TOPIC: '67 80HP Evinrude Starflite IX - can't get to idle

Alright, I'm gonna give the whole story to see if I can get anyone to help me and figure this out! Haha. Alright, the story goes I bought a '67 MFG Edinboro with '67 80HP Evinrude Starflite IX selectric-shift model. Bought it not running, my friend and I finally diagnosed the no spark problem and attributed to the condenser. Went to the store and got the first condenser I could get that would fit at O'reilly's, not sure if that was a no no. New plugs, kinda sorta checked the points not sure if thats it either at the moment. The condenser was replaced with the O'reilly one and the motor finally fired off! Seemed to run good for a few seconds, went to the store and got the proper "Type C" lower gear lube thats compatible with electric shift models, fixed most questionable wiring temporarily, so that still may be an issue. Seemed to idle well at the time in a tub of water, that part of my memory is a little foggy, my friend and I took it out in the pond to putter around a bit, and after slowly accelerating the throttle on one of the runs we heard a "Bang" not sure if it was a backfire (on a two-stroke?) or something "banging" as in breaking. Seemed to run rough around idle after that and not "perfect" like before in general. Did a compression check after this and it's still 90 even across all four cylinders, however I do notice a small oil leak from the bottom half lower left of the block if you were facing the prop. The leak runs all the way to the foot, not sure if I blew a seal and this could be causing a loss of vacuum needed to run a two stroke at running speeds. I did rebuild carbs with a kit, and THOROUGHLY cleaned it believe me. Idle needles backed out 1 and 1/2 turns. It tries to run at idle speed in neutral however it eventually sputters out and dies. Also theres two holes in the front of the engine (prop side) one has a metal tube running to the hot air actuated choke, and the other is just left open? On a picture I've found on ebay of someones similar motor theres a type of vent? where my open hole is. I've included a picture of the ebay photo directly below, and pictures of my motor are below that.

That hole is where " cold air " enters

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The hot air is drawn into the carburetor !!

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so the air must enter somewhere

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Go thru a small heat exchanger in the exhaust

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then into the wee tube

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then to the " bimetallic " coil that operates the choke.

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Actually I have seen that hole plugged by " trial and error " mechanics.

Ok, thanks for the input on the hole, does anyone have any ideas on the idle issue? I'm running fuel directly to the carb via and "IV Drip" of fuel to avoid and gunk in the fuel system.

Have you timed the points using the marks ??

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Have you done anything to make sure the throttle opens at the correct time ??

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When throttle opens too early , a 2 stroke just will not idle.

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Have you tried to adjust the low speed needle after setting to the initial " motor will run " setting ??

professor wrote:

Have you timed the points using the marks ??

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Have you done anything to make sure the throttle opens at the correct time ??

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When throttle opens too early , a 2 stroke just will not idle.

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Have you tried to adjust the low speed needle after setting to the initial " motor will run " setting ??

Could you elaborate on timing the points with the marks, I do know the belt marks all line up on the flywheel and on the dist. The throttle does not open when you drop it back into the "shift zone" I've done the linkage setup according to my shop manual. Would you set it to a richer setting or more lean? It dual carbs, one idle needle each.

I know what your carburetor looks like---ONE CARBURETOR / ONE FLOAT / TWO BARRELS.

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The initial setting is to allow the motor to start and keep running ---Then you MUST adjust according to elevation / fuel / and local atmospheric conditions.

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When you have turned them in too far , the motor will let you know.

Ok, thats definitely on the list, now what did you mean with the points & timing marks or did I answer my own question in previous post. Thanks for your help so far!

Sounds like you may end up chasing your tail on this one unless:
-you fix properly the things you know are not correct.

So fix any bad wiring properly, get correct condenser if possible, clean points and set correctly etc.
Also how long has engine been sitting? Have you taken carbs off motor and disasembled/cleaned throughly?
Then carb needs to be properly syncronized and idle mixture screws adjusted to give proper idle