Hello fellow Seagull appreciators I've been using the website for years, but this is my first time on the forum.
I have recently acquired a Century 100 that has about 5mm of vertical crank (I assume) play, if I grip with both hands around the flywheel and lift - is this somewhat normal, or do I have terrible crank bearings? It doesn't make a bad noise turning over, and seems happy enough. Also, I measured the cylinder pressure and got around 50 PSI, sound ok?
Perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. (they pretty much all do this)
As Chas. has mentioned, keep the entire fuel system nice and clean and the points and plug clean/dry/correctly gapped and it should keep going for another few years yet without too much bother.
Check the oil in the gearbox every now and then too as its not unusual to have quite leaky seals (if you can call them that).
After a while the oil gets pushed out and is replaced with water which leads to a whole host of different problems to deal with in the future.
Any problems just ask. One of us will jump in i'm sure
Great! Glad to hear that.. I did think I'd found a good one, just wasn't sure on that.. thanks for putting my mind at rest. I will take your good advice and check/service everything before using it in the spring
Out of curiosity, what is causing the play (you can save me pulling all apart to find out!)? Is it due to significant wear, or just how they are made?
The crankshaft runs on two bronze bushes, its common to have some play or end float in the crank, as long as you don't have any sideways movement, it should all be good, I have a motor with about twice the play you have and its the most reliable and best running motor I have.
There's nothing really that's "causing" the play, it's purely down to the design of these engines. It's how they are.
As Keith has pointed out, any sideways play in the crank is BAD. REALLY BAD...
Up/down movement is absolutely normal. They all do this to some degree. Some a bit more than others.
The chances of you ending up with a dud is fairly remote as most of these seagulls are bloody tough old things on the whole and will withstand huge amounts of neglect before they finally let go.
I'd always err on the side of kindness with an older engine. It's been around for a long time already. Why put it into premature retirement through a lack of basic maintenance. You wouldn't treat your car with any less respect would you!
Seagulls are the same. That little bit of attention you give it each year goes a long long way.
Thanks to all for the good replies and information. I think I may just need to dismantle my other, spare Seagull, and have a good look at how it's constructed.. I do like to know what's going on inside things
headdownarseup, I will indeed be treating her kindly and keeping things well maintained. All good machines deserve a good owner! I will be using this one to push my 20ft sailboat this season.. just to come on and off the mooring for the most part.. but I will no doubt motor along just for fun, to enjoy the sound and smell
You might find that it's a bit more capable than just for manouvering. I've seen videos of a century powering a 40 foot catermeran with absolute ease. Almost made it look silly really.
I use a host of different 102's on the back of my 17 foot day boat. (not all at once) Almost identical to a century motor except for a round cylinder and a few other minor differences, but essentially the same.
Quite a dependable outboard that doesn't really ask for too much attention (but we do anyway coz we love 'em)
Have a read through all the older posts for some more "how to's" on strip down etc. All fairly straightforward, just nuts and bolts although some heat will help shift the more stubborn bolts especially the cylinder head bolts. (i don't get that problem with 102's coz there are none)
Once you've taken one of these engines apart you'll see there's not much to them really. They're a very old design that's stood the test of time and still going strong today.
I will soon be giving it a go on a my 3 tonne boat, I'm expecting plenty of maneuvering power for that. Indeed they are very simple, that's one reason why I like them... they just work, and if they break they are easy to fix
I've been using the website for years, but this is my first time on the forum.
