Thread: need help if possible

I have a question for someone that may know about an old outboard.I have an old sears ted williams 5.5 hp that i recently purchased.I took the boat out yesterday and fired it up.It runs perfect in neutral,but when in gear,it'll run at idle,and when you give it gas,it just dies.I let it warm up for a bit in neutral and tried again,same stuff,just kept dieing when giving gas in gear.I'm rather novice about outboards,but could there be a problem in the carb,or something more serious?I'd like to find someone who could maybe look at it for me.Thanks in advance.

I would try running with shroud off. I had a similar issue with an outboard and I had an exhaust leak where the powerhead connected to the lower unit. The carb had no clean air when you put a load on the engine. It did run like yours at idle. If it runs with the shroud off this is your problem and next you'll have to find and fix the leak.

Hope this helps, I now how frustrating old outboards can be. Good Luck

Fisher is probably dead on! I had a 7.5 Ted Williams with the same problem. Noisy as hell. Just used it to get to my duck blind and back, never found the leak, but didn't give it much attention. All I needed was to go about a quarter mile and back.

Thanks for responding.I'll try that out and get back to you.Thanks again.

one word,, carburetor.. i rebuild and sell boat motors for a hobbie and everyone i buy the first thing we do is take the carb off and clean thoroughly.. 9 out of ten times this is most ppls probs.. never dealt w a ted williams but its usually true in most cases.. needle and seat gum up so clean them well..

This is weird.I could not get it to run in gear at the lake,without it quiting yesterday,I go in the garage a bit ago,fire it up in a barrel of water,and whammo,it ran like a champ.Had it in gear,reved up all the way,not a lick of trouble,very,very weird.Any suggestions?

Originally Posted by slowtrollin

This is weird.I could not get it to run in gear at the lake,without it quiting yesterday,I go in the garage a bit ago,fire it up in a barrel of water,and whammo,it ran like a champ.Had it in gear,reved up all the way,not a lick of trouble,very,very weird.Any suggestions?

not sure where your exhaust exits.... but mine always ran fine with muffs on because there was no back pressure and the leak underneath shroud was not as bad. Not sure running in a barrel if you get the same back pressure.

If it runs without the shroud on in the lake you know your problem... otherwise it's likely carb issue, fuel pump or air lock in your gas tank.

good luck

Originally Posted by slowtrollin

This is weird.I could not get it to run in gear at the lake,without it quiting yesterday,I go in the garage a bit ago,fire it up in a barrel of water,and whammo,it ran like a champ.Had it in gear,reved up all the way,not a lick of trouble,very,very weird.Any suggestions?

Tye 1 may have something there. Had a similar issue on my old merc 7.5 when I fired it up in the spring and it worked itself out...gummed up carb/needle. Prolly warrants tearing the carb down next chance you get.

Originally Posted by slowtrollin

I have a question for someone that may know about an old outboard.I have an old sears ted williams 5.5 hp that i recently purchased.I took the boat out yesterday and fired it up.It runs perfect in neutral,but when in gear,it'll run at idle,and when you give it gas,it just dies.I let it warm up for a bit in neutral and tried again,same stuff,just kept dieing when giving gas in gear.I'm rather novice about outboards,but could there be a problem in the carb,or something more serious?I'd like to find someone who could maybe look at it for me.Thanks in advance.

hey crappie king here used to have that same motor,its possible you have a cracked coil ,but more likely a stuck float,either one of these defenitly could be your problem.look at float first. (crappie king)