'95 Ocean Runner 150- rattle when in gear

[anthill]

Greetings all,

I'm very happy to have found this place, and I've done a lot of reading in the archives over the last couple of days, but I haven't found anything that covers my situation.

I recently purchased a 1995 Evinrude Ocean Runner 150. The guy I bought it from also installed it. It ran very well on the test run, but since then, I notice several things:

1. It has a 17p prop, but will only get up to 4400 RPM and 37MPH at WOT. The engine does not seem to be bogging at all. It jumps up on plane fast, and sounds smooth all the way up the RPM range.

This seems low to me. The 150 on my friend's Grady easily hits 5500 RPM/42MPH with a 17P prop, and that is a heavier, deeper-V boat! Could it be that the shifter doesn't have enough range to fully open the throttle? Is this possible?

2. Last trip out, I noticed a "rattling" noise when running. I stopped, pulled it out of gear, and it revved smoothly, with no noise. Put it back in gear, and it rattles again. In forward and reverse, at all speeds, the sound is about the same, which seems like a good thing. Took the cowling off, and the rattle sounds more like a clacking sound! SCARY! Take it out of gear, and it zooms quietly.

I checked the oil in the lower unit, and it's clean and the magnet only has a little fuzz on it. At a friend's recommendation, I'm about to swap props and see if it stops, but it sure sounds like it's coming from under the cowling somewhere...

Any ideas???

All thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated. This is my first OMC and I'm in the dark, here.

THANKS!

-Tony

[bassworm1]

Just for safty i dont think i would run it until you find out whats a rattling,could be reeds a fluttering or pin coming out of a piston.just my 2 cents maybe the gurus can help better.

[anthill]

BW1,
Thanks for the reply.

I was thinking something like that at first, but the sound is pretty constant regardless of RPM, and it's silent when not in gear, so I would tend to think it's not in the powerhead.

Broken spline on the drive shaft, maybe??? Bad top bearing? Bad prop?

I sure hope it's not the things you mention! I'll sell it all if this thing dies on me.

--Tony

[anthill]

Hmmm.... Seems I'm alone in my situation.

-TH

[bassworm1]

Wish i had some answers but im no motor guru.have you done a compression check just to see what the numbers are yet?good luck maybe someone will help more.

[ChampioNman]

Check the torque on the prop nut. Also pull on the prop and see if you have any play in the prop shaft, spin the prop in neutral (without motor running) and listen for ratcheting sounds. You may have to bite the bullet and take it into the shop for a LU check out.

[anthill]

Thanks for the replies.

Just finished talking to a tech, and it turns out when the previous mechanic replaced the seal around the shift rod, he didn't screw it back in the right number of turns.

Also, #2 carb was gunked up, which makes a vibration and makes the clunking worse.

It's going to cost me, but hopefully, the trouble will be gone soon.

-TH

[ChampioNman]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by anthill &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for the replies.

Just finished talking to a tech, and it turns out when the previous mechanic replaced the seal around the shift rod, he didn't screw it back in the right number of turns.

Also, #2 carb was gunked up, which makes a vibration and makes the clunking worse.

It's going to cost me, but hopefully, the trouble will be gone soon.

-TH
</TD></TR></TABLE>

If he says so.