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

"MC" wrote in message oups.com...
| 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
|

Try 'tickling' it to see of you can get fuel to run out of
the throat of the carb when it's acting up. If no fuel
comes out then chances are the vent on the fuel tank
cap is not working.

I've one of the old Gulls in perfect condition. It starts
when warm with a spin of the flywheel by hand without
even using the pull rope. It puts along and never misses
a beat. Be sure to mix the oil really rich. 10 gas to one
oil is good. My dinghy puts the powerhead low to the
water, too but that's never been a problem.

Make sure your water pump is putting out a solid stream
about the size of a pencil from under the cylinder.

CN

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
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed,
All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy.

Thanks for the info. Geez I think I undid the tank vent, I'll try all
these suggestions down the marina when I've got some time to go at it
slowly. Cheers

i agree with ian, its probably excessive back pressure , had the same
problem. putting an adjust ment collar or even a drive shaft zinc of
proper diameter on the drive shaft tube, raising up the motor, will
help if your freeboard is real low/