Saving Old Seagulls

Hi,
Fired up my resurrected EFPCL 40 yesterday, ran pretty good. This was in barrel at the house. Finished loading up the sailboat and tried to get off this morning early. Didn't get off early like I wanted to. By the time I got to Abiquiu, it was 96 and winds up around 12 knots. Spent 45 minutes setting up the boat (first time this season, and with new sails with new reefing system, so took me a while).

The 40 wouldn't start. Not a peep, not a pop. Everything the same as 18 hours earlier. New gas and oil mix at 25:1. Probably flooded, so pulled plug and it was wet. Used some electro cleaner I had in the truck. No good. It was so bright and sunny, I couldn't see if I had a spark, but that's what I suspected. Then I discovered I forgot my seagull bag with my spare plugs, BSW wrenches, etc. Had to use a Cresent wrench to get the plug out. This was what was wrong with this motor when I got it (. I had to cut 1/4" off the wire and replaced the plug cap this spring to get it running). Wore myself out trying to start it. No go. This spring, a shot of starting fluid after priming the carb and getting some mix into the chamber usually worked. Forgot the starting fluid. With a very crowded lake boat ramp and with 12 knot winds blowing into the dock, I gave up.

Got home, tried again. Changed plug. Still no go. I still couldn't see any spark (still pretty bright sun). I got my starting fluid out and gave it a quick shot. Started right up.

So what's up with this thing? Runs great after first start. Restarts just fine. But that first spark and pop, I seem to need starting fluid (AFTER I get some mix into the cylinder, I know about needing the oil before using the fluid).

I'm at 7000' altitude and it was 96 deg F today. Could that be part of my problem? Maybe my Wipac IV is weak. Don't know.

I'm going back to the lake next weekend, this time with my extra plugs and my starting fluid.

Any insights into hard first-start at 96 deg F and 7000 ft altitude would be appreciated.

As an aside, dug out the little FW40 I got with the boat after I got home, and it fired up first pull. Maybe I should just stick with the FW 40.

Stuart
Los Alamos, NM
West Wight Potter P15
FW 40
EFPCL 40
EFNR Silver Century

Nothing worse than wasting a day cursing and swearing at the poor ol' thing! (been there and done that )

I'd go over the basics again.
IGNITION
You'll need to do some dismantling on the ignition to get inside and clean everything in site. So at the very least the flywheel will need to come off. Dirty or rusty connections in here will cause no end of grief. (weak or intermittent spark) Basically clean everything you can get to. Double check your HT lead connections too from the coil to the plug. (they can start to break down internally)

FUEL
Starting with the tank, flush it out with fresh fuel (plastic tanks) or use caustic soda for brass tanks. Steel tanks rust internally so will need some kind of sealer applied internally to prevent any further corrosion.(some motorcycle parts suppliers have this stuff on the shelf) Move onto the fuel line and make sure it's not blocked in any way. Same goes for the fuel tap too.
Move onto the carb. Strip it down so you can clean everything you can get into. Achohol type carb cleaner works quite well for this. Which carb is currently fitted? BING or VILLIERS or AMAL?
Re-assemble and try again.

Chances are that there might be either a weak (ish) spark that works better with the aid of "easy start" or similar, or there might be a tiny blockage somewhere in the fuel side of things.

If it's got a spark and good fuel delivery there's not much else to stop it from running.

Jon

Thanks Jon, for the tips.
I had already done everything you suggested when I got the motor running this spring (new fluids, cleaning carb, pulling flywheel and checking coil/CDI pack). Carb is Amal, this is my newest Seagull of 3 (1985). I cleaned the carb extensively. I have an ultrasonic cleaner, which I use on all my carbs (I restore motorcycles too, one with 6 carbs, a Honda CBX). The final fix to get the motor running this spring was the Wipac IV CDI module and its spark plug wire. The problem ended up being corrosion at the spark plug cap and the first 1/8" of the wire where it the cap screws into the wire core. It was all green and powdered. When I cut it back and cleaned it up, I finally got some spark. Motor runs good in the tank, but I just seem to have to get it going with ether. After it runs a few seconds, runs great. I'm going to look at the carb again.

I took my older Feather Weight 40 (points ignition and Villiers carb) out yesterday. It ran very poorly. Turns out it was running LEAN (when I put a finger partially over the carb inlet, engine took off). I pulled the carb apart and cleaned it again today. I missed the fact last fall when I cleaned that carb that the previous owner screwed the jet tapered needed all the way down, leaning the mixture. I reassemble the carb and set the needle adjuster flush with the top of the slide. Motor runs SWEET now. Started on 1st pull, damn near blew all the water out of my little trash can tank. Can't wait to take it out again. I"ll probably take both motors and test them at the lake next weekend. Who knows, maybe I'll even try the EFNR Silver Century (my 3rd seagull).

Thanks for the help,

Stu
Los Alamos, NM

It's usually the simple things that throw a spanner in the works.
Glad to hear it's all sorted now.

Great stuff.

Jon