time for each trip, a good, flooded cell battery that has service caps on it has more reserve minute's and will give more run time than the equivalent size AGM.

I just installed mine a couple of months ago and have only used it a couple of times. I'm just running one group 27 AGM I take out of my pontoon boat as needed. I used it twice trolling at 1-mph for several hours crappie fishing and had very minor battery drain. If I had to depend on it running for several hours, even at modest speeds on an electric only lake, I would have stuck with the 60-pound thrust 24 volt digital motor I had on it. I didn't need that much motor and battery for my type of fishing, is the reason I went with just one battery. Even running a 12v TM with two batteries in parallel, you are still loosing a lot because a 24V TM is 25% more efficient than a 12V, plus the digital motor will give a huge increase in run time at low to moderate speed settings.

Everything is Way2slow. About 32mph on the jon. Even my 20' Javelin I sold that would run 82 with a full load and two people. I'm like Tim Allen, "More Power", ain't no such thing as too much power or too fast. I've never had a stock motor in my personal vehicle (in the wife's, but not mine) and not many of my boats.

36" shaft. I recently installed a new TM on my Lowe 1436 jon. I only wanted a 12V TM because I don't use it a lot and didn't want the weight of two batteries in the rear, especially since I sometimes run a 25hp Merc on it. Motor Guide only offers the X3 in 45lb and 55lb in the 12V. Motor I preferred getting the 55lb digital, but the 45lb non digital was the only motor available at the time in the 36" shaft. Even though I really preferred the 55 digitals, I bought the 45 non digital just to get the 36" shaft. With over 50 year's experience, if there's one thing I've learned, too long of a shaft totally sucks. Don't think cutting the shaft is a quick, easy solution. It is on some but not all. I've cut my fair share of them, the older ones usually were easy. Some of the newer one, not so easy and you can kiss any warranty it might have good by.

I don't use a kayak, but my son converted his to a foot control about 10 years ago and says he wouldn't want it any other way. He uses his to fish the shallow bays in south Texas.

If the pump is pumping water in and it's not staying, the drain valve is open. If it's not pumping water in, sounds like you need to fix the pump

Anyone that's going to tow anything for any distance or at highway speed would be well advised to install a transmission temperature gauge. Vehicles designed to tow generally come with one for a reason. Once the temperature gets above 200 degrees F, (about 190 is the max you really want it to go) you are cutting the life of that transmission in half, and it greatly shortens it even more for each five degrees above that. It doesn't take much extra load on a transmission to cause the temp rise. Used car dealers used to take the hitch out from under vehicles if they had one, so people wouldn't know they had been used for towing.