Outboard Help!

Tried to go hunting Monday morning. Boat fired on the second or third pull. Sputtered a little then died. Could not get it to restart. Came home changed plugs and made sure everything was hooked up. Still nothing.
Did find out the head is stripped where the spark plug goes in. You can turn the plug to about hand tight, then its loose again. Would this cause it not to run.
I am getting fuel from the pump but the plugs seem dry after pulling it through several times.
Please help!! This is a 25hp Johnson on my duck boat in the middle of duck season!!

I would say that a loose plug would make it not run. Your motor needs compression on that cylinder to run properly, and the loose plug is compromising the cylinder’s compression.

If I were you, I’d take it to a shop to see if they can fix it.

Bummer. Definitely a compression problem with stripped plugs.
I have a 25HP evinrude mid 80’s that i would sell. I’ll be in stillwater friday afternoon too. Runs great (Almost don’t want to sell it because it is a 1 pull wonder), and for another ~$150 it can be turned into a 35HP. If you don’t have a quick fix..It may be an option for you.
FWIW

Helicoil thread repair, check it out…good luck

Just called Boats That Float. Going to go pick up a used head tomorrow.

If it ran good in the past helicoil it. Much cheaper and easier fix than replacing the head. Pretty common thing to do on outboards. Call the marina in Hudson, they have done it for me before at a good price.

Bet it’s something besides the plug threads.

Me too. I am going to fix that first. The next step is to rebuild the carb. I’ve got spark. Got fuel from the tank. But it will not even fire if I squirt a little helper in the carb.

Quote:

---

Me too. I am going to fix that first. The next step is to rebuild the carb. I’ve got spark. Got fuel from the tank. But it will not even fire if I squirt a little helper in the carb.

---

You’re chasing too many problems at once. Slow down. I hope you’re not trying to start the engine on starting fluid with bad plug threads???

Get the plug threads issue fixed first. Helicoil it as per above, faster and cheaper than replacing the head.

Are you sure you have spark? Do you have an actual spark testing tool and are you getting a bright spark across the gap?

Grouse

I am going to pick up a used head today. I do have a spark tester and it shows good spark.
Any other ideas of would to check out after I get the head back on?

While it may seem obvious, I have to say it. Try to start it after replacing the head. Engines can’t run without compression, so if the threads were bad enough, the lack of compression might have been your only problem.

I’m going to assume you gapped the plugs correctly, BTW. No, there is no such thing as a “universal gap” setting.

Next step for me would be to look at the fuel system. Make sure you’re getting gas up from the tank into the carb. Bad hoses and air leaks are always suspects in an outboard. The easiest way to diagnose a bad tank or hose, is to use a totally different tank/hose combination that you KNOW works. Switch one at a time.

Then I’d look at the carb. I’ve fixed a lot of outboards that either didn’t run at all or ran poorly just by doing a deep clean on the carb. It’s not always necessary to put a kit in and on most outboards it’s easy enough to remove the carb that it’s worth trying the cleaning first.

Grouse