Ok folks, I need some advice/help/warning. I have a 1980 Evinrude 200hp motor. I bought it used fall of 2008. I have not had it running. Last fall I got it mounted on the boat and that was as far as I got before the snow flew here in Minnesota. This summer, with buying a house needing lots of work, I've touched it very little. I have tried starting it, after rebuilding the primer solenoid, and really couldn't get much other than a few pops and loud backfires out the exhaust. I did a compression check on it and got about 37-48psi compression between all 6 cylinders. Now, the engine has been sitting for quite a while without being ran, would that partly cause low compression? I'm familiar with 4-stroke engines (auto mechanic by trade) but not overly familiar with 2-strokes. I do plan on grabbing a second compression tester from my toolbox at work and seeing if it is infact low compression, or if my gauge is bad.

any thoughts? supposedly the engine ran great before I bought it. The guy bought it for his boat, but ended up finding a Merc so he didn't have to change over controls. I can't complain too much though, I only paid $600 for it over Ebay, plus about $100 in gas to pick it up.

Any thoughts? Advice?

The model number is E200TRXCSM and the serial number is J0001024

Thanks all!

Seth Petro