MC wrote:
Hi,
I've got an old Seagull shortshaft outboard around 2hp from what I
can remember. I bought her from an owner who said it ran well, was
reliable. I find that the outboard does start and run like a charm in
the tank in the shed but once I put it on the tender it's good for a
couple of minutes and thats it. It gets progressively harder to start
and runs for a shorter time each time it does start. Bring it home and
it's fine?!

I've tried draining the bowl, cutting the fuel off and playing with the
choke etc in case it's flooded with no luck.

My tender has very little freeboard and I was wondering whether this
could be the cause of this problem.
Anyone familiar with these outboards had this problem?


Cheers

Sounds like you are drowning it (excessive exhaust back pressure). The
water level should be between the flat top of the foot and the top of
the coller holding the driveshaft casing tube. Ideally it should be just
below the pinch bolt. You can fit a clamp round the shaft casing
between the powerhead and the bracket to raise it up if required. This
used to be a standard part from Seagull.

P.S. You are unscrewing the vent screw in the tank cap 1 turn aren't
you? :-)

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
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'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed,
All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy.