# 69' Ted Williams 7 hp...Need advice



## Ho-Jazz (May 25, 2009)

Picked one up at a yard sale the other day. Cleaned the carb, new plug and fresh gas...Cranked up on the fourth pull. Seems to run good but my problem is when I put it in the water seems to be "slipping" is the best word for it. It will push the boat good for a few seconds the rev up and not push anymore. The front of the engine says it has a clutch shift system. Could it be a slipping clutch?? Any input would be great.


----------



## Davis31052 (May 25, 2009)

probably a spun prop. the rubber bushing inside the prop is worn out. Put it in gear, pull the spark plug wires and try to turn the prop. If it turns easily, pull the prop and look on the back side. you'll probably see where the rubber insert is starting to come apart. Just my guess.


----------



## Ho-Jazz (May 25, 2009)

Thanks for the help Lizella Fella. I checked that and pulled the prop, the pin and everything looks good...Went ahead and pulled the whole lower unit apart and all looks good. It even had pretty fresh gear oil in it. Found a blowup diagram on sears website but its so blurred and lack of quality I cant really see any thing. Guess I gotta keep tearin' into it..??..


----------



## Cypress94 (May 26, 2009)

For what I know, all outboards have a clutch dog, which is what engages your gears.  If you have forward and reverse gear, then you have two gears...your forward gear should be in the nose of the torpedo.  You could have teeth in those gears or on the clutch dog that are worn or are not meshing properly.  Did you have glitter or metal flake in that gear lube?  If that gear lube looks fresh (amber color), then you may have been ripped off...


----------



## kevincarden (May 26, 2009)

could be the prop blowin out, meaning nothing wrong with the prop or gears. sounds to me like shaft lenth vs transom height. just my opinion i had a brand new set up do that, so i cut the transom down.


----------



## Ho-Jazz (May 26, 2009)

Thanks for all the replies guys..I really do appreciate any help I can get. 
Cypress... I have checked all the bevel gears in the lower unit, they seem to be good hardly show any signs of wear..
The oil did not have any shavings in it that I could see, But I do still have the oil sitting in an old plastic tray in the garage. Tonight I will take a small magnet and see if I can attract any metal from it. As for getting ripped off...Ive only got about twenty $in this engine now and that was in gas, oil, lead additive and a new plug. (it pays to have good neighbors ) Just trying to salvage this this into maybe a summers worth of small ponds.
Kevin, Im starting to think the same thing as you are...after looking I would say the prop is maybe 10-12 inchs below the surface when the boat was loaded with 3 people and gear...Gonna try it one more time with a little more weight in the rear of the boat and see what happens. If still no go, I guess Ill tear into the powerhead and get to the top of the driveshaft. Thanks again guys, Ho-Jazz


----------



## Cypress94 (May 27, 2009)

lol, yep, I'd say that's a big problem, your anti-cavitation plate should be about even with the bottom of the transom.  What length boat are you running it on?  What's it rated for?


----------



## Slug-Gunner (May 27, 2009)

*Best sources of info.....*



Ho-Jazz said:


> Picked one up at a yard sale the other day. Cleaned the carb, new plug and fresh gas...Cranked up on the fourth pull. Seems to run good but my problem is when I put it in the water seems to be "slipping" is the best word for it. It will push the boat good for a few seconds the rev up and not push anymore. The front of the engine says it has a clutch shift system. Could it be a slipping clutch?? Any input would be great.




For best sources of info from actual owners and boat mechanics, follow the links on this thread "click here".

_Twenty-five ought six_ posted some EXCELLENT LINKS also.


----------



## Ho-Jazz (May 27, 2009)

Cypress, Its a 13 1/2 foot fiberglass v-hull...I have no idea who made it or what year it is. My reg that I got from the neighbor say its a homemade boat. I will get some picks and post em' up tonight. Might just be too short of a shaft.
Slug-gunner, thanks for the links...Gonna grab a cold one and start reading!!


----------



## Twenty five ought six (May 27, 2009)

> If still no go, I guess Ill tear into the powerhead and get to the top of the driveshaft. Thanks again guys, Ho-Jazz



Why would you want to do that.  When it starts "slipping" does the motor just start turning high revs, but you're not going any where.  If that's the case, leave the powerhead alone -- you're lucky.

What you are describing is classic for a spun prop.  in response to Lizella Fella, you said you pulled the prop.  Did you put the motor in gear (with the plug wire off) and try to turn the prop by hand?  You may have to really lean into it, but if it turns without turning the motor (flywheel), then you have a spun prop.

Other quick cheap check is to borrow a prop that's known to be good and see if it will work o.k.

There's no way I'd pull the powerhead though.  Too many things to break, and parts for these motors are hard to come by.  If it's an Eska, parts are virtually impossible to come by.  

If it's a homemade boat, it may possibly be a displacement hull, and not a planing hull, or just heavy, and once it reaches a certain speed, that's all she's going to go.

Again before I started taking things apart, I'd find someone with a 12 foot jon, put your motor on it, and see how it will do.


----------



## Ho-Jazz (May 27, 2009)

Thanks 25...Im gonna post up some pics of the boat and engine here in a few... Im almost sure its not a homemade boat(unless they were darn good) I did try to turn the prop with it in gear and the plug wires off. It feels to me that you can push the piston to the top of the stroke, it pops with compression and returns to the bottom of the stroke. It feels good to me. Pics in a few will help this thread alot.....


----------



## Ho-Jazz (May 27, 2009)




----------



## Ho-Jazz (May 27, 2009)

Pics up...Lots of work went into getting "slow poke" to look like this. When I got it it was full of pine straw and that 70's green color...From looking the plate seems to be about even with the bottom of the transom...Hope these pics help show what what you guys need...If you need a diff angle let me know...


----------



## Cypress94 (May 28, 2009)

Looking at that, and if the prop is still in good shape and you've got good compression, then I would say that your percentage of prop slip is too high.  If you have a tachometer or can get a remote tach, you need to take the boat out, load it up, and see what RPM's you are running.  Because it sounds as if you are over-revving the engine, then you probably need to get a higher pitched prop.  This should bring your RPM's down and help reduce slip, and you should see some improvement.


----------



## Twenty five ought six (May 28, 2009)

Nice looking boat.

I'm thinking now that you just have too much boat for a 7 1/2.  Lots of stuff there for an old 7 1/2 to push.

What I'm thinking is happening is that you can almost plane, and then the motor starts to cavitate because it just doesn't have the ponies to get it up on top.  I'm suspecting that's the reason it's named "Slow Poke".  

Again, before I started taking things apart, find someone with a basic 12 foot jon, and try your motor out on it.

It just doesn't sound like you have a mechanical problem.


----------



## boneboy96 (May 28, 2009)

I'm gonna throw my .02 in here...13 1/2 foot fiberglass boat is going to need more than a 7.5 HP motor to get on up and out of the water.  You're probably cavitating.    I agree with 25-06


----------



## Ho-Jazz (May 28, 2009)

Thanks for all the replies guys...
I named her slow poke cause my Grandfather had an old pontoon that he would take me out fishing on when I was a youngin' named slow poke...That boat is long gone now, so I figured I would bring the name back.
Gonna try it again this weekend with a little less gear and just my 7yr old an I on it. Maybe it will help out a little.
25-06 What you just said about it pushing up and wanting to plane out and just gives up is almost exactly what is happening. If it still does it this weekend, Ill prolly just give it to a buddy of mine who has one of those little plastic jon boats and see what it does for him. Do you guys think and old evenrude 9.9 would be enough for this thing?? I mainly go to Yargo and its an under 10 horse lake so dont really want to go bigger than that..


----------



## Twenty five ought six (May 28, 2009)

> Do you guys think and old evenrude 9.9 would be enough for this thing?? I mainly go to Yargo and its an under 10 horse lake so dont really want to go bigger than that..



Well, here are my thoughts, and they're worth exactly what you've paid for them.

That's a fiberglass boat, and it's significantly heavier than an alum. boat.  Plus just looking at it, it looks as if it is built very solidly, i.e. heavy.  My SWAG is that you will need at least 15 HP to get decent performance out of it.  Now there's some debate about whether there is really an real HP difference between the old OMC 9.9 and 15 HP.  Same engine, small difference in carb.

So maybe a 9.9 will do, but I'd make sure I could try it out before committing to buy it.

That's a good looking boat, and it would be shame not to get decent performance out of it.  Don't mean rocketing down the lake, but just up and on plane and staying on plane.  I participate in a boatbuilder's forum, and the general consensus there is that it takes at least 9 HP to get a 14 foot boat up on plane and keep it there, lightly loaded.  I'm just thinking out loud here, but with the extra weight in your boat, I guessing that a 9.9 isn't going to make you happy.

I think eventually you will get a decent elec. motor for Yargo, and a gas motor in the 15-20 HP range, if you keep this boat.  

Here's what a GPS will show you.  If you can't get on plane, and stay on plane, you are basically going the same speed as you can go with a good electric motor.  So unless you can pop that boat up with an gas motor there's really no need to use one on a lake the size of Ft. Yargo.

If you take the boat out this weekend, take a GPS with you, and get some readings on your MPH.  Be interesting to see what they are.  You're going to need to get into the 10 mph + range, and I'm thinking you can't do that.


----------



## Ho-Jazz (May 29, 2009)

25-06...
Great info you have there man...Was never really expecting this 7hp engine to get it to plane out, but I thought it might be a little faster than my trolling motor..You can kinda see it in on of the pics, its blocking my rod holders..Its a 55lb minn kota that does ok and with the two batts Ive got I can go all day out there.
But the wife, kids, brother like to make fun of slow poke ... Maybe a nice 15 out on Lanier would be "cooler". Altough I keep telling them the fish dont care how fast you can go.

Cypress I think my brother has a remote tach I can borrow thats great idea. Oh and 25 do you have a link to that boatbuilders forum??


----------



## Twenty five ought six (May 29, 2009)

Here you go.

Some good information here about boat design, power requirements, etc.

http://forums.bateau2.com/


----------



## Wild Turkey (May 29, 2009)

1.Props on small motors dont have hubs, just shear pins that break off when they hit something. Check the shear pin. looks like a key way or sometimes cotter pin.
2. That motor may have a clutch plate between the bottom of power head and vertical drive shaft. Friction plate etc.
If all else fails you might have to separate the power head from the lower unit to check and see how it is driven.
Newer motors have the vertical shaft splined right into the crank shaft and cant slip.


----------



## Ho-Jazz (May 30, 2009)

25-06 Thanks for all the links you have provided...VERY useful info in them. Look for me in the beteau forums soon!!
Wild Turkey, Thanks for the tips, but I think Im done troubleshooting this engine. 
I have come to this conclusion after tons of great info from all you guys. Thanks again, Ho-Jazz


----------

